Autobayng News Team
For some drivers the Las Vegas Grand Prix ended at turn one. For the McLaren drivers it might as well have done.
Some others produced performances which dazzled like the lights around the Las Vegas Strip Circuit. Here’s our verdict on all 20 drivers.
Lando Norris
Qualified: 1st (4 places ahead of team mate, -1.027s)
Grid: 1st (4 places ahead of team mate)
Start: -2 places
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: Not classified
▶ One of the last drivers to complete a lap on a drying track in Q3 and took pole despite an error at turn 16
▼ Went off at turn one trying to keep Verstappen behind at the start, lost another place to Russell
▶ Had good pace on the few occasions he wasn’t trying to manage plank wear
▲ Passed Russell after pit stop
▶ Couldn’t catch Verstappen over the final stint
▶ Disqualified for excessive plank wear
7/10: Wasted great qualifying effort with start error, but it was all in vain anyway
Oscar Piastri
Qualified: 5th (4 places behind team mate, +1.027s)
Grid: 5th (4 places behind team mate)
Start: -2 places
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: Not classified
▶ Didn’t look quick enough for pole position but would have been higher without Leclerc’s yellow flag
▶ Hit by Lawson at the start and fell behind Hadjar
▶ Passed Hadjar before his pit stop and Sainz after it
▶ Couldn’t pass Antonelli who had older tyres
▶ Disqualified for excessive plank wear
6/10: Not quite as quick Norris, had an unlucky weekend even before the disqualification
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Charles Leclerc
Qualified: 9th (11 places ahead of team mate, -2.301s)
Grid: 9th (10 places ahead of team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 4th (4 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Did well to wrestle the Ferrari into Q3 after several mistakes
▼ Another mistake on his final Q3 lap cost him a better starting position
▶ Ran wide at turn one at start but didn’t hit anyone
▲ Great first stint passing Bearman, Piastri and Hadjar
▶ Pit stop timing cost him a place to Piastri
▶ Pushed to stay within range of penalised Antonelli but fell short by less than two tenths of a second
8/10: Strong effort in race made up for another qualifying error
Lewis Hamilton
Qualified: 20th (11 places behind team mate, +2.301s)
Grid: 19th (10 places behind team mate)
Start: +6 places
Strategy: One-stop (H-M)
Finished: 8th (4 places behind team mate)
▼ Didn’t look quick enough to escape Q1 and guaranteed it by aborting his final lap in error
▶ Took advantage of first-lap melee to climb from 19th to 12th
▶ Passed Ocon once
▼ Made several errors at turn 12 and turn 14 as he struggled with brakes, including a costly one on his out-lap
▼ Poor pace in final stint on the medium tyre compound
3/10: Brought the car home but made significant errors in qualifying and the race
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Max Verstappen
Qualified: 2nd (17 places ahead of team mate, -3.34s)
Grid: 2nd (18 places ahead of team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 1st (11 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Narrowly denied pole position by Norris
▲ Gained lead from Norris at the start
▲ Withstood brief pressure from Russell in first stint
▶ Out-ran Norris for what turned out to be an especially valuable win
9/10: Clinically took his chance as the cards fell his way
Yuki Tsunoda
Qualified: 19th (17 places behind team mate, +3.34s)
Grid: 20th (18 places behind team mate)
Start: +2 places
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-M)
Finished: 12th (11 places behind team mate)
▶ Dropped out in Q1 again, though team said this was due to an error with his tyre pressures
▶ Started from the pit lane with a fresh power unit and rear wing change
▶ Couldn’t take full advantage of the Virtual Safety Car as Antonelli did when he pitted
▼ Got stuck behind Colapinto which allowed Alonso to pass him
▶ Eventually passed Colapinto but lost another place to Bearman
▶ Made a second pit stop which ended his chance of points
4/10: Antonelli’s race shows a low-end points finish was possible from the pits
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Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Qualified: 17th (13 places behind team mate, +3.17s)
Grid: 17th (13 places behind team mate)
Start: +3 places
Strategy: One-stop (S-H)
Finished: 3rd (1 place behind team mate)
▼ Failed to make it out of Q1
▼ Penalised five seconds for moving fractionally before the start
▶ Made a low-cost early pit stop during the Virtual Safety Car period
▲ Wasted no time passing Colapinto and got past Bearman quickly
▲ Soaked up pressure from Piastri despite running the same set of hard tyres for most of the race
8/10: Poor Q1 and smart strategy laid the ground for an excellent recovery drive
George Russell
Qualified: 4th (13 places ahead of team mate, -3.17s)
Grid: 4th (13 places ahead of team mate)
Start: +2 places
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 2nd (1 place ahead of team mate)
▶ Quickest in final practice, Q1 and Q2
▶ Power steering fault in Q3, plus difficulties with the intermediate tyres, left him fourth on the grid
▲ Seized his chance to take second off Norris at the start
▶ Power steering problem returned in race, forcing him to drive around it
▶ Pushed unsuccessfully to attack Verstappen in first stint, then pitted early
▼ May have ‘over managed’ his tyres in second stint, leading to drop in pace and fall to third behind Norris
8/10: An excellent result considering his steering problems
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Lance Stroll
Qualified: 12th (5 places behind team mate, +0.985s)
Grid: 12th (5 places behind team mate)
Finished: Not classified
▶ Had good pace in qualifying but gambling on intermediates in Q2 didn’t pay off
▶ Taken out at the start by Bortoleto
6/10: Unrewarded bravery in qualifying, plain bad luck in the race
Fernando Alonso
Qualified: 7th (5 places ahead of team mate, -0.985s)
Grid: 7th (5 places ahead of team mate)
Start: -3 places
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 11th
▲ Capitalised on a wet qualifying session to put Aston Martin higher than they deserved on the grid
▶ Passed by Bearman and Leclerc on lap one
