(Photo credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images)

LAS VEGAS - A year after clinching his fourth consecutive World Drivers' Championship on the Strip, Red Bull's Max Verstappen maintained a sliver of hope for a fifth with a stellar showing at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

After the FIA finished with its postrace inspections, those hopes grew exponentially with the disqualifications of McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri because the thickness of the rearmost skid of both cars was less than the required thickness.

When Verstappen concluded the postrace press conference on Saturday, he was 36 points back from Lando Norris and in third place in the standings despite notching eight straight podiums and three wins in his last four races. The championship remained an afterthought, but he could at least be proud of how his Red Bull team was finishing.

Then through divine intervention, both McLaren drivers ahead of him in the championship race were summoned by FIA stewards and disqualified early Sunday morning.

Norris, who left the postrace festivities under the belief that he would be in a clinching scenario in Qatar next weekend, will now be nursing just a 24-point lead over Verstappen, who drew even with Piastri at 366 points.

Verstappen took advantage of a first-lap mishap by McLaren's Norris to claim the checkered flag, putting himself in what would become the perfect position to capitalize on an engineering error from his rivals.

Norris, the polesitter and championship frontrunner, made what could only be called a recklessly aggressive move in an attempt to block Verstappen from overtaking him on the inside. As a result, Norris briefly went off the track and rejoined in third place after Verstappen gained the lead and Mercedes' George Russell moved into second.

Norris regained second place from Russell on an uncontested overtake on Lap 34 and attempted to make a late push to surpass Verstappen for the win. But it proved to be a futile attempt, and Verstappen only lengthened the gap as Norris hung onto second place despite a late fuel shortage.

Although his two-race win streak was snapped, Norris gained six more points on Piastri, taking a 30-point lead over his teammate atop the World Drivers' Championship standings entering next week's Qatar Grand Prix.

Saturday's win marks Verstappen's eighth consecutive podium finish and his fourth win in the last seven Grand Prixs. The four-time defending champion remains a threat to win a fifth straight title. There are 58 points offered over the next two weekends of racing remaining on the calendar.

Verstappen made it clear entering Saturday's race that he wasn't thinking about his outside shot at the title and reaffirmed that belief after his victory. Rather, he sees this late-season push as the best way to corral momentum for a more consistent 2026.

'From the middle of 2024 to the middle of 2025, we were more probably off the podium more than on,' Verstappen said before the post-race disqualification of Norris and Piastri. 'Now, at least we are always fighting for second or third place. For us, I think that's a very good step forward. That should have been the case from the start, but unfortunately we didn't get it right in the beginning.'

Russell rounded out the podium with a third-place finish, posting another successful weekend in Las Vegas after winning the Grand Prix in 2024. Russell's Mercedes teammate and rookie Kimi Antonelli also notched an impressive performance and crossed the line in fourth place after starting 17th on the grid. However, he was assessed a five-second penalty for moving before the lights went out at the start of the race and officially finished fifth.

Turn 1 brought more drama on the first lap, as Piastri narrowly dodged what would have been a championship-deciding incident. VCARB's Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri and was forced to retire from the race due to front wing damage, but Piastri avoided severe damage himself and was able to continue his growingly unlikely title bid.

--Will Despart, Field Level Media