Autobayng News Team
Lando Norris is poised to further extend his championship points lead after claiming pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
But with Max Verstappen starting alongside him the McLaren driver can expect to come under immediate pressure from one of his remaining title rivals.
Oscar Piastri will have to gain ground from fifth to get involved in the fight for victory. The long straights of Las Vegas may help but all teams are likely to face limited strategic options.
Weather
The rain which created such a difficult and dramatic qualifying session is not likely to return on race day. There is a slight risk of showers particularly in the hour leading up to the race, however. Conditions will remain cool.
Start
The Las Vegas Strip Circuit has the second-shortest run to the first corner of any track on the calendar. The surface also offers much less grip than most tracks, making it harder for drivers to get off the line cleanly.
Distance from pole position to first braking zone. Source: Mercedes
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While last year’s race got off to a straightforward start, the inaugural event was more chaotic, with several drivers tangling further back. Max Verstappen, who started second on the grid, lunged down the inside of pole-winner Charles Leclerc, sending both off the track at turn one. The Red Bull driver received a five-second time penalty for the move.
Strategy
Although the soft tyre might seem a logical choice for such a low-grip circuit, Pirelli remains concerned about graining. The lack of rubber build-up is always a problem at Las Vegas and the rain will only make things worse.
Last year only one driver chose to start the race on softs:
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Tyre compound |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Russell | Mercedes | Medium |
| 2 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | Medium |
| 3 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | Medium |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | Medium |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | Medium |
| 6 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | Medium |
| 7 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB-Honda RBPT | Medium |
| 8 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | Medium |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | Medium |
| 10 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Medium |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | Medium |
| 12 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | Medium |
| 13 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber-Ferrari | Medium |
| 14 | Liam Lawson | RB-Honda RBPT | Medium |
| 15 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | Hard |
| 16 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Mercedes | Soft |
| 17 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | Medium |
| 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | Medium |
| 19 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber-Ferrari | Hard |
| 20 | Franco Colapinto | Williams-Mercedes | Hard |
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Pirelli suspects drivers will therefore lean towards starting the race on mediums. That will give them the chance to complete the race with a single pit stop to take a set of hards. A pit stop takes around 21 seconds.
The full list of which tyres each driver has available for the race will be added here once it has been published. Due to the wet qualifying session, drivers will have far more fresh sets of tyres available than usual.
Overtaking
The DRS zone configuration remains the same as it was for the first two races at Las Vegas. Drivers can activate DRS at the exit of turn four and part-way along the Strip, 710 metres after turn 12.
Four drivers are more than halfway towards automatic race bans, which are triggered if they reach 12 penalty points on their licences. Oliver Bearman has nine while Liam Lawson, Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda have seven each.
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Safety Cars
The first Las Vegas Grand Prix featured a brief Virtual Safety Car period on the first lap, then two subsequent Safety Car periods triggered by Lando Norris crashing at turn 12 and debris from a collision between Verstappen and George Russell.
Verstappen led the field for the first restart, Leclerc the second. Both chose to start accelerating at the entry to turn 12, which allowed them to pull far enough ahead of the chasing driver that they didn’t come under attack at the first corner.
There were no Safety Car interruptions of any kind during last year’s race.
Grid
The grid for this year’s race is as follows. Any changes between now and the start of the race will be added here:
Championship implications
If the drivers finish where they start, Norris will increase his championship lead over Piastri to 39 points while Verstappen will be 56 adrift. All three will still be in contention, but with only 58 points available per driver after the Las Vegas Grand Prix, it would put Norris in a very strong position.
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Over to you
How do you expect the Las Vegas Grand Prix to unfold? Will we see another step towards the title for Norris or a surprise which closes up the title fight?
Share your views on the race in the comments.
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2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix
- 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix strategy briefing: All the data to follow the race with
- Norris extends his career streak of success against team mates in qualifying
- “Big mistake” by Red Bull caused Tsunoda’s second consecutive Q1 exit
- Why Norris feared he’d thrown pole position away: Lap time watch
- Verstappen rues “unlucky” Q3 after completing one lap less than Norris
