Las Vegas Grand Prix Preview: Can Norris hit the title jackpot or have his title rivals got an ace up their sleeve?

Formula 1 begins its 2025 finale in Sin City where the stakes are often high. This weekend Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen have got to go all in to try and steal a potential first world title from the grasps of Lando Norris.

What happened last time out?

The Sao Paulo Grand Prix saw a swing in the title race once again in favour of Lando Norris. It was a perfect weekend for the British driver as he was dominant throughout; he topped practice, took Sprint pole, won the Sprint race, took pole position in Qualifying, and won the Grand Prix by 10 seconds ahead of Mercedes Kimi Antonelli.

For Max Verstappen, it was a weekend full of disappointment, but it ended on a positive note. He could only qualify P6 for the Sprint and finished P4, losing another four points to Norris.

Qualifying was a disaster, as he could only manage P16, a position set on pure pace rather than any mechanical issues. Red Bull decided to give him a new gearbox, which came to good use despite the pitlane start, as he would come all the way back to secure a superb podium finish in third.

Oscar Piastri easily had not just the worst weekend out of the three contenders but also the worst run of races. No podium finishes in his last five races and three P5 finishes in a row have seen him not just lose the Championship lead for the first time since Saudi Arabia but also lose massive ground on his teammate.

The Australian’s weekend started okay when he qualified third for the Sprint, but it went pear-shaped on Saturday when he crashed out of the Sprint into the Curva Del Sol (Turn 3) after his McLaren touched a wet part of the grass, causing it to spin into the barrier.

He would manage to salvage a P4 in qualifying, though in the race he would finish a position lower in P5. The gap in the Championship is now 24 points between the two McLarens. Verstappen is 49 points behind Norris and needs a miracle to win a fifth title in succession, but when in Vegas, anything is possible.

Elsewhere, Mercedes reclaimed P2 in the race for the runner-up spot in the Constructors Championship after a double second-place finish this weekend for Antonelli and his teammate George Russell, who had a P3 and P4. Ferrari had an awful weekend with a Double DNF in the Grand Prix.

Las Vegas Strip Circuit: A track which never disappoints

The Las Vegas Strip Circuit is the second-longest circuit on the calendar, at 6.201km, behind Spa-Francochamps in Belgium, which is 7.004km.

Las Vegas Strip Circuit details

Circuit length: 6.201km/3.8 miles

Race distance: 309.9 km/192.6 miles

Corners: 17

Laps: 50

DRS zones: 2

Lap Record: 1:35.490 (Oscar Piastri, McLaren, 2023)

With it being a night race, conditions are expected to be very chilly, though not as cold as in 2023 and 2024, as each session will take place two hours earlier in 2025. The main overtaking chances come into the braking zone at Turn 1, though the biggest opportunity is down the Vegas strip. In the past, we’ve seen some incredible moves there, including Charles Leclerc’s last-lap dive on Sergio Perez to finish second in the 2023 race.

The last two years have had different podiums in each. In 2023, it was Verstappen, Leclerc and Perez; in 2024, it was Russell, his then-Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, and Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari. In fact, the only constant over the past two years has been Ferrari on the podium.

Which team could be the quickest?

With history showing that Ferrari has been good around Vegas, it offers an opportunity to get their first grand prix win of the season, which would be a massive relief in a week where Ferrari chairman John Elkann has told his drivers to “spend less time talking and more time driving”.

Mercedes is coming on strong towards the end of this season, which is very positive for 2026, though it’s hard to know the field order until testing in Barcelona next winter.

McLaren and Red Bull have never really been quick at Vegas compared to Mercedes or Ferrari, but with the momentum that Lando Norris has now, a massive haul of points would give him match point in Qatar.

However, if Piastri could find a win out of nowhere and pull a big haul of points off his teammate then it would leave a mega two week battle in Qatar and Abu Dhabi for a third McLaren British world champion and a first since 2008, or a first Australian World Champion for many a long time, Alan Jones and his Williams in 1980 the last from down under to do so.

It promises to be an exciting and crucial weekend ahead.