F1 | Race | Las Vegas GP | Verstappen dominates a night of clashes and comebacks - Motorsport

Spread the love

The 2025 F1 Las Vegas GP delivered a chaotic, strategy-heavy race in which Max Verstappen seized early control and never let go, despite multiple incidents and VSC interruptions that repeatedly reshuffled the field. Norris initially challenged but later faded with issues, while Russell battled steering problems yet held onto the podium. Behind them, Piastri recovered strongly from Lap 1 contact, Leclerc fought through a congested DRS train, and rookie Antonelli impressed on track despite a penalty that dropped him back. With varied tyre strategies, hard racing, and constant pressure throughout the midfield, Verstappen emerged unchallenged to claim a dominant victory.

Norris on pole; Tsunoda starts from pit lane

After a wet and slippery Friday Qualifying session at the 2025 F1 Las Vegas GP, the drivers lined up for a much drier start to Saturday’s race. The session had produced a grid full of intrigue after an evening of changing grip and constant jeopardy. Lando Norris secured pole position with a commanding final lap, and Max Verstappen joined him on the front row after he recovered from a difficult start. Carlos Sainz claimed third through consistent pace, while George Russell took fourth following strong runs in Q2 and Q3. Moreover, Oscar Piastri and Liam Lawson filled the third row after handling the evolving conditions with composure.

Further back, Fernando Alonso lined up seventh, and rookie Isack Hadjar continued his standout form with eighth. Charles Leclerc settled for ninth after a Q3 lock-up compromised his final attempt, and Pierre Gasly completed the top ten with a bold late effort. Just outside the top ten, Nico Hülkenberg qualified eleventh after narrowly missing Q3, whereas Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon followed in twelfth and thirteenth as both wrestled with low grip. Ollie Bearman started fourteenth after a slide at Turn 14 cost him time, and Franco Colapinto took fifteenth after rescuing a lurid Q2 moment.

Behind them, Alex Albon lined up sixteenth after his brush with the wall halted his progress. Kimi Antonelli and Gabriel Bortoleto followed in seventeenth and eighteenth as both rookies struggled to adapt to the shifting surface. Yuki Tsunoda set the nineteenth-fastest time; however, he did not take his place on the grid. Because his Red Bull–Honda RBPT received multiple new power-unit components and revised rear-wing elements during Parc Fermé, he faced a mandatory pit-lane start. Consequently, Lewis Hamilton, who endured a shock Q1 exit, moved into nineteenth as the final driver.

Going into a crucial race 💨

This is where our Drivers' Championship contenders will line up in the Grand Prix 👀⬇️#F1 #LasVegasGP pic.twitter.com/R1CiferfLh
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 22, 2025

Formation lap and opening strategies

As the clock struck 20:00 in Las Vegas and the green flag waved, the drivers launched onto the formation lap and immediately assessed the track conditions ahead of an unpredictable start. Medium tyres dominated the grid: all of the top ten selected them, as did Stroll, Ocon, Bearman, and Tsunoda. Meanwhile, Hülkenberg in P11 committed to hards, along with Colapinto, Albon, Bortoleto, and Hamilton. Notably, Antonelli—starting P19—chose the softs as the only driver to do so.

Lights out and early shake-up

When the lights went out, Lando Norris surged forward; however, he soon ran wide, and this allowed an aggressive Max Verstappen to sweep through at the exit of Turn 1. Consequently, Norris lost further ground as Russell forced his way into P2 despite the McLaren driver’s stern defence. Verstappen then immediately pulled away from Russell and built a steady advantage, while Norris settled into P3 ahead of Sainz. Nevertheless, the opening laps belonged to Oliver Bearman, who rocketed from P14 to P8 with a superb launch.

⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️

LIGHTS OUT!

Lando Norris BOLDLY cuts across Max Verstappen off the start, but he goes wide! Verstappen leads 😱#F1 #LasVegasGP pic.twitter.com/z73GrS8uxz
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 23, 2025

Almost immediately, Lawson tagged Piastri into Turn 1 and scattered debris across the track. Race Control acknowledged the incident. Although the contact threatened Piastri’s Championship hopes, he continued despite falling to P6. Moments later, Bortoleto launched an over-ambitious move on Gasly, sent the Alpine tumbling down the order, and forced himself into an early pit stop. Consequently, the race fell under a Virtual Safety Car on Lap 2 after further contact between Lawson and a Haas.

Hamilton charges and early investigations

Meanwhile, Hamilton—starting P19—climbed rapidly to P12 by Lap 4 and closed on Ocon for P11. By Lap 5, Stroll retired following his Lap 1 clash, and Bortoleto soon followed with terminal damage. As the VSC ended, Tsunoda immediately set the fastest lap, while Russell cut Verstappen’s lead to under a second.

