As Formula 1 made its way to the city known for gambling, one team may have put everything on red and had it come up black as the title race is blown wide open.
Max Verstappen: 9.5
Despite being beaten to pole position, Max Verstappen took advantage of an overly aggressive start from Lando Norris to take the lead and dominate in Las Vegas.
The Dutchman headed every lap and held off Lando Norris and George Russell to comfortably take a second victory on the Strip and keep himself in title contention.
A post-race double disqualification for McLaren has put Verstappen right back in the mix, tied on points with Piastri and now 24 points behind Norris with two to go.
Yuki Tsunoda: 5
Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies admitted to a mistake that led to Yuki Tsunoda being eliminated in Q1, giving him a mountain to climb to recover in the 50-lap race.
Starting from the pit lane with a new power unit, Tsunoda struggled to make up places, crossing the line in 14th, which became 12th with the McLarens excluded.
George Russell: 9
George Russell was made to lament what could have been as a recurring steering issue cost the Briton the chance to replicate the win he recorded 12 months ago.
Having topped both Q1 and Q2, the problem began to plague Russell in Q3, consigning him to fourth on the grid, though he moved up to second on the opening lap.
However, the issue returned as he sought to continue pressuring race leader Verstappen, culminating in Norris passing him on track and causing him to limp home.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli: 9
Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s debut weekend in Las Vegas seemed poised to be a torrid one when he was eliminated in Q1 and then made a premature move at the start.
However, a genius strategy call to discard the Soft tyre under the Virtual Safety Car, combined with a mega drive on 48-lap old Hard tyres, saw him recover to fourth.
The Italian would lose a spot to Oscar Piastri once his five-second penalty was added, but that then became third place and another podium with the McLarens out.
Charles Leclerc: 8
Charles Leclerc described Ferrari’s struggles in the wet as “f***ing embarrassing” as he qualified ninth, over two seconds down on pole-sitter Norris’ benchmark time.
Leclerc was on the charge in the opening stint as he overtook several cars, but was disappointed with the team’s strategy as Antonelli and Piastri undercut his Ferrari.
That would cost the Monegasque another podium once the two McLaren drivers were disqualified, with Antonelli classified a mere 0.19 seconds ahead to claim third.
Lewis Hamilton: 6
Lewis Hamilton suffered a first-ever Q1 elimination on pure pace as he propped up the grid in 20th and last place in Vegas, the first Ferrari driver to do so since 2009.
Starting 19th, Hamilton was able to capitalise on the carnage at Turn 1 on the opening lap to move up to 13th quickly and emerged in 10th once he made his pitstop.
But despite being on the grippier Medium tyre, the seven-time champion was unable to pressure those ahead, leaving him to take “zero” positives from his comeback.
Carlos Sainz: 9.5
Carlos Sainz had hoped that the conditions come the race would match those in qualifying after he managed a stunning lap in the wet to claim third place on the grid.
Despite dropping back in the dry, the Spaniard still finished in a solid seventh, promoted to fifth after McLaren’s double DSQ to continue his strong run in recent rounds.
Alex Albon: 4
But Alex Albon was unable to capitalise on Williams’ expected competitiveness around the Las Vegas Strip Circuit as he clouted the wall en route to dropping out in Q3.
The Anglo-Thai driver then spent the race with no radio communication, which hindered him when the side didn’t replace his front wing when he clashed with Hamilton.
Isack Hadjar: 8.5
Isack Hadjar pumped in another measured weekend, converting eighth place on the grid come the chequered flag, which became sixth, his ninth top-10 finish of 2025.
Liam Lawson: 6.5
Liam Lawson’s improvement continued as he qualified sixth, but the Kiwi wasted the chance to bank much-needed points when he clattered into Oscar Piastri in Turn 1.
The subsequent damage meant Lawson had to pit early for a new front wing, something he wouldn’t be able to recover from coming home in 16th, which later became 14th.
Nico Hulkenberg: 8.5
Nico Hulkenberg’s one-lap resurgence was maintained in Las Vegas as he again had the measure of rookie team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto to line up ahead in 11th place.
The German maximised starting on the more favoured Hard compound to go long and overcut several cars to take ninth on the road before being promoted to seventh.
Gabriel Bortoleto: 3
Gabriel Bortoleto had a weekend to forget on his maiden trip to Las Vegas. Having been knocked out in Q1, he went too deep into Turn 1 and collided with Lance Stroll.
Not only ruining his own race, the consequences of taking out Stroll also and spinning Pierre Gasly saw him pick up a five-place grid penalty for the next round in Qatar.
Esteban Ocon: 7.5
Esteban Ocon strung together a solid weekend and would eventually be rewarded with a ninth-place finish after both McLaren drivers were disqualified.
Oliver Bearman: 7
Oliver Bearman backed up his team-mate, following the Frenchman home in 12th, subsequently picking up the final point in 10th for a fifth points finish in a row.
Fernando Alonso: 7
A strong lap in qualifying in the wet to take seventh would go unrewarded as the Aston Martin package was uncompetitive in the dry conditions on race day.
The Spaniard slipped back to 13th come the chequered flag, missing out on a point despite McLaren’s woes.
Lance Stroll: N/A
Having been taken out at the first corner, Stroll will be left rueing a mistaken tyre choice in qualifying that saw him miss out on potential progression to Q3.
Pierre Gasly: 8
An innocent victim, Gasly was robbed of an opportunity to convert a ninth visit to Q3 in 2025 to points, recovering only to 15th at the flag and classified 13th.
Franco Colapinto: 5.5
Despite having experience in Las Vegas, Colapinto was unable to match Gasly across the weekend, finishing behind the Frenchman, despite his Turn 1 spin.
Lando Norris: 8.5
An excellent lap in the wet to take a third consecutive pole position wasn’t enough to see Norris win again, as a mistake at Turn 1 saw him lose two places at the start.
Despite biding his time and later clearing Russell, Norris was unable to catch up to Verstappen when he had to slow with a sudden issue during the closing exchanges.
Having lost second place once his McLaren was inspected post-race, the Briton now goes into the last two races with a 24-point lead over both Piastri and Verstappen.
Oscar Piastri: 7
Piastri’s struggles continued in Vegas as he was once again lost in the shadow of team-mate Norris.
Qualifying one second slower than the Brit in fifth, a collision with Lawson at Turn 1 saw him slip even further behind.
A slow and frustrating recovery drive to fifth at the chequered flag, which became fourth thanks to Antonelli’s penalty, was all in vain as he was also disqualified for excessive plank wear.
READ MORE – Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri disqualified from F1 Las Vegas GP
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