The Championship is on after Max Verstappen wins the Las Vegas Grand Prix, then McLaren are sensationally disqualified post-race. Talking of disqualified, our 2025 Las Vegas F1 Grand Prix Result Summary will illegally fuel your F1 interest and have way too much plank wear.
This 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix Result, Laps that Matter summary, Review & Ratings gives you just enough to catch up with. With just a hint of cynicism, bias, opinion and colour. The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered, or don’t have enough time.
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2025 Las Vegas F1 Grand Prix Result Race Summary
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Here’s where we capture the laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.
NOTE: The Summary was written live and revised few hours later after news of McLaren’s disqualification.
Setting the scene – A cold, wet and dark qualifying made it more like Ice Skating than Formula One, but no matter the conditions and track and anything lately, Lando Norris was too good and took pole position. The driver next most likely ended up just that with Max Verstappen second on the grid and needing a decent result against Norris to stay in the Championship hunt. Oscar Piastri was unlucky with a late yellow flag and qualified 5th, but in fairness never really looked like trumping Norris. Carlos Sainz survived a stewards enquiry about rejoining after a spin to claim a huge third spot on the grid. Further back, big news, although less big these days, Lewis Hamilton qualified last. Lance Stroll could have been higher, and was surprisingly quick in the difficult conditions but risked taking the Intermediate Wet tyre too early in Q2.
Race night is dry and cold, and one Championship rival could be eliminated at the end of the race.
GRID (Starting Order) – NOR VER SAI RUS PIA LAW HAD ALO LEC GAS
Lap 1 – Pole sitter Lando Norris gets away ok but runs wide into the first corner and Max Verstappen needs no further invitation to take the lead and he nearly clashes with Verstappen on the way through, that was close. Before the next set of corners George Russell squeezes by for second. Double trouble for McLaren as Oscar Piastri falls behind both Racing Bulls and looks like he might have some front wing damage. Fernando Alonso has a shocker too dropping a few places. Oliver Bearman does a great job to be up to 8th. Not as good as Lewis Hamilton who is 12th after the first lap from the back of the grid.
ORDER – VER RUS NOR SAI HAD LAW PIA BEA LEC ALO
SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED
RACE RESUMES
Lap 2 – Unbelievably, there are multiple track workers on the track as the cars approach and come through turn one. They are likely there to clean up Gabriel Bortoleto’s very ordinary effort at the first corner, as he outbrakes himself and cleans up Lance Stroll. A second poor race from the rookie who has been impressive overall. Liam Lawson is also slowing with front wing damage, dragging along the ground. That damage looks to have been caused by Lawson getting caught out by George Russell braking ahead, looks like Lawson banged into Piastri, similarly looking very much like the one Piastri got penalised for last race in Brazil Interesting to see how that plays out.
VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED
RACE RESUMES
Lap 4 – The cars hit full speed again as the stewards advise the Lawson-Piastri incident is under investigation. Bortoleto and Stroll are out after first lap clash.
Lap 5 – Max Verstappen is just under a second in front of George Russell who is closing in on the Red Bull. Lando Norris is playing it safe two second back. Carlos Sainz is being harassed by Isack Hadjar, and Oscar Piastri is nearly two seconds behind the Racing Bull car, and looking as underwhelming as all the recent underwhelming races. Oliver Bearman and Charles Leclerc have fun swapping 7th place.
ORDER – VER RUS NOR SAI HAD PIA LEC BEA ALO HUL
Lap 8 – No further action from the Stewards for the Lawson-Piastri incident. Wonder what Oscar thinks of that after the last race. He probably thinks it stinks. And it does a bit. He’s still sixth and still not catching Hadjar in 5th.
Lap 10 – The battle up front has cooled down with George Russell now 1.6 second behind rather than a DRS enabling <1 second. Lando Norris is taking it easy for now 2.6 seconds behind Russell. Hadjar to Leclerc are starting to close up behind Carlos Sainz in 4th. Stewards announce an investigation a starting procedure infringement for Alex Albon and Kimi Antonelli.