Just into Lap 6, Leclerc swept past Bearman for P8. Alonso quickly closed in as well and halved the gap to the British rookie. Shortly afterwards, Race Control confirmed that the Stroll–Bortoleto clash would face investigation.

By Lap 8, Russell remained within DRS range of Verstappen, while Hamilton continued to pressure Ocon. Piastri—still holding P6—gained some relief when the Stewards decided on no further action for his Lap 1 clash with Lawson, although they announced a post-race review of Stroll and Bortoleto. Simultaneously, Race Control noted Antonelli for a false start, and Albon increased his pressure on Hamilton as he attempted to recover from his qualifying crash.

Midfield tension and DRS trains

Hamilton’s teammate, meanwhile, kept reducing the deficit to Piastri and brought it under a second by Lap 10, while Hadjar in P5 closed on Sainz. With such tight intervals among the contenders for P4, a DRS train formed and threatened to stall progress. For Leclerc—who radioed that he was “pushing like an animal”—Lap 12 delivered a breakthrough as he passed a locking Piastri, who had been chasing Hadjar. After the VCARB rookie ran wide and lost momentum, he slipped behind the Ferrari.

LAP 12/50

📻 "I'm pushing like an animal!"

Leclerc chases Piastri for P6, before successfully making the move on the brakes! 👏#F1 #LasVegasGP pic.twitter.com/5mAYMZHeWa
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 23, 2025

Hamilton, still P12, remained within half a second of Ocon yet now had to defend from Albon. Into Lap 14, Leclerc passed Hadjar, while Albon overtook Hamilton but immediately pitted. His contact with Hamilton left him with fresh damage and scattered more debris across the circuit. Meanwhile, Russell—still P2 and 1.8 seconds behind Verstappen—reported recurring steering-wheel issues.

Penalties and a second VSC

Onto Lap 15, the Stewards handed Antonelli a five-second penalty for his false start. With the Italian in P13, the penalty posed only a modest hindrance, although it complicated his hopes of reaching the points. Then, into Turn 1 on Lap 16, Piastri renewed his attack on Hadjar. As Race Control noted the Hamilton–Albon collision, another VSC deployed to clear debris.

Once racing resumed, Piastri finally passed Hadjar for P6. Although the Frenchman attempted a robust defence, he could not match the McLaren’s pace. Piastri then set off after Leclerc as Alonso pitted, moments before the Stewards launched a full investigation into the Hamilton–Albon clash.

The early pitstops and the strategic battles

On Lap 18, Russell became the first front-runner to pit, switching to hards and handing Norris a brief spell in clean air. Russell rejoined in P7 behind Hadjar and ahead of Hülkenberg, while McLaren urged Norris to build the pit window they needed. Meanwhile, Albon’s situation worsened on Lap 19 when the Stewards opened an investigation into a starting-procedure breach. Running P18 with a damaged car, he saw his hopes of recovery fade.

Then, on Lap 20, Hamilton again closed on Ocon and drew within half a second. With Ocon’s mediums fading far more quickly than Hamilton’s hards, the Mercedes swept past for P9 into Turn 14. Moments later, the Stewards issued Albon a five-second penalty for causing the Hamilton collision and a reprimand for the starting infringement, while Hadjar pitted.

Mid-race pit cycle and shifting order

Into Lap 22, Leclerc reduced the gap to Sainz to under six tenths as Piastri boxed for hards. The Australian rejoined in P10 behind Antonelli. On Lap 23, both Sainz and Norris pitted. Sainz emerged ahead of Piastri, but the McLaren driver quickly swept past on warmer tyres. Norris, however, rejoined only in P4 behind Russell, having failed to create the pit window McLaren needed.

By Lap 25, Verstappen still led comfortably on worn mediums, more than twenty seconds ahead of Leclerc in P2. Russell followed in P3 with Norris close behind in P4. McLaren instructed Norris to manage his tyres for a late surge. Leclerc then pitted and rejoined ahead of Sainz, who could not challenge on his warmer tyres. Nevertheless, Leclerc now sat almost two seconds behind Piastri and faced passing him yet again.

Onto Lap 25, Verstappen pitted. Despite a slightly slow three-second stop, he rejoined ahead of Russell and kept control of the race.

LAP 25/50

Verstappen finally heads to the pits from the race lead 🛞

He maintains the lead with Russell and Norris both having pitted already 👀#F1 #LasVegasGP pic.twitter.com/Wx4SceLUOv
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 23, 2025

Late-stint wear and building pressure

Meanwhile, Hülkenberg held fourth on worn hards and had yet to stop, ahead of Hamilton and Antonelli. The Italian rookie had passed Ocon, who remained the final medium-starter yet to pit. With his tyres now severely degraded, Ocon began to lose pace and came under growing pressure from Piastri on Lap 27. Ocon finally pitted on Lap 28, emerging P12 behind Bearman and Gasly.