▶ Passed Tsunoda and Colapinto after his pit stop
▶ Briefly attacked Hamilton then lost places to the Haas drivers
▼ Pace dropped off steeply towards end of race
7/10: Did a fine job in qualifying but dropped off significantly in the race
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Franco Colapinto
Qualified: 15th (5 places behind team mate, +1.923s)
Grid: 15th (5 places behind team mate)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: One-stop (H-M)
Finished: 15th (2 places behind team mate)
▼ Reached Q2 but mistake on final lap left him 15th
▶ Hit by Albon at the start which left him with damage for the rest of the race
▶ Fell to last at the finish
5/10: Same misfortune as his team mate, but had done less
Pierre Gasly
Qualified: 10th (5 places ahead of team mate, -1.923s)
Grid: 10th (5 places ahead of team mate)
Start: -7 places
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 13th (2 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Immediately quick from the start of practice
▲ Excellent qualifying effort got him into Q3
▶ Hit by Stroll (who had been hit by Bortoleto) at the start
▶ Ran the ‘Antonelli strategy’ but car was too damaged to benefit from it
7/10: Extremely hard-done by after his qualifying performance
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Esteban Ocon
Qualified: 13th (1 place ahead of team mate, -0.107s)
Grid: 13th (1 place ahead of team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 9th (1 place ahead of team mate)
▶ Comfortably passed through Q1, then led closely-matched Haas drivers in Q2
▶ Had to take evasive action at turn one which dropped him behind Bearman
▶ Lost a place to Hamilton when he no longer had DRS from Alonso
▶ Ran a longer first stint than Bearman, who then let him past
▶ Almost got back within range of Hamilton by the end of the race
8/10: Solid all weekend
Oliver Bearman
Qualified: 14th (1 place behind team mate, +0.107s)
Grid: 14th (1 place behind team mate)
Start: +6 places
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 10th (1 place behind team mate)
▶ Qualified close behind Ocon
▶ Was one of the big winners from the first-lap mess, moving up seven places to seventh
▶ Passed by Leclerc early on
▶ Pitted a lap after Alonso, dropping him behind the Aston Martin
▶ Soon after he passed Alonso, Haas told him to let Ocon by
▶ Had worse graining on the hards than Ocon but out-ran Alonso
▶ Inherited final point when McLarens were disqualified
7/10: Not far off Ocon, strategy didn’t help
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Isack Hadjar
Qualified: 8th (2 places behind team mate, +0.492s)
Grid: 8th (2 places behind team mate)
Start: +3 places
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 6th (8 places ahead of team mate)
▲ Showed great pace in qualifying as he reached Q3
▼ Fortunate to avoid a penalty for nearly crashing into Piastri under yellow flags
▶ Emerged from lap one in fifth place
▶ Briefly resisted Piastri, then passed by Leclerc and eventually the McLaren too
▶ Lost places to some quicker cars and came in eighth
7/10: Appeared to be the quicker of the two Racing Bulls drivers again
Liam Lawson
Qualified: 6th (2 places ahead of team mate, -0.492s)
Grid: 6th (2 places ahead of team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-H)
Finished: 14th (8 places behind team mate)
▲ Solid job in qualifying delivered sixth on the grid
▼ Surprisingly not penalised for hitting Piastri at the start, which damaged his own front wing
▶ Passed Colapinto to avoid finishing last
4/10: Turn one mistake ruined his race
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Alexander Albon
Qualified: 16th (13 places behind team mate, +1.347s)
Grid: 16th (13 places behind team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Three-stop (H-M-H-M)
Finished: Not classified
▼ Crashed out in Q1
▼ Reprimanded for a minor pre-race starting procedure infringement
▼ Another driver who went too deep into turn one, hit another car and avoided a penalty
▼ Damaged his front wing hitting Hamilton while trying to pass him and received a five-second penalty
▶ Retired with damage
2/10: Three collisions over two sessions, one of which was terminal. Very poor
Carlos Sainz Jnr
Qualified: 3rd (13 places ahead of team mate, -1.347s)
Grid: 3rd (13 places ahead of team mate)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 5th
▲ Superb qualifying effort netted third on the grid
▶ Passed by Russell at the start
▶ Resisted Leclerc and Piastri as long as he could but was always likely to fall behind them
▶ Promoted to fifth place post-race
8/10: Terrific in qualifying, got everything he could from the race
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Nico Hulkenberg
Qualified: 11th (7 places ahead of team mate, -2.119s)
Grid: 11th (7 places ahead of team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: One-stop (H-M)
Finished: 7th
▲ Beat team mate into Q2
▼ Error at end of last lap cost him a place in Q3
▶ Started on hards and ran a long opening stint
▶ Emerged from the pits still in front of Hamilton which put him ninth at the flag, seventh after disqualifications
7/10: Minor qualifying slip probably didn’t cost him in the end
Gabriel Bortoleto
Qualified: 18th (7 places behind team mate, +2.119s)
Grid: 18th (7 places behind team mate)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: One-stop (H-M)
Finished: Not classified
▼ Pace dropped off in Q1 and he ended up over a second off Hulkenberg
▼ Braked far too late for turn one and crashed into Stroll at the start
3/10: Not the only driver to brake too late for turn one, but did the most damage
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Over to you
Vote for the driver who impressed you most last weekend and find out whether other RaceFans share your view here:
2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix
- Norris did “what you should do” at turn one – Verstappen
- 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend F1 driver ratings
- “Didn’t realise I had Alonso behind me”: Hamilton’s costly turn 14 error in Las Vegas
- Drivers ‘can’t complain’ to Pirelli about lack of degradation and overtaking – Ocon
- Antonelli calls recovery drive “redemption” after poor qualifying
