McLaren’s first double disqualification ended their second-longest points streak

McLaren have started almost 1,000 grands prix – last weekend was their 992nd event – but had never previously seen both their cars disqualified.

With the drivers’ championship hanging in the balance, they could hardly have chosen a worse time.

The post-race disqualifications of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri due to excessive plank assembly wear on their MCL39s was not just the first time this year they’ve left an event point-less. It ends a points-scoring run which began at a significant race for the team.

The 2023 Austrian Grand Prix was the event where McLaren introduced a major upgrade for their car which transformed them into front-running contenders. That began a 59-race points-scoring run which ended last weekend.

This was on course to be the longest such run in their history. However the events of Las Vegas meant they fell short of the 64-round run they managed between the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix – when F1’s current top 10 scoring system was introduced – to the Monaco Grand Prix three years later. That run ended at the following round in Canada where drivers Jenson Button and Sergio Perez finished 11th and 12th respectively.

Neither of those drivers ever suffered a disqualification while driving for McLaren. Their last for any reason came in 2009 and no McLaren driver had been disqualified for a technical infringement in a grand prix for 25 years:

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Norris took his 16th pole position, putting him level with Felipe Massa and Stirling Moss. It was also his third in a row, which is his first such hat-trick.

No driver had taken three in a row since Max Verstappen’s run of eight from the final race of 2023 into last season. The last driver other than Verstappen to achieve a hat-trick of poles was Charles Leclerc, who reached four in a row early in 2022.

Verstappen took his sixth grand prix win of 2025 and second victory in the Las Vegas Grand Prix. He has now led 391 laps, 20 more than Norris and 11 less than Piastri.

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For the sixth time this year there were no lead changes after the first lap of the race. That’s one more than last season and the same as in 2023.

McLaren’s double disqualification led to a lot of points redistribution. Mercedes got both drivers on to the podium for the second time this year, Andrea Kimi Antonelli impressively rising from 17th on the grid. It gives the team a strong grip on second in the championship, 40 points ahead of Red Bull.

The post-race change moved Haas up to seventh in the championship. Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon originally finished 11th and 12th respectively but moved up to the final two places in the top 10, taking three points which lifted the team ahead of Aston Martin.

Hamilton originally finished 10th but gained two more points after the race. However he also suffered the blow of qualifying last ‘on pace’ for the first time in his career, though he lined up 19th as Yuki Tsunoda started from the pits.

Over to you

Have you spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the Las Vegas Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.

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2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix

• McLaren’s first double disqualification ended their second-longest points streak
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• Antonelli did nothing to cause two-centimetre jump start penalty – Mercedes
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