Lap 12 – Oscar Piastri has woken up and it closing in on Isack Hadjar’s tail, but he won’t want to take too long, he’s six second behind Norris and Charles Leclerc is looking rather racey behind him. When we say racey, we mean Leclerc overtaking Piastri before the end of lap 12. The Ferrari showing every sign of not waiting too long to steal HAdjar’s place too.
Lap 13 – Charles Leclerc doesn’t take long at all. He’s by Isack Hadjar the very next lap and up to 5th. He started 9th on the grid. Sainz is 2.5 seconds up the road. The other fast-starting Ferrari Lewis Hamilton is still 12th, but looks like he clashes with Alex Albon behind him. Albon pits for tyres and a front wing and drops to the back.
Lap 15 – Kimi Antonelli has been penalised five seconds for moving before the start. Maybe he should have qualified higher to get a better view of the lights.
ORDER – VER RUS NOR SAI LEC HAD PIA BEA ALO HUL
Lap 16 – The remnants of Alex Albon and Lewis Hamilton’s clash brings out a Virtual Safety Car.
VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED AND RACE RESUMES
And just in time for Oscar Piastri to catch out Isack Hadjar and steal his 7th place.
Lap 18 – George Russell pits for tyres from second place, and rejoins just in front of Nico Hulkenberg, who has just passed Oliver Bearman for 8th, with the Haas deciding that was enough of an insult to pit for new tyres. The clean air has seen Lando Norris find some pace, and he’s gunning for Russell’s second place in the meantime. Norris sets a fastest lap to prove the pace.
Lap 21 – Confirmation of a five second penalty for Alex Albon for causing a collision with Lewis Hamilton. He’s already 30 seconds last. And also gets a reprimand for starting procedure too. Could be worse, that could have been another penalty.
Lap 22 – Charles Leclerc is right on Carlos Sainz’s tail and given the Ferrari’s form, it won’t take long. Max Verstappen sets fastest lap in front, maybe to remind people he’s still winning. Oscar Piastri pits for new tyres and rejoins 10th behind the penalised Kimi Antonelli. A lot of little stuff happening on this lap.
Lap 23 – More stuff happening. Lando Norris pits for new tyres and rejoins behind George Russell. Carlos Sainz pits for new tyres and rejoins just in front of Oscar Piastri, but the McLaren is close enough to challenge into turn three and the McLaren does get past the Williams for 9th on track. There’s still four midfield cars ahead yet to stop. And Fernando Alonso does some old school overtaking on his way through the midfield.
Lap 25 – Charles Leclerc pits for new tyres, but he rejoins in front of Carlos Sainz but behind Oscar Piastri. So the recent laps have worked out nicely for the Australian. A phrase that has not been used too much in recent races.
Lap 26 – Max Verstappen pits and rejoins in the lead still. But there’s only a gap of 1.4 seconds and Russell has warmer tyres. Could be interesting, they don’t like each other.
ORDER – VER RUS NOR HUL HAM ANT OCO PIA LEC SAI
Lap 29 – Things have calmed down a bit since the pitstops for front runners completed. Max Verstappen is almost 2.5 seconds ahead of George Russell now, with Lando Norris about the same behind Russell. By the way, Lewis Hamilton pits, leaving Nico Hulkenberg as the no-pitter in the top ten. The Ferrari rejoins 10th, which is a decent result.
Lap 32 – Midfield battle alert as Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso are racing, as is Oliver Bearman, who passes Fernando Alonso for 12th, and even Esteban Ocon is threatening to join the fun. He’s behind Bearman, which seems to be the norm of late. Meanwhile further in front Lando Norris sets a couple of fastest laps in a row and is reeling in George Russell.
Lap 34 – That Norris speed has continued and he eases past George Russell before the end of lap 34 in a nice, clean move. He’s up to second but five seconds behind Max Verstappen. Wonder if he’ll settle for second or go for the win. Stay tuned.
