Verstappen keeps the championship alive

Max Verstappen is the first driver to win more than once in Las Vegas, taking a commanding victory in the Nevadan night, to add to his 2023 win, thus keeping his Drivers’ World Championship title hopes alive going into the final two rounds of the season.

Championship leader Lando Norris came home second for McLaren, having lost the pole advantage to the Dutchman after the start. A disqualification on both McLarens at the end of the race, however, promoted George Russell (Mercedes), last year’s winner, to second place, and his teammate Kimi Antonelli to third.

For Verstappen, who started from second, this was his sixth win of the season and the 69^th of his career. For Red Bull Racing this is win number 128. Verstappen has still a chance of winning the Drivers’ World Championship title. With two Grands Prix and one Sprint race remaining, Norris leads with 390 points, just 24 ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri and Verstappen.

THE DAY ON TRACK   

The majority of drivers started on the Medium tyre, with five drivers, the Saubers of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto Alex Albon (Williams), Franco Colapinto (Alpine) and Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) lining up on the Hard. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), later penalised for a jumped start, was the only driver to start on the Softs.

When the lights went out, Norris was over-aggressive in defending his pole position, running wide at the first corner, which allowed Verstappen and Russell, who got ahead of Carlos Sainz, to move ahead of the McLaren.  At half distance – lap 25 of 50 - Verstappen had enough of a gap to pit to switch from Medium to Hard, a compound which proved to be very consistent and still emerge ahead of second placed Russell. Both compounds allowed drivers to push for the whole race, confirming that a one stop, with Medium and Hard was the quickest route to the flag.

The top eight all finished on Hard, while Nico Hulkenberg in ninth was the best of those who did the reverse strategy. Antonelli made up an impressive 13 places to cross the line in fourth place, but a 5 second penalty for jumping the start dropped him down just one place to fifth. The Italian completed all but two of the 50 lap total on the C3, as did Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who finished 15^th. Esteban Ocon who finished 11^th in the Haas, went furthest on the Medium, completing 27 laps on the C4.

MARIO ISOLA – PIRELLI DIRECTOR OF MOTORSPORT   

“The night time race in Las Vegas ran very much as had been expected going into the Grand Prix. We witnessed what was effectively a one-stop race, with the Medium and Hard completing the 50 laps between them. Graining was very limited today, seen on only a few cars and then mainly on the front axle. The only useful reference for comparison, at least for the yellow compound, was with FP1, when the tyres had been much more affected by it.

“The decisive factor was probably track condition, the surface being much cleaner than on Friday. Last year, with similar temperatures, the drivers had to make two stops, precisely because of graining whereas this year, even without looking after the tyres, they managed to extend their stints. This is further confirmation of the improved mechanical properties of the current compounds, which indeed we’ve seen throughout the season.

“Max Verstappen’s win, taking the lead shortly after the lights went out, gives us an exceptionally close end to the season, with only two races left to run: the Drivers’ championship is yet to be decided, as is the battle in the Constructors’ behind McLaren.”

Dorian Pin is the 2025 F1 Academy Champion. The PREMA Racing-Mercedes  driver crossed the finish line of the last race of the season, in a safe fifth place, to keep ahead of her only title rival, Maya Weug who finished on the podium in third place for MP Motorsport-Ferrari. The fact that Weug failed to even start yesterday’s race compromised her hopes of overtaking the French woman, who eventually took the crown with a 15 point advantage. First and second today were Campos-Red Bull team-mates Chloe Chambers and Alisha Palmowski, finishing from where they started on the grid. The regulations forbid Pin from racing in this series next year and so she joins the roll of honour alongside previous F1 Academy champions, Marta García (2023) and Abbi Pulling (2024).