Red Bull's Max Verstappen took his sixth victory of the 2025 Formula 1 season in Saturday evening's Las Vegas Grand Prix, with McLaren's Lando Norris finishing second to tighten his grip on the Drivers' Championship, reported Xinhua.
Starting from pole position, Norris moved aggressively at the start to cover off the threat from Verstappen, but overshot his braking point at Turn 1, allowing the Dutchman and Mercedes' George Russell through.
Though Norris eventually passed his compatriot for second on lap 34 of 50, he was powerless to do anything about Verstappen, and the Briton was lucky to even finish second after his McLaren slowed over the final two laps to manage an apparent fuel issue.
"It was good, in practice we didn't really know what the tyres were going to do," said Verstappen afterwards.
"In the race, you could just see that everyone was just trying to find the rhythm and see how much you can push.
"We had a lot more pace and I could stay out a little bit longer and split the race in half and that definitely helped a lot," he continued.
"The car was working pretty well, much more to my liking and at the end it was quite a decent lap. Every lap I was just feeling comfortable and not taking too much out of the tyre.
"In upcoming weekends, we will try and win, and we will see where we end up [in the championship], but I'm very proud of everyone.
"We are enjoying it now and we will see next week what we can do again," added the Dutchman.
Behind the top three, Norris' teammate and key title rival Oscar Piastri had another underwhelming race to place fourth, and the Australian's title charge is in danger of fizzling out after having not finished on the podium for six races.
Russell's teammate, Kimi Antonelli, finished fourth on the road but was hit with a five-second penalty for jumping the start. The Italian notably pitted on lap 3 for a set of Hard tyres that he successfully managed until the end, vaulting him from 17th on the grid to fifth by the flag.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc finished sixth, ahead of Carlos Sainz with a solid drive to seventh in his Williams. Racing Bull's Isack Hadjar took eighth, with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg ninth, and Leclerc's teammate Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top ten after having started from the back of the grid.
In the Driver's Championship, Norris now has 408 points, extending his lead over second-placed Piastri to 30 points with 58 left to play for. Verstappen's win sees him close within 12 points of Piastri.
While McLaren has long since wrapped up the Constructors' title, the race for second place remains tight. Mercedes currently holds the position with 423 points, with Verstappen's win seeing Red Bull close to 391, and Ferrari 20 points further adrift after having endured two poor weekends.
The 23rd and penultimate round of the 2025 F1 season is the Qatar Grand Prix at the Lusail Circuit, which Verstappen will be aiming to win for the third consecutive season.
Norris can seal the championship before the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix if he finishes the Qatar weekend more than 25 points clear of Piastri and Verstappen.
- Verstappen
- Las Vegas GP
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