ORDER – VER NOR RUS ANT PIA LEC SAI HAD HUL HAM
Lap 37 – Oscar Piastri closes in on Kimi Antonelli for 4th place, and he should, his tyres are much, much newer than Antonelli. The Mercedes pit on lap four for tyres. And one could argue the car is better too. Max Verstappen sets a fastest lap in defiance of Norris’ new found pace.
Lap 39 – Oscar Piastri tries a move on Antonelli into the chicane corners towards the end of the lap, doesn’t make it, oversteers on exit and nearly puts his car into the wall. This helps Charles Leclerc close in on the McLaren, and that certainly went in Leclerc’s favour in the first stint. The three cars are following closely now.
Lap 40 – Another fastest lap for Max Verstappen, as another lap passes for Oscar Piastri behind Kimi Antonelli, but still in front of Charles Leclerc.
Lap 41 – Lando Norris sets a fastest lap to show people he’s still quick. But being just over five seconds, he might have to settle for second. Which he’d be mad not to do.
Lap 45 – Status quo at the front as Max Verstappen has Lando Norris covered who equally has Russell under control. Kimi Antonelli is still holding off Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc, with the only way Piastri looking like getting in front is waiting for the five second penalty for Antonelli to kick in.
ORDER – VER NOR RUS ANT PIA LEC SAI HAD HUL HAM
Lap 48 – Three laps to go and it all looks pretty much settled. So applying the five second penalty for Antonelli will see him drop from 4th to 7th. Not too bad. But all of a sudden Lando Norris is losing heaps of time to Max Verstappen and George Russell is gaining massively. More than a second a lap. Several. Over three seconds in fact.
FINAL LAP – Lando Norris’ pace continues to fall off a cliff as George Russell closes in quick. But quicker is Max Verstappen who cruises around the last lap to claim victory in the Las Vegas Grand Prix. He crosses the line over 20 seconds in front of Lando Norris. Russell gets within three seconds of Lando Norris but settles for third. Kimi Antonelli’s amazing race on almost the same set of tyres sees him lose only 4th place of Oscar Piastri after the five second penalty is applied after he crosses the line. Damage limitation done enough for Piastri, but another ordinary weekend.
FINAL ORDER (Across the line) – VER NOR RUS PIA ANT LEC SAI HAD HUL HAM
FINAL ORDER (After McLaren disqualification) – VER RUS ANT LEC SAI HAD HUL HAM OCO BEA
Here we go through the field and highlight the very best (Great) of the race, and the plodders, the over-ambitious, the out of luck, and simply hopeless (Grape).
These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. 5 points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 /-2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.
THE GREAT-EST – MAX VERSTAPPEN
Gifted the lead art the first corner after Lando Norris ran wide, then gifted again when George Russell provided a buffer to Lando in the early laps. Did what he does well in the lead of any Grand Prix. Kept his Championship hopes alive and then had that blown wide open following McLaren’s disqualification.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
CARLOS SAINZ – Doesn’t hurt to remind everyone that you’re quick, and Sainz’s third on the grid will do that nicely. Lost a little bit of pace in the race, but was clearly the next best outside the top four team for pace.
LANDO NORRIS – If your worst weekend in a few races is pole position and second place but still ahead of your closest Championship rival, then you can very well dust your hands for a job well done.
CHARLES LECLERC – May have had an ordinary qualifying, and practice when his car broke down, but his race was quite eventful, in a good way, with some nice racing and overtaking, showing Ferrari aren’t always hopeless, or as bad as the big boss of Ferrari thinks.
ISACK HADJAR – If he doesn’t want the Red Bull seat, who could blame him. But he’s doing a terrible job of talking them out of it with another solid weekend.
NICO HULKENBERG – More points for the likeable German.
KIMI ANTONELLI – Early stop saw him drive a long stint on hard tyres. Held fourth for a long time in the second half of the race. Penalised for jumping start which he thought was unfair. Underwhelmed in qualifying, so lucky to get an honourable mention. End result is a podium after McLaren were disqualified. Job done.
