Las Vegas GP 2025: Verstappen wins as both McLarens are excluded

Max Verstappen won the Las Vegas Grand Prix from second on the grid, taking the lead at the first corner and finishing 23.5 seconds ahead of George Russell on the Strip circuit. After the race both McLarens were disqualified for excessive plank wear, which cost Lando Norris second place and Oscar Piastri fourth and promoted Kimi Antonelli to the podium. It was Verstappen's sixth win of 2025 and the 69th of his career.

How Verstappen won from second

Norris had taken pole on Friday night in a wet session that ended on intermediates, 0.323 seconds ahead of Verstappen. On Saturday he made the slower getaway, moved across to cover the inside and could not make Turn 1. Verstappen went through, and Russell passed Norris around the outside at Turns 3 and 4. Further back, Gabriel Bortoleto ran into Lance Stroll at the first corner and both were out within two laps.

That was the race decided. Russell, bothered by a steering problem that had already hurt him in qualifying, could not stay with the Red Bull and stopped on lap 17 of 50. Norris pitted five laps later, Verstappen straight after him, and Norris finally got past Russell on lap 34. Verstappen answered every push. In the closing laps Norris was told to lift and coast, and he crossed the line nearly 21 seconds down.

Then came the scrutineers. Both McLaren skid planks measured under the 9mm minimum, by fractions of a millimetre. The stewards accepted it was not deliberate but said the rules allowed no other penalty. Team principal Andrea Stella blamed porpoising far heavier than anything the cars had shown in practice.

The teammate duels in Las Vegas

Mercedes. Antonelli went out in Q1 in 17th, then picked up a five-second penalty for a false start. He pitted under the first virtual safety car, fitted hards and ran the remaining 48 laps on them. With the penalty applied he was classified 0.19 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc. Russell still won both sides of their duel, and leads it 19–3 in qualifying and 16–2 in races in our count.

Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton qualified last, unable to bring his wet tyres up to temperature, and started 19th only because Yuki Tsunoda went to the pit lane. He finished eighth once the McLarens were removed. Leclerc was fourth, a fifth of a second off the podium. Hamilton vs Leclerc now reads 17–5 in qualifying and 16–3 in races on F1 Duels.

Williams. Carlos Sainz qualified third, his teammate Alex Albon 16th after hitting the wall at Turn 16 in Q1. Sainz drove a clean race to fifth. Albon clipped Hamilton's Ferrari, took a five-second penalty for it and was eventually retired by the team, so the race does not count in our model. Sainz's Saturday win puts him 12–10 ahead in their qualifying tally, while Albon still leads 11–4 on Sundays.

McLaren. Norris out-qualified Piastri, who started fifth after running wide at Turn 12 on his final lap. In the race Piastri was hit at Turn 1 by a locking Liam Lawson and recovered to fourth on the road. Neither result stands, so Las Vegas leaves Norris vs Piastri unchanged at 13–9 in qualifying and 12–8 in races for Norris. At Red Bull, Tsunoda finished 12th from the pit lane and Verstappen's record against him stays perfect: 20–0 and 18–0.

What it means for the title

Had the result stood, Norris would have left Nevada 30 points clear of Piastri and 42 ahead of Verstappen. Instead he has 390 points, and Piastri and Verstappen are level on 366 with two Grands Prix and one sprint left. A weekend that looked like settling the title for Norris has instead reopened it for Verstappen. Every verdict from the weekend is on the Las Vegas GP duels page.