Up front, Verstappen rebuilt his lead and pushed the gap over 2.5 seconds into Lap 29. Norris—running five-lap newer hards—remained more than two seconds behind Russell and out of immediate contention for P2. Although Hülkenberg and Antonelli held P4 and P5 on track, Piastri emerged as the net P5, sitting P6 on the road and over two seconds clear of a chasing Leclerc.

Hamilton pitted on Lap 30 and rejoined P10 on new mediums, while Hülkenberg stopped soon after and rejoined ahead of Hamilton. Consequently, Antonelli became the only driver still distorting the order up front.

Hamilton defends and Norris closes in

Onto Lap 32, Hamilton came under attack from Alonso, with Bearman joining the fight for P10. Bearman passed Alonso for P11, and although the veteran clung to him, Hamilton used the scrap to pull his own gap above one second and buy himself crucial breathing room. Meanwhile, Russell continued to lose ground to Verstappen as Norris—who set the fastest lap on Lap 33—closed in, desperate to pass the Mercedes and boost his Championship hopes.

On Lap 34, Norris pulled himself into position to threaten a fading Russell. He opened the DRS, attacked into Turn 14, and swept past decisively. With Russell no longer posing a threat, Norris immediately set off after race leader Verstappen. Nevertheless, with a five-second gap ahead of him, he did not face an easy task and now needed to push relentlessly to keep his Championship hopes alive.

Piastri, Antonelli, and Leclerc battle

While the top two drivers fought for the victory, Piastri slowly cut his gap to Antonelli down to within a second, as Albon became the third driver to retire on Lap 37. With the Mercedes rookie on old hard tyres, his pace could not match Piastri’s, and he found himself under intense pressure into Lap 38. Antonelli did well to defend, holding his position despite Piastri’s attack into Turn 15. This brought Leclerc into play, and though a podium seemed unlikely for the Ferrari driver, he proved a nuisance to Piastri, remaining within a second and threatening to punish any mistake.

However, Antonelli’s strong defensive efforts did not benefit him personally. With a five-second penalty outstanding, he would inevitably lose position to both Piastri and Leclerc. Nevertheless, his efforts helped his teammate Russell, keeping him in the fight for the final podium position despite his issues with the car.

Approaching the final ten laps

LAP 40/50

Ten laps to go! 💨

It's Verstappen up front with Norris and Russell currently rounding out the podium positions ⬇️#F1 #LasVegasGP pic.twitter.com/kQMMUVRbJW
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 23, 2025

With just ten laps left, Verstappen remained over five seconds in the lead, ahead of Norris in P2 and Russell in P3. Antonelli held P4, defending against Piastri, who followed 0.8 seconds behind in P5, with Leclerc threatening from P6 just under four tenths behind the McLaren. Meanwhile, Sainz sat P7 ahead of Hadjar and Hülkenberg, and Hamilton ran in the final points-scoring position in P10. Just behind came the Haas duo with Ocon leading Bearman. Alonso held P13 ahead of Gasly in P14, Tsunoda in P15, Lawson in P16, and Colapinto in P17.

With a gap of over six seconds on Lap 44, Norris sought advice from the pit wall. With no other options available and the laps ticking down, he received the instruction to push. Out of Turn 12, Piastri suffered a slide and fell back briefly from Antonelli. However, with his DRS deployed, he managed to stay ahead of the chasing Ferrari driver, who himself started to fall back as the McLaren stabilised his pace.

Final laps and late-race attrition

Onto Lap 47, Piastri lost DRS and fell under increased threat from Leclerc, who deployed his own DRS and closed rapidly. Nevertheless, the Ferrari driver still could not shrink the gap enough to launch a clean attack, and with the laps ticking down, his chance to pass the McLaren narrowed. Simultaneously, Piastri’s hopes of catching Antonelli on track faded as the gap to the Mercedes expanded to 1.8 seconds.

Meanwhile, into the penultimate lap, Norris saw his deficit to Verstappen balloon to over thirteen seconds. This gap increased to more than seventeen seconds as the McLaren driver began nursing an issue of his own. Verstappen, still untroubled at the front, powered across the finish line to claim victory, while Norris and Russell limped home behind him, both managing problems in the closing stages.

Further back, Antonelli crossed the line P4 on track, with Piastri following in P5 and Leclerc in P6. However, once the five-second penalty applied, Antonelli dropped to P5—only a tenth of a second ahead of Leclerc. Consequently, Piastri inherited P4, securing a strong result after a turbulent and hard-fought evening in Las Vegas.