The Las Vegas GP 2025 race ended with Max Verstappen’s victory, who achieved his 69th career win, dominating with an unstoppable pace in the second half of the race. The Dutchman managed the race with great experience, securing a valuable victory also in championship terms. Solid placement for Norris in second position, followed by George Russell completing the podium.
F1 Race Podium
1) Max Verstappen (Red Bull) → 50 laps
2) Lando Norris (McLaren) +20.741
3) George Russell (Mercedes) +23.546
RACE STANDINGS FINISHING ORDER
| DRIVER | TEAM | TIME | POINTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | LEADER | 25 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +20.741 | 18 |
| 3 | George Russell | Mercedes | +23.546 | 15 |
| 4 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +27.650 | 12 |
| 5 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +30.488 | 10 |
| 6 | Charles Leclerc | Scuderia Ferrari | +30.678 | 8 |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | +34.924 | 6 |
| 8 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | +45.257 | 4 |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Stake Sauber | +51.134 | 2 |
| 10 | Lewis Hamilton | Scuderia Ferrari | +59.369 | 1 |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | +60.635 | 0 |
| 12 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | +70.549 | 0 |
| 13 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +85.308 | 0 |
| 14 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | +86.974 | 0 |
| 15 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +91.702 | 0 |
| 16 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +1 LAP | 0 |
| 17 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | +1 LAP | 0 |
| 18 | Alexander Albon | Williams | DNF | 0 |
| 19 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Stake Sauber | DNF | 0 |
| 20 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | DNF | 0 |
ANALYSIS of Driver Standings and Positions
The race started at 5:04, with all drivers getting away cleanly from the start, although Lewis Hamilton delayed his movement from 19th position by a few moments. Lando Norris, the championship leader, got away well but made an error at turn 1, running wide and giving way first to Verstappen and then to Russell, dropping to third position.
The opening phase was immediately eventful, with several contacts and debris on track. Gabriel Bortoleto hit an innocent Lance Stroll, forcing both to retire and causing a Virtual Safety Car on lap 5 to clear the track. Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri rear-ended Liam Lawson, suffering damage but managing to continue.
With the return of the green flag, Verstappen immediately found his rhythm and built a small margin over Russell, while Norris tried to close the gap. In this phase , overtaking Bearman and Piastri in sequence and getting into the fight for the top five. The Monégasque declared over the radio that he was “pushing like an animal,” setting the tone for his race.
On lap 18 George Russell was the first of the top teams to make a pit stop, fitting Hard tires and attempting an early single-stop strategy. Piastri also stopped shortly after, gaining two positions on Leclerc and Sainz thanks to the undercut. Norris and Sainz followed suit on the next lap, while Verstappen waited until lap 25 for his pit stop, still rejoining in the lead with a two-second margin over Russell.
Meanwhile Kimi Antonelli was penalized five seconds for a jump start, further complicating an already difficult weekend after qualifying. The young Italian, however, surprised everyone by continuing with a single pit stop made on the second lap and holding on for over 40 laps on Hard tires, defending against Piastri and then Leclerc in an outstanding performance.
In the second third of the race the battle for the podium heated up. Norris, with fresher tires, overtook Russell with DRS on the Strip and tried to increase the pace to catch Verstappen. However, after a very strong phase, Norris began to suffer a performance drop, perhaps related to fuel consumption, and was forced to slow down for several laps.
Verstappen, instead, continued to increase the pace and set the fastest lap of the race multiple times, extending the advantage to over 10 seconds in the final laps. Russell, for his part, held up well on more worn tires and defended the podium.
The final laps saw the most heated battle behind the leaders. Antonelli tenaciously resisted attacks from Piastri and then Leclerc, despite being aware of the penalty to serve. The Italian driver still managed to cross the finish line ahead of the Monégasque, defending a very significant fifth place on track.
On the last lap Norris received the green light from the pit wall to push again, but there was no longer any margin to recover on Verstappen, who closed the race with a 15-second advantage.
The checkered flag certified Verstappen’s victory ahead of Norris and Russell. Kimi Antonelli, considering the five-second penalty, finished fifth ahead of Leclerc, with Sainz, Hadjar, Hulkenberg and Hamilton completing the points zone. The seven-time champion, however, experienced an inexplicably slow finish, losing ground to Hulkenberg after his pit stop.
At the end of the race, the Drivers’ standings saw further reshuffling: Norris increased his advantage over Piastri from 24 to 30 points, while Verstappen reduced the gap to -42, relaunching his World Championship ambitions with a show of strength.