Max Verstappen dominated the race from start to finish after overtaking Lando Norris in the first corner. The Dutch driver achieved his sixth win of the season.
The McLaren driver took second place (he lost a lot of power at the end of the test) but was disqualified by the FIA along with Oscar Piastri.
The exclusion of the McLarens led to a reshuffling of results in Las Vegas. George Russell moved up to second place, achieving his best result of the season, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli took his third Formula 1 podium finish.
Charles Leclerc came fourth, Carlos Sainz improved to fifth, and Isack Hadjar (6th), Nico Hülkenberg (7th) and Lewis Hamilton (8th) also improved. Esteban Ocon (9th) and Oliver Bearman (10th) made it into the top ten after originally finishing outside the points.
The stewards’ decision was clear: both McLarens were excluded from the race standings, meaning the loss of the 18 points that Norris had received for his second place and the 12 that Piastri added with fourth place.
This sanction, identical for both drivers but imposed in different documents, was imposed after hearing the team directors and the FIA technical directors.
The impact on the championship standings was immediate. After the disqualification, Verstappen is tied with Piastri for second place in the Drivers’ World Championship with 366 points, while Norris remains the leader with 390 points, just 24 units ahead and still 58 points ahead in the last two races: the Qatar Grand Prix and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The Australian Piastri retains second place because he has one more win than Verstappen (seven to six).
For his part, Franco Colapinto suffered a problem with his Alpine throughout the race after his former Williams teammate Alex Albon touched him following a chaotic start.
The Argentine suffered from a lack of rhythm and finished last among the riders (17th) who finished on the track (Stroll, Bortoleto and the Thai were retired). Pierre Gasly lost five places and came 15th.
Next week we head to the Middle East for the Qatar Grand Prix (November 28-30). Norris is closing in on his first driver’s title in Formula 1.
