I usually pick out three talking points from the race just gone in this column, but after the Las Vegas Grand Prix, there's really only one thing to talk about.
All across Lando Norris and Max Verstappen's home nations of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, people will have woken up to the news that the Dutchman had won the race but that the Brit had come in second, and have been all but certain that the 2025 title fight was thus over, with Norris leading Oscar Piastri by 30 points and Verstappen by 42 heading into the final two rounds.
And then came an announcement that sent shockwaves through the sport.
Two risks not worth taking
As soon as it was announced that McLaren were being investigated for excessive skid wear, it was obvious that both their cars were going to be disqualified. However small the infringement is, it's one that is always heavily punished.
As it turned out, it was an extremely small infringement, with the plank on the underside of Norris' car just 0.12mm too thin at the front and 0.07mm too thin at the back. However, that doesn't make the error any less inexcusable on the part of McLaren.
Ferrari made the same mistake on Lewis Hamilton's car back at the Chinese Grand Prix, and in my column after that race, I wrote that it was an issue that a team like Ferrari should absolutely be avoiding. Looking back now though, that mishap pales in comparison to McLaren's in Vegas.
To make such an error early on in a season is bad enough, but to make it when a Drivers' Championship is on the line is a whole new level of disaster.
Admittedly, the practice sessions being disrupted by a loose drain cover and qualifying taking place in wet conditions made it difficult to gather data, and both cars picking up damage during the race made the problem bigger than it would have been.
However, when you have a driver leading the championship by a decent margin with just three races to go, there's no need to take any kind of risk with your ride height. Just be conservative and sacrifice some pace to be absolutely certain that you won't break any rules.
Equally as baffling is how they handled things once they realised their error in the closing stages of the race too.
They told Norris to lift and coast to save fuel, but it's obvious now that they'd realised that the plank was at risk of being too worn and were trying to save it, which begs the question: why didn't they ask Piastri to slow down too?
Whether they didn't do so because they didn't want him to be overtaken by Charles Leclerc or because the fact that he had DRS was already reducing how much the plank on his car was being worn, it was another risk that wasn't worth taking. If the Aussie had slowed down, been passed by Leclerc and saved the plank, he'd be heading into the final two rounds 10 points clear of Verstappen rather than level on points with him.
Whether they ultimately cost McLaren their first drivers' title since 2008 or not, opting for such a low ride height and not giving Piastri the same orders as Norris were two gambles that didn't need to be made, and two mistakes that a team just can't be making at this stage in a championship battle.
A Grandstand finish
So, two rounds to go, and 24 points between Norris and the two men chasing him. The stage is set for a thrilling finish to the season.
Maybe Norris will win in Qatar next weekend to secure the title and the Las Vegas disaster will be quickly forgotten, but Verstappen heading into the season finale in Abu Dhabi just 10 or so points behind feels just as likely.
With there also being a sprint race in Qatar, the reigning champion can close the gap to Norris by a minimum of nine points if he claims victory on both Saturday and Sunday, and it's easy to see the deficit being cut by even more than that with the Brit far from guaranteed of being second-best should the Dutchman dominate.
The fact that McLaren risked running such a low ride height in Las Vegas is an ominous sign, suggesting that they were somewhat desperate to find some pace wherever they could. Given that, it feels very possible that they lose ground to the other top teams with that ride height raised for the final two rounds, especially with the Mercedes duo looking very strong.
Given the situation, they really can't afford to have Norris lose further time and potentially further points by battling Piastri. While they've been reluctant to impact the title fight too much by issuing team orders, they simply have to now, telling the Aussie to be his teammate's support act in the Middle East.
Whether Piastri would follow such orders and give up his own hopes of winning the title is another matter, and could decide who becomes the 2025 Formula 1 World Champion.
