All the key moments from the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix as Max Verstappen triumphs and McLaren suffer double disqualification

Thrills, spills and a dramatic post-race twist in the Drivers’ Championship – the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix was another weekend for the history books.

While Max Verstappen was victorious, it looked as though his title hopes had taken a dent as Lando Norris backed him up in second. That is, until, both Norris and Oscar Piastri were disqualified meaning the McLaren duo left Nevada without any points.

Here are all the key moments from another captivating round in Las Vegas…

Double McLaren disqualification adds drama to the Drivers’ Championship

While Norris did not manage to convert his pole position into victory in Las Vegas – with a bold move across title rival Max Verstappen into the first corner backfiring and allowing the Dutchman to get ahead – the McLaren racer’s P2 result meant that his championship bid had not taken much of a hit.

However, this picture became somewhat less certain when it was confirmed post-race that the rearmost skid wear on both Norris and team mate Piastri’s cars was found to be below the minimum 9mm thickness by technical delegates on inspection.

After the hearings, the news came that both drivers had been disqualified from the results of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, meaning that Norris and Piastri would lose second and fourth place respectively.

Following the initial race results, Norris had a total of 408 points, giving him a 30-point advantage over Piastri while he was 42 points clear of Verstappen. But the DSQ brings the title contenders much closer, with Norris’ new tally of 390 meaning that he is now only 24 points ahead of both Piastri and Verstappen, who are now equal on 366 each.

As the final two rounds of the championship approach, Norris will arrive into the next event in Qatar with much more pressure on his shoulders than would have originally been the case, given that both of his fellow contenders are now much closer.

The result might have been far from welcome for McLaren, but it certainly adds an intriguing element to the Drivers’ Championship battle as the campaign heads towards its finale.

Verstappen’s dominant win

Regardless of the ensuing McLaren drama, Verstappen was in commanding form around the streets of Las Vegas, taking control early on after passing Norris through Turn 1 when the Briton ran wide following an aggressive move to try to cover off the Red Bull.

From there the four-time World Champion’s position at the front did not look in jeopardy as he stretched out his lead – a margin that eventually grew to 20 seconds at the line as the then-second placed Norris appeared to be nursing an issue on his car.

Verstappen’s previous visits to the Las Vegas Strip Circuit have been special, the Dutch racer having won the inaugural event in 2023 before clinching his fourth World Championship during last year’s event.

And while he did not take such honours alongside his triumph this time around, Verstappen’s win has now potentially become even more important in keeping his 2025 title prospects alive, with the double disqualification of the McLarens allowing him to close in further on Norris and draw equal with Piastri.

Speaking before Norris and Piastri each received a DSQ, Verstappen looked ahead to the impact such wins could have in the future, saying of his team: “I’m very proud of everyone – we’ve had a really up and down season and tough times, but also really beautiful moments, and we learned a lot throughout the whole season and that’s also very valuable for the upcoming years.

“So that’s something that we just have to cling onto and just try to improve even more, to come back stronger next year even, to put up a fight from the start of the year in the championship.”

Russell battles steering issues while Antonelli shines in Mercedes double podium

A victor 12 months ago in Las Vegas, George Russell had to settle for the runner-up position in the 2025 edition having benefitted from Lando Norris’ disqualification after finishing third on the road.

The Mercedes driver ran as high as second in the first stint and even got within DRS range of leader Max Verstappen, but damaged tyres from pushing too early in the second stint was compounded by a steering issue that limited the Briton’s outright pace.

“I had the steering problem again from about Lap 5, the same as I did in qualifying,” said Russell.

“I managed to drive around this and I got used to the challenges of this problem, and the pace looked quite good in stint one.

“Then, at the start of my second stint when Verstappen came out of the pits, I was like ‘right, I’m going to attack now’ to see if I could take the lead, and I grained my tyres.”

While Russell struggled for pace in the second stint, the opposite was true of Mercedes team mate Kimi Antonelli who held Oscar Piastri at bay in the closing stages and closed on Russell and Norris ahead.

The young Italian had started P17 on the soft tyre and made an early pit stop for the hard compound, eventually moving up to P4 but a five-second penalty for a false start initially dropped him to fifth behind Piastri, before he too benefitted from McLaren’s double disqualification.

He said: “I think the strategy was really risky. I was a bit concerned half way through the race, because the graining started to appear, and I wasn’t so sure I was able to make it to the end.”

Ferrari suffer tough weekend despite fightback

Both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton fought back to finish in the points during the 50-lap race after Ferrari suffered another dismal Qualifying session, this time in wet conditions.

Hamilton recorded his worst-ever Formula 1 Qualifying performance, finishing 20th and last, while Leclerc could only manage P9 on the grid.

Leclerc’s charge in a dry race included overtakes on Ollie Bearman, Oscar Piastri and Isack Hadjar in the opening stint, before passing Carlos Sainz after the Williams exited from the pits.

Eventually finishing sixth on the road, the Monegasque benefitted from the McLaren double disqualification and was only one-tenth off a podium after Kimi Antonelli ahead was hit with a five-second post-race penalty for a false start.

“It was a bit of a shame because we lost a good opportunity to do something special because I felt like the pace was there,” said Leclerc on Ferrari’s strategy.

“Unfortunately on the second stint I had Oscar in front who had the DRS of Kimi and already I was on high downforce and it was nearly impossible to overtake on the first stint, I had to take massive risks.”

Hamilton, meanwhile, started on the hard tyre and went long on his first stint before switching to the mediums, eventually coming across the line in P10 but also moving up two places in the final order, adding: “Horrendous weekend. Another one just to add to the list”.

Pin wins 2025 F1 ACADEMY title

Going into Las Vegas, there were two women vying for the F1 ACADEMY title – Doriane Pin and Maya Weug. The former was in the lead by just nine points ahead of proceedings but she got her weekend off to the best possible start when she won the first race in treacherous, rainy conditions with a composed drive. Weug, however, dramatically crashed out in the formation lap, a devastating blow to her title hopes.

Pin then finished fifth on Saturday’s final race of the season, which was enough to take the title by 15 points over a disappointed Weug. While the Ferrari driver did finish on the podium in Race 2 to atone for her team, it marked a deflating end to an otherwise impressive campaign.

For Pin, who finished runner up last year, her 2025 title-winning campaign has very much announced her as one to watch in the future.

The glitz and glamour of Vegas

Vegas produced a spectacle of a race, with fireworks galore, Mickey Mouse conducting a post-race fountain display and an incredible Lego Cadillac car driven by Terry Crews taking centre stage to transport race-winner Max Verstappen to the podium.

But there was plenty of star power on display as well, with Beyonce and Jay-Z in attendance. They were not the only headline act, with Wicked star Cynthia Erivo parking her broomstick in exchange for the cockpit of a Williams on race day.

Actors Sam Worthington, Mark Wahlberg and Ben Affleck all turned up to see a fantastic race, with the former even getting the honour of interviewing the top three drivers.

Olympic stars Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall immediately said they wanted to take some of the razzmatazz back to track and field, while tennis ace Taylor Fritz started his off-season in style.

All in all, the Las Vegas Strip was packed with talent, both on and off the track – but it was the drivers who delivered the goods on Saturday night.