F1 Las Vegas: Verstappen win, Norris and Piastri DQ tighten 2025 title fight
LAS VEGAS — Max Verstappen closed Formula 1’s 2025 championship fight to 24 points after his win and a double disqualification for McLaren on Saturday at Las Vegas.
Max Verstappen initially beat McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri with George Russell in the middle in third.
Verstappen took the lead almost immediately off the line from polesitter Norris. Norris made a big move that caused him to slip back into the clutches of Russell.
Russell and then Norris tried mounting charges on Verstappen. Then, the final nail in the coffin came in the closing laps when Norris had to nurse his car home on the fuel and tires he had. Ultimately, that handed the win to Verstappen.
“In the race I think everyone was just trying to find a rhythm and see how much you could push, especially in the first stint because being on the more fragile tyre,” said Verstappen. “It worked really well, normally the race is always a tough one for us – we are normally not that great on tyres, but today it seemed like we had that a little bit more under control and I could push a little bit more and that unlocked a bit more pace.”
Norris didn’t officially finish second, however. Russell finished second after some major developments after the race.
Post-race inspection uncovered both McLaren cars’ skid panels had a minimum thickness below 9mm, violating Article 3.5.9 of the rulebook. A remeasurememt revealed they were even thinner than first measured, according to F1. Norris and Piastri were disqualified, reflecting the penalty Lewis Hamilton received in the Chinese Grand Prix and Nico Hulkenberg received in the Bahrain Grand Prix. Their cars had similar infractions.
While Norris still has a 24-point lead over Piastri, Verstappen is tied with Piastri. Two Grands Prix and a sprint race remain.
(F1 sprint race points: 8 to win, 7 for second, 6 for third, 5 for fourth, 4 for fifth, 3 for sixth, 2 for seventh, 1 for eighth)
2025 F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix Results
- Max Verstappen – 25 points
- George Russell – 18
- Kimi Antonelli – 15
- Charles Leclerc – 12
- Carlos Sainz – 10
- Isack Hadjar – 8
- Nico Hulkenberg – 6
- Lewis Hamilton – 4
- Esteban Ocon – 2
- Oliver Bearman – 1
- Fernando Alonso
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Pierre Gasly
- Liam Lawson
- Franco Colapinto
- Alexander Albon
- Gabriel Bortoleto
- Lance Stroll
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com