Max Verstappen kept his F1 title defence alive with victory at 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Verstappen pounced on a wide moment from pole-sitter, Lando Norris at the opening corner to take the lead and ultimately cruised to victory, as Norris settled for second after he passed Mercedes’ George Russell on lap 34 in what was the latter pair’s 150th Grand Prix start in F1.
Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli executed an one-stop strategy to finish fourth on the road from 17th on the grid but a five-second time penalty demoted him to fifth behind Oscar Piastri but ahead of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, with Leclerc and Sainz having lost pace in the concluding laps.
Isack Hadjar, Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top ten.
Norris and Piastri however were disqualified post race after their skid planks were found to be below the minimum thickness requirement of 9mm under Article 3.5.9.e of the technical regulations.
Everyone else consequently were bumped up two positions in the classification as Haas’ Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman inherited the last points-paying positions of ninth and tenth respectively.
In the drivers’ standings, Norris’ title lead over Piastri remained at 24 points but Piastri stayed ahead of Verstappen on countback of seven Grand Prix victories to six, after the four-time champion moved level on points with the Aussie.
Across in the constructors’ standings, second-placed Mercedes pulled out a 40-point gap to Red Bull in their scrap to finish as vice-champion behind McLaren, whilst Ferrari are 53 points behind the Silver Arrows so remain mathematically still in contention.
At lights out on his 150th Grand Prix start and the first to achieve that feat with his debut team, Norris led from pole but ran deep and wide at the first corner which gave the lead to Verstappen whilst Russell had cleared Sainz and used his momentum to pass his British compatriot.
Further back, Lawson suffered front wing damage due to contact with Piastri and his front wing subsequently slipped under his Racing Bulls car on the second lap.
The Virtual Safety Car (VSC) however was deployed on that lap due to debris at turn one caused by a reckless inside divebomb from Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, which caused the Brazilian to hit the rear of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll to eliminate the pair from contention.
Bortoleto consequently was handed a five-place grid penalty for the Qatar GP on 30 November as punishment for his incident.
Once the VSC was withdrawn on lap 4, Russell reeled Verstappen in but the reigning four-time world champion withstood the Brit’s pressure before tyre management came into effect on lap 10.
Russell consequently opted to pit at the end of lap 17 whilst Norris held back and managed to stay out until the end of lap 22 before he like Russell switched from the medium to hard tyres.
Verstappen meanwhile pitted at the end of lap 25 and was able to cover off the threat of Russell who had encountered difficulties with his steering.
Those issues eventually played into Norris’ hands as the title leader used his better pace to pass Russell into Turn 15 on lap 34.
Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli meanwhile found himself fourth once everyone made their pit stops after he pitted on lap 4 to go from soft to hard tyres, amidst a subsequent time penalty for moving before the start signal turned green.
The Italian proceeded to fend off Piastri and Leclerc until the checkered flag but the time penalty dropped him to fifth in the classification.
Out at the front, Verstappen cruised to his 69th Grand Prix victory in F1 which kept his title hopes alive, with a maximum haul of 58 points available across the final two rounds of the season meaning that he needs some serious luck on his side to deny Norris or Piastri a maiden title.
Norris meanwhile clung onto second after he had to lift and coast to save fuel to the checkered flag due to a technical issue, but had a large enough gap to Russell of around eight seconds to fend off his compatriot.
Stewards however disqualified both Norris and Piastri after their skid planks were found to be below the minimum thickness requirement of 9mm under Article 3.5.9.e of the technical regulations.
Everyone else who finished the race were bumped up two positions in the classification which meant that Antonelli inherited the final podium spot.
F1 now turns its attention to the penultimate round of the season which takes place in Qatar from 28 – 30 November, and marks the final sprint weekend of the season with the top three now separated by just under the points value of a Grand Prix victory.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 50 | 1h 21m 08.429 |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes | 50 | + 23.546 |
| 3 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 50 | + 30.488 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 50 | + 30.678 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 50 | + 34.924 |
| 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | 50 | + 45.257 |
| 7 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | 50 | + 51.134 |
| 8 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 50 | + 59.369 |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 50 | + 60.635 |
| 10 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 50 | + 70.549 |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 50 | + 85.308 |
| 12 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | 50 | + 86.974 |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly | Aston Martin | 50 | + 91.702 |
| 14 | Liam Lawson | Red Bull | 49 | + 1 Lap |
| 15 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 49 | + 1 Lap |
| RET | Alex Albon | Williams | 36 | Power |
| RET | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | 3 | Damage |
| RET | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 0 | Collision |
| DSQ | Lando Norris | McLaren | 50 | Skid Plank |
| DSQ | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 50 | Skid Plank |
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