Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri disqualified from Las Vegas Grand Prix as Max Verstappen wins

Race stewards found the skid blocks on both cars were below the required thickness, meaning they are no longer classified in the results.

Norris had finished the race in second place, while Piastri came home fourth.

Their main rival for this year's drivers' championship - Red Bull's Max Verstappen - won the Grand Prix and is now 24 points behind Norris, as is Piastri, with two races to go.

There are 58 points still available from the events in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

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A mistake by pole-sitter Norris at the opening corner dropped him to third behind Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell.

But Norris moved clear of Russell with 16 laps remaining before the disqualification.

Following the race, Verstappen, Norris and Russell were driven along the Strip to the Bellagio Hotel in a pink Lego Cadillac by actor Terry Crews.

Asked about the first corner, Norris said: “I just broke too late.

“I let Max have a win. I wanted to put on a show, that’s why we are here in Vegas. Not my best performance but when a guy wins by 20 seconds it is because he has done a better job.”

Norris continued: “You have to be punchy at Turn 1 but I was too punchy. But I scored some good points so it is not like I am too disappointed. On to the next one.”

Norris mastered a wet qualifying session to put himself on pole position but could not follow up when the lights went out for Saturday’s star-studded show in Sin City.

Norris switched to the left side of the track to deny Verstappen a chance of launching his Red Bull underneath the British driver’s McLaren at the opening left hander.

But while he successfully kept Verstappen behind he carried far too much speed into the corner and briefly ran off the track to allow Verstappen a free pass for the lead.

A flustered Norris re-joined the circuit and then came within inches of colliding with Verstappen, and in his desperation to avoid a tangle, allowed Russell to draw alongside his compatriot and blast clear.

Further back, Piastri was fortunate to avoid damage after he banged wheels with Liam Lawson following a banzai move by the New Zealander.

Lawson broke his front wing in the process and had to pit for repairs. There was chaos behind, too, with Gabriel Bortoleto wiping out Lance Stroll.

Lewis Hamilton, who started 20th and last following a nightmare qualifying session, navigated his way through the mess to make up several places.

Verstappen resisted the early advances from Russell, and was two seconds clear of the Mercedes man, who was the first to pit on lap 17.

That briefly promoted Norris to second only for the championship contender to fall back behind Russell when he stopped for new tyres four laps later.

Verstappen was able to come in for tyres and keep his lead, and then the attention turned to Norris and whether he could clear Russell.

Russell was struggling to keep up with Verstappen and offered little resistance to Norris, who breezed ahead on the Las Vegas Boulevard on lap 34.

“We are going to get Max,” was the order to Norris from his race engineer, Will Joseph but the Dutchman’s lead never came under threat as he crossed the line 20 seconds clear.