It wasn’t raining like the day before, and the dry Las Vegas night gave the drivers a much calmer start to the race. When the lights went out, Lando Norris moved off the line well and tried to close the door on Max Verstappen. But he braked too late, missed the ideal line through the first corner, and Verstappen went straight past him again.

The mistake also allowed George Russell to steal second place. Behind them, Turn 1 turned messy. Several cars touched and left pieces of bodywork on the track. Lance Stroll was taken out of the race completely after Gabriel Bortoleto misjudged the corner and hit him. Liam Lawson also damaged his front wing.

On lap two, marshals were already near the edge of the track trying to clear debris while cars were still arriving at speed. There seemed to be a misunderstanding between race control and the marshals, and the situation looked unsafe. Tsunoda pitted straight away, and Lawson came in for repairs too. The Virtual Safety Car was called, and some midfield drivers used it to make an early stop.

The race got going again on lap four. Bortoleto retired because his car was too damaged from the first-lap crash. At the front, Russell stayed close to Verstappen for several laps, keeping the pressure on. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc began to move forward. He passed Oscar Piastri, who was struggling on worn tyres, and then overtook Isack Hadjar as well. By the end of lap thirteen, he was already up to fifth place and told the team he was pushing “like an animal”.

Further back, things were still lively. Alex Albon hit Lewis Hamilton and broke his front wing, forcing him into the pits. Antonelli was given a five-second penalty for moving before the start lights went out. Another short Virtual Safety Car came out on lap 15 when more debris needed removing. Piastri used the restart well and passed Hadjar, and Fernando Alonso pitted at the end of the lap.

Russell pitted on lap 17 for hard tyres and came back out in seventh place. Several others followed over the next laps. Albon received a five-second penalty for his collision with Hamilton. Hadjar stopped for hards on lap twenty, and Piastri did the same a lap later, dropping to tenth. Soon after, Sainz and Norris both pitted for hards too. Norris rejoined in fourth, while Sainz came out just ahead of Piastri, though the McLaren driver passed him quickly thanks to the undercut.

Leclerc stopped on lap 25- and came out ahead of Sainz. Verstappen pitted at the end of the same lap and kept the race lead with no trouble. As the race moved past half-distance, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg both stopped for fresh mediums. One question remained in the midfield: would Antonelli need to pit again? He had changed from softs to hards immediately after the start and was running in an impressive fourth place.

On lap 34, Norris attacked Russell and passed him into Turn 14 to take second place. He was around five seconds behind Verstappen. Albon later retired from the race, and Piastri began closing on Antonelli. Leclerc joined the fight too. Piastri tried a move into Turn 14 but made a mistake, and Leclerc almost got past him as a result.

Antonelli did a brilliant job holding both drivers behind him for several laps. Even when Piastri kept trying, he couldn’t make a move stick. At the front, Verstappen controlled the race and kept his lead steady at around six seconds.

Five laps from the finish, Norris suddenly slowed down. McLaren told him he needed to save fuel, and he lost time quickly. Verstappen remained unchallenged and crossed the line as the winner. Antonelli pushed hard until the end and created enough of a gap that, after his five-second penalty was applied, he dropped only behind Piastri and secured an excellent fifth place. Charles Leclerc finished close behind in sixth, followed by Carlos Sainz in seventh. Isack Hadjar scored good points in eighth, Nico Hulkenberg claimed ninth, and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top ten.

2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix results: