Overview
- Post‑race checks found excessive skid‑block wear on both McLarens, erasing Norris’s P2 and Piastri’s P4 from Las Vegas and confirming Verstappen’s win.
- McLaren apologized to its drivers, blamed unexpected porpoising and ground contact for involuntary non‑compliance, and opened an internal investigation after canceling routine press briefings.
- The enforcement refocused attention on opaque FIA technical directives, including TD/025‑25, and on skid‑block rules that require a minimum thickness commonly cited as 9 mm.
- The championship will be decided across Qatar’s sprint weekend and the Abu Dhabi finale, totaling 58 points, and under specific results Norris could clinch in Qatar.
- Verstappen is tied with Piastri on 366 points and holds the tiebreak on wins, turning a once comfortable McLaren campaign into a tightly compressed run‑in.