Verstappen Dominates Las Vegas GP Norris Secures Second

Max Verstappen has won the Grand Prix of Las Vegas. The Dutchman took the lead from Lando Norris in the opening turn and drove unchallenged to the finish. For Norris, the second place was still valuable: the McLaren driver thereby strengthens his grip on the world championship.

The race began with quite a bit of chaos in the first turn. Norris braked too late and shot straight ahead, giving Verstappen a clear path to take the lead. Norris even fell back to third place, as George Russell also overtook the McLaren driver. Liam Lawson also had a difficult start: he clipped the front wheel of Oscar Piastri in the first turn and damaged his front wing. The Racing Bulls driver had to pit immediately and fell back to the last place. However, the biggest incident came from Gabriel Bortoleto. The Brazilian dove into the first turn with too much speed and collided with Lance Stroll. The Aston Martin suffered heavy damage; for both Stroll and Bortoleto, the race was over immediately.

George Russell steered his Mercedes to an impressive third place, while teammate Kimi Antonelli was perhaps the surprise of the day. From P17, the young Italian stormed forward. Thanks to an early pit stop and skillful defensive work, he finished fourth, but a five-second time penalty ultimately dropped Antonelli to P5. Carlos Sainz finished in the points again. The Spaniard came in seventh. Behind him, Isack Hadjar took the eighth spot for Racing Bulls, while Nico Hülkenberg at P9 again scored valuable points for Sauber. Lewis Hamilton had a difficult qualification and had to start from P19. The seven-time world champion steadily fought his way forward and eventually finished the race in tenth place — good for the last point.