F1 chiefs narrowly avoided a nightmare scenario in the aftermath of the Las Vegas Grand Prix due to a turn of events at the Dutch Grand Prix. Max Verstappen gave himself a fighting chance of winning a fifth consecutive world title in the USA as he claimed his sixth race win of the season, before Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were disqualified.

Norris finished directly behind Verstappen at the Strip Circuit, with Piastri ending the evening in fourth. But the McLaren duo were both disqualified as their cars were found to have excessive plank wear, which measured below the post-race limit.

Norris would have ended the weekend 30 points ahead of Piastri and 42 points in front of Verstappen had the initial result been allowed to stand.

Instead, the result left Norris just 24 points ahead of his closest rivals, with Verstappen and Piastri now level on points.

Psychologically, the situation could have been much worse for Norris, however, if the Dutch Grand Prix had gone a different way at the end of August.

Norris had been locked in a battle with team-mate Piastri during the Zandvoort race and looked set to clinch second place.

But in the closing stages, Norris’ MCL39 developed problems and he ground to a halt as smoke billowed from his car. The 26-year-old ultimately scored no points as he was unable to finish the race.

McLaren COO Piers Thynne explained at the time: “It was an unfortunate incident when we broke our long chain of positive reliability.

“The team have reacted extremely well and extremely pragmatically to look at the issue, find the root cause, understand it and manufacture parts that are extremely focused to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

McLaren were true to their word as they soon fixed the issue and set Norris on his way to launching a title comeback. The British star has since leapt above Piastri at the top of the F1 Drivers’ Championship standings.

And had Norris maintained his place at the Dutch Grand Prix three months ago, the initial result at the Las Vegas Grand Prix would have handed him the title.

Norris would have then been stripped of that title just hours after the conclusion of the race. And that scenario would have led to utter chaos and unprecedented drama.

Followers of F1 may have been entertained, but the emotional burden may have weighed heavily on championship leader. As it is, Norris will attempt to put the Las Vegas disappointment behind him and clinch championship victory in Qatar this weekend.