McLaren's Last Hope CRUSHED? The One Ruling That Could Decide The Championship

The FIA has dealt a major blow to McLaren and Lando Norris' Formula One World Championship hopes after rejecting their bid to overturn a contentious penalty.

The 23-year-old British driver was left reeling after being handed a five-second penalty during the United States Grand Prix. The decision meant that Norris fell behind title rival Max Verstappen in the final standings for the race.

Norris initially crossed the finish line in a promising second place, ahead of championship leader Max Verstappen. However, a post-race investigation by the stewards found that Norris had indeed committed a breach of the rules, resulting in the time penalty being imposed.

McLaren were left incensed by the decision, and subsequently lodged an appeal with the FIA in a desperate bid to have the decision overturned. However, following a lengthy review of the evidence, the FIA has confirmed that it is upholding the original decision made by the stewards.

The news will come as a major disappointment to Norris and McLaren. The young Brit had been in scintillating form in recent weeks, and had been hoping to capitalize on the momentum to mount a serious challenge to Verstappen's championship lead.

As it stands, Verstappen is now in pole position to take home the championship title. The Red Bull driver has a significant advantage over Norris in the drivers' standings, and will be confident of seeing off the challenge of his rivals in the remaining races of the season.

The decision to uphold Norris' penalty has reignited the debate about the consistency of F1 refereeing. McLaren had argued that the stewards had been overly harsh in their treatment of Norris, and that similar incidents had been punished with less severe penalties in the past.

While the decision to uphold the penalty is likely to be met with disappointment by many F1 fans, it is worth noting that the FIA followed the correct protocols in reviewing the incident. Despite McLaren's best efforts to plead their case, the FIA was ultimately unable to find sufficient evidence to warrant overturning the decision made by the stewards.