Max Verstappen wins Formula 1 race in Las Vegas, as Lando Norris is disqualified

LAS VEGAS — Max Verstappen won the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Saturday night after capturing the lead from championship leader Lando Norris at the start and never looking back.

The Formula 1 cars blasted down the Las Vegas Strip for 50 laps at breathtaking speeds of over 215 miles per hour, delivering thrilling wheel-to-wheel racing under the bright lights for the third consecutive year.

But in a stunning twist, both Norris and fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri were later disqualified in the middle of the night, hours after the race finish and podium celebrations, with officials finding illegal plank wear on their cars.

Norris crossed the line in second place, ahead of title rival Piastri, who finished in fourth. Their disqualification carries huge implications for the world championship fight with just two more Grand Prix races and one “sprint” left in the season.

It puts Norris just 24 points ahead of both Piastri and four-time world champion Verstappen, who are tied on points in second place. Norris now has 390 points, while Piastri and Verstappen have 366.

“A frustrating end to today,” Norris said in a statement. “We had to do some managing towards the end of the race and now we know it was due to some issues on our car, which have unfortunately resulted in us being disqualified.”

Piastri called it “disappointing” and “unfortunate.”

F1 rules require the wooden skid blocks under the cars to be at least 9 mm thick after a race in order to be deemed legal, a way to control ride height and contact with the ground. The penalty for failing to meet that standard is disqualification. It’s rare, but not unheard of.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the breach was unintentional, and apologized to Norris and Piastri “for the loss of points today, at a critical time in their Championship campaigns.” He also apologized to McLaren partners and fans.

“While this outcome is extremely disappointing, we remain fully focused on the last two races of the season,” Stella said.

There are just two Grand Prix left in a 2025 season full of twists and turns — next weekend in Qatar and the weekend after in Abu Dhabi. The Qatar race features a shortened “sprint” race, too, so there are a maximum of 58 points still up for grabs.

“The upcoming weekends, we’ll again try to win the race, and at the end of Abu Dhabi we’ll see where we end up,” Verstappen said of the title fight in a postrace interview ahead of the McLarens’ disqualification.

Norris started first but lost two positions in the opening corners after making an aggressive move to defend his lead, but ran wide on the first turn and got overtaken by Verstappen and George Russell. He eventually overtook Russell of Mercedes but couldn’t get close to Verstappen, and he was forced to slow his pace toward the end due to a then-unknown issue with the car.

Russell was promoted from third to second. Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli finished fifth, but was moved up to third.

“I messed it up and made my life tougher into turn one,” Norris said. “But even after that, we just weren’t quick enough. … I was pushing flat out and Max was still pulling away.”

Piastri fell a further six points behind Norris before the disqualification, but now they remain 24 points apart.

An economic boost for Las Vegas

Local leaders hope the race weekend will provide a much-needed economic boost to Las Vegas, which has struggled this year due to high costs and declining tourism, among other issues. Last year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix delivered an economic impact of $934 million, according to one estimate.

“It’s a very important event. And I fully support all of our special events. We’re not just the entertainment capital, we’re the entertainment and sports capital,” U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., who represents parts of the city, told NBC News ahead of the race. “So having a marquee event like this on the Las Vegas Strip is great, and it does a lot for our economy.”

F1 is looking to build on its momentum with American fans, having secured the races in Miami and Las Vegas — in addition to the long-standing Grand Prix in Austin — on the calendar for the long haul. It signed a five-year deal with Apple, which will take over the U.S. broadcast rights from ESPN starting next year.

Celebrity sightings included musicians Beyoncé and Jay-Z, actors Ben Affleck, Michael Douglas and Naomi Campbell, NBA All-Stars Magic Johnson and Jimmy Butler, and tennis player Taylor Fritz. Actor Catherine Zeta-Jones waved the checkered flag.

The top three finishers were driven to the podium, which is located on the Strip at the Bellagio Fountain Club, in a pink LEGO-built Cadillac car driven by Terry Crews.

Before the race, Ferrari superstar Lewis Hamilton took Beyoncé on a hot lap around the circuit, a team spokesperson confirmed, as she was decked out in a Louis Vuitton custom racing suit. The two stars were spotted watching the race from the Ferrari garage.

Also in attendance Saturday were Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel, who were given a tour of the paddock by F1 officials.

“I’ve always kind of been a NASCAR fan and been learning a lot about F1 the last couple of years. And we’re excited to see everybody race,” Noem said, adding that she was getting a tour of the McLaren garage. Patel called Formula 1 “one of the greatest sports,” saying he’s a McLaren fan.

Rain brings chaos in qualifying

The Friday qualifying session was thrown into chaos due to rain, which extracted every ounce of skill from the 20 drivers just to stay out of the barriers. The track, already known to have low grip even in dry conditions, was slippery and treacherous for most of the session.

“You’re just trying to keep it on the track. Not crash. Not take yourself out,” Norris said after taking pole position. “One day, I just hope — apart from having a two-seater F1 car — people can get that sensation of just how nerve-wracking and scary it can be at times. How unpredictable.”

And the Las Vegas paddock was abuzz with internal drama among several teams during the weekend.

Piastri was asked about recently reposting an Instagram post that quoted F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone claiming McLaren “prefers” Norris because of his “high star quality” and “marketing appeal.”

Asked about the repost, which was highlighted online by F1 content creators, Piastri told reporters it was an error.

“I don’t know,” he said Friday after deleting it from his feed. “I woke up this morning and saw it. So I don’t know, maybe I accidentally did it. Obviously, it was not intentional. But yeah, I didn’t know what had happened.”

Instagram has one-click reposts — unlike X, which requires users to click twice to confirm — making it easy to erroneously repost something while scrolling. Still, it added to a drama in which the Australian driver’s fans have theorized that the British team favors his British teammate, a claim that McLaren firmly denies.

Ferrari’s two drivers downplayed recent comments by Ferrari chairperson John Elkann, who said they should “talk less and focus on driving” — remarks slammed by critics as a gratuitous dig against Charles Leclerc and Hamilton after Ferrari’s decision to build a new car for 2025 (rather than upgrade last year’s version) backfired and led to a winless season so far.

“I’m always willing to do less media,” Hamilton quipped.

The seven-time world champion told reporters it’s “not really” possible to focus any more on driving than he already does. “I wake up thinking about it. And I go to sleep thinking about it. And I think about it while I’m sleeping,” Hamilton said.

Leclerc said the comment was a product of Elkann’s ambition to maximize the team’s potential. “He loves Ferrari. I love Ferrari. We all love Ferrari,” Leclerc said. “When he called me, he told me what were the intentions of these words, and that was very clear. It was a positive message, trying to be positive.”

Ferrari currently sits fourth in a close battle for second in the team championship, behind Mercedes and Red Bull. While the driver’s title carries more glory, the constructors’ championship is the one that awards cash prizes. Ferrari finished runner-up to McLaren last year in a close battle.

While Hamilton said he takes no positives regarding his comeback from last place to a points finish, he enjoys racing in Las Vegas.

“I love coming to Vegas,” he told reporters after the race. “I think it’s a really great city. Always get a great welcome here. This is the biggest crowd I think we’ve seen, even though it’s quite cold.”

And the activities of the weekend have evolved over the three years as F1 seeks a better balance between sport and show.

“I think it’s certainly better than it was a few years ago. I think that was a bit too much for everyone,” Norris said. “May as well be in Cirque du Soleil with what we were doing back then.”