On Saturday night, Oracle Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen won the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix, but the true drama began three hours after the race was over.

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, both McLaren drivers, were disqualified by race officials after their MCL39s failed a post-race inspection due to excessively worn skid boards.

Norris was the overwhelming favorite going into the race because he had won the last two races (Mexico and Brazil) and had started from pole position in Las Vegas. However, Verstappen sneaked past him and took control of the race after he skidded wide at Turn 1.

The picture of the F1 Drivers' Championship is drastically altered by Norris and Piastri's disqualifications. Norris departs Las Vegas just 24 points ahead of both adversaries, who are now tied for second place, 366–366. This is in contrast to Norris increasing his lead to 30 points over Piastri and 42 over Verstappen.

There are 58 points available in Qatar (November 28–30) and Abu Dhabi (December 5–7) with two Grand Prix races and a Sprint remaining, escalating the race for the championship in the final stages.

Describe Skid Planks.

For safety purposes, skid planks are pieces of reinforced wood that restrict how much a racecar's undercarriage can rub against the track. The increased downforce generated by a racecar's floor is turned into an unfair aerodynamic advantage when they are run lower than permitted.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA), which oversees Formula One, examines all 20 vehicles following each race to check for issues like torque control, oil consumption, tire pressure, fuel composition, and skid board thickness.

According to the FIA, all new skid planks must measure 10 mm (±0.2 mm), with wear-related deviations permitted of at least 9 mm. Sky Sports reports that Piastri's skid boards measured 8.96 mm on the left front, 8.75 mm on the right front, and 8.9 mm on the right rear, while Norris' measured 8.88 mm on the right front and 8.93 mm on the right rear.

Team principal Andrea Stella described the issue with both cars in McLaren's press release following the race as excessive contact with the ground due to inexplicable high levels of bouncing that were not observed during practice sessions.

“We are investigating the reasons for this behavior of the car, including the effect of accidental damage sustained by both cars, which we found after the race, and that led to an increase of movement of the floor.”

The revised standings show that Kimi Antonelli, who had previously placed fifth, was moved up to the podium:

1. Max Verstappen
2. George Russell
3. Kimi Antonelli
4. Charles Leclerc
5. Carlos Sainz
6. Isack Hadjar
7. Nico Hulkenberg
8. Lewis Hamilton
9. Esteban Ocon
10. Oliver Bearman