THE GRAPE-EST – MCLAREN
F1 is a matter of milliseconds, and sometimes millimetres and it is the latter that has done the job on McLaren this weekend. Disqualified for excessive plank wear, which is hard to argue and overturn. They lose second and fourth place and bring Max Verstappen back into the drivers title calculations.
DISHONOURABLE MENTIONS
OSCAR PIASTRI – The problem when you qualify lower than you should is it’s easier to find trouble, and trouble Piastri found at the first corner as he clashed with Liam Lawson. Recovered ok, but still lost more point to his Championship leading team mate ahead.
LIAM LAWSON – A great qualifying sees him line up 6th for the race, making it an all Southern Hemisphere row three on the grid. Sadly he runs into Oscar Piastri at the first corner, breaking his front and sending him to the back of the field, wasting a golden chance to get some Red Bull career-saving points.
GABRIEL BORTOLETO – Another ordinary race, and his woeful effort running into Lance Stroll at the first corner shows regression in a season where he has been mostly impressive.
LANCE STROLL – First corner incident not his fault. Should have qualified higher but his team put him on the wrong tyres in Q2 of qualifying. Which is a shame, for him, as he looked quick in the wetter parts of qualifying.
ALEX ALBON – Qualified poorly by crashing, while his team mate shone in third. Clashed with Lewis Hamilton in the race, earning a five second penalty. He was last anyway fixing his car. Retired from the race, but not before another reprimand for a starting procedure.
Was it a good race, loads of action, a tense ending, a surprise result or DNF, or just a big, fat, snooze-fest?
We rate the big race itself, so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.
PRE RACE ACTION (FP, QUAL, SPRINT, OFF TRACK etc) – 5 / 5
The wet, nighttime qualifying made that as treacherous a session as we’ve seen in years. The cold factor was already going to make it hard enough. That and the dazzling lights of this unique track also makes it exciting, even when it is not. Gets the full 5/5 for Mickey Mouse conducting the light show at the end of the race. Solid stuff.
ON TRACK ACTION (RACE) – 7 / 10
Enough action throughout, certainly a lot on the first lap, almost too much to stay in touch. From a first lap battle for the lead, to cars in the midfield scrapping for honour, if not points.
ANY SURPRISES? – 5 / 5
Rated lower before the McLaren disqualification, which comes a huge surprise.
SEASON IMPORTANCE – 5 / 5
The McLaren disqualification brings Max Verstappen back into the Driver’s title hunt. Prior to that, Lando Norris had edged himself closer to glory with a pole position and second place. Well ahead of his team mate, on track and up in the head.
ENDING – 4 / 5
What looked a run-of-the-mill dull-ish ending turned into a bit of excitement as Lando Norris suddenly, and rapidly lost pace. Not quite enough to lose second, but enough to entertain.
OVERALL RATING – 26 / 30
A good race, with enough action, and the wet qualifying was a nice treat, even if it didn’t really affect the finishing order of the race. The post race disqualification of McLaren open ed up the Championship too. For Max Verstappen. Not Oscar Piastri. He’s done.
2025 F1 Season Race Ratings
R1 – Australian Grand Prix – 27/30
R2 – Chinese Grand Prix – 11/30
R3 – Japanese Grand Prix – 18/30
R4 – Bahrain Grand Prix – 19/30
R5 – Saudi Arabia Grand Prix – 17/30
R6 – Miami Grand Prix – 17/30
R7 – Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix – 20/30
R8 – Monaco Grand Prix – 21/30
R9 – Spanish Grand Prix – 15/30
R10 – Canadian Grand Prix – 18/30
R11 – Austrian Grand Prix – 20/30
R12 – British Grand Prix – N/A but was great
R13 – Belgian Grand Prix – 13/30
R14 – Hungarian Grand Prix – 22/30
R15 – Dutch Grand Prix – 22/30
R16 – Italian Grand Prix – 16/30
R17 – Azerbaijan Grand Prix – 20/30
R18 – Singapore Grand Prix – 20/30
R19 – United States Grand Prix – 21/30
R20 – Mexican Grand Prix – 23/30
R21 – Brazilian Grand Prix – 25/30
2025 F1 Season Preview Gear
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