How Lando Norris can win F1 title in Qatar after Las Vegas disqualification

There has been a huge twist in the 2025 F1 drivers' title fight as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix. 

Norris had finished second with Piastri fourth in Sin City, but both cars were expunged from the results for illegal plank wear, discovered during routine post-race scrutineering. 

Norris's 18 points had opened up a 30-point lead over Piastri, but after both cars were removed from the results, the gap between them remains at 24.

But the big winner is Max Verstappen, whose victory over Norris initially cut the 49-point deficit to 42. After Norris's DSQ, Verstappen is now also 24 points behind, tied with Piastri. 

Norris has 390, Piastri 366, and Verstappen 366, with Piastri ahead on countback by dint of seven wins to six. 

The article continues below the tables, with how Norris can win the title in Qatar.

How Lando Norris can win F1 title in Qatar

Qatar is a Sprint weekend, meaning there are 33 points up for grabs, with Norris requiring at least a 25-point buffer over Piastri or Verstappen to be crowned after the grand prix, heading to the Abu Dhabi finale.

The simplest way for Norris to do this is to simply out-score Piastri and Verstappen by two points across the weekend. 

That means if Norris wins the grand prix, he will be the 2025 world champion. 

He cannot win the title in the Sprint race. There, if Norris won and took the eight points, and both Piastri and Verstappen did not score any, the gap would be 32 points, with 50 remaining in the Qatar and Abu Dhabi GPs.