Max Verstappen won the Las Vegas Grand Prix this Saturday (22), but McLaren’s Lando Norris had one hand on the Formula 1 title after finishing second and extending his advantage over teammate Oscar Piastri to 30 points.
Piastri finished fourth after Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, who was ahead of the Australian at the checkered flag, had five seconds added for jumping the start.
George Russell, winner of last year’s night race and, like Norris, in his 150th start, completed the podium for Mercedes.
With two Grands Prix and a speed test ahead, worth a maximum of 58 points, Norris has 408 points against Piastri’s 378, while four-time world champion Verstappen still has a mathematical chance of winning the title with 366 points.
Norris finished 20.741 seconds behind, but can now secure his first title in Qatar next weekend as McLaren have now won the constructors’ title for the second year in a row.
“The car was running very well, much more to my liking,” said Verstappen, who was driven to the podium with Norris and Russell in a pink LEGO Cadillac convertible driven by actor Terry Crews, as fireworks lit up the sky over the Strip.
It was Verstappen’s 69th career victory and sixth of the season, in addition to his 125th podium and eighth consecutive in the 150th Grand Prix of the partnership between Red Bull and Honda.
Norris lost the lead to Verstappen at the start, falling to third when he left the track in the first corner, opening the way for the Dutch driver and Russell.
He retook second place from Russell in the 34th of 50 laps, but then had to manage his fuel until the end.
“I let Max win”, he joked. “I let him go, I let him have a good race. It wasn’t my best performance, but when the guy wins by 20 seconds it’s because he just did a better job and was a little faster.”
Antonelli finished fifth, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc sixth and Williams’ Carlos Sainz seventh. Isack Hadjar was eighth for Racing Bulls, and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton completed the top ten.
Piastri fell from fifth to seventh position on the first lap, after contact with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, who fell to last position with his car badly damaged.
On lap 23, Verstappen had a 20-second advantage over the other competitors and stopped in the pits halfway through the race, returning to the lead after Russell and Norris had already switched to hard tires.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was hit by Gabriel Bortoleto when the Brazilian rookie aggressively entered the first corner and ran out of track, with both immediately abandoning the race.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly also spun at the start and the virtual safety car was deployed on the second lap so marshals could clear debris between turns one and four.
VSC was activated again on lap 16 due to more debris on the track, after Williams’ Alex Albon and Hamilton collided. Hamilton, who started 19th and last, finished 13th on the first lap.
Albon, whose team had lost radio contact with the car since the start, received a five-second penalty for causing the collision and was also cautioned for a starting procedure infringement.
