F1 2025: Las Vegas Grand Prix Preview and Predictions
We are down to the final three races of the 2025 Formula One season, with the Drivers’ title still up for grabs.
McLaren’s Lando Norris is in pole position to take home his first-ever title, with his teammate, Oscar Piastri, still in the mix, and the reigning world champion, Max Verstappen, lurking not too far behind.
The grid moves to Las Vegas for the third-ever race in the entertainment capital of the world to kick off the season-ending triple-header. For the 2025 F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, here we present our preview and predictions.
Now or never
For the majority of the season, Oscar Piastri was the favourite to win the Drivers’ title. Ever since the summer break, however, and with some help from the team, Lando Norris is now in prime position to take home the crown.
After returning from the summer break, Piastri has won just one race (Dutch Grand Prix), while Norris has won two. More importantly, Norris has consistently finished on the podium, whereas Piastri has had a retirement and is on a streak of three consecutive P5 finishes. McLaren have also done Piastri no favours, such as when they asked the young Australian to give up his position to let Norris through in Monza, which Piastri acknowledged crushed his confidence.
Norris now has a 36-point lead over Piastri, and even if the latter wins the three remaining races, a second-place finish for Norris in those races will secure him the title.
So, for Piastri, it’s not only that he has to win on track, but he also has to hope for fortune not favouring his teammate. In the last few weekends, the Australian has looked low on confidence, and it is clear that it has been affecting his on-track performance.
Piastri needs to reset and give it his all, and in Las Vegas he needs to get going from the first minute and then hope for the best. He’ll first need to fix his qualifying form to put himself back in the fight; given the maturity he showed earlier in the season, we expect him to come out on top in the intra-McLaren battle in Las Vegas.
It will be a tough weekend for McLaren in Las Vegas, though; the British team have struggled in colder conditions. With the two McLaren drivers trying to outdo each other, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in third may just be able to pip them under the lights to accelerate his late-season surge.
Pole position prediction: Max Verstappen / Lando Norris
Race winners prediction: Red Bull / McLaren
Ferrari vs Hamilton
When seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton made a big, head-turning move to Ferrari at the start of the season, many hoped that he, with all his experience, could bring back silverware to Maranello.
But this year has turned out to be anything but fruitful for either party. Hamilton has struggled massively and is yet to score a podium with his new team, looking very likely not to finish on the podium at least once in a season for the first time in his illustrious career.
Hamilton has undoubtedly struggled to adapt to the conditions and environment at Ferrari. While he lies sixth in the Drivers’ standings, his replacement at Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, is slowly creeping up on him in the table.
And, as if his on-track struggles weren’t enough, Hamilton was also publicly criticised after the Brazilian Grand Prix by Ferrari chairman John Elkann, who asked him to “talk less and focus on driving”. Hamilton has also been critical of the team, stating that he is “living a nightmare at Ferrari”.
Ferrari’s inability to deliver on the track saw them suffer a devastating double DNF in Brazil, which dropped them from second to fourth place in the Constructors’ standings.
Comments from his boss would have definitely stirred the struggling Hamilton even more, and he already has enough on his plate. While expecting him to heroically bounce back and snatch a win in Las Vegas would be daft, given Ferrari’s struggles this year, we expect Hamilton to reply to Elkann with his driving and at least deliver a strong weekend.
Dark Horse: Lewis Hamilton
Aston Martin slipping away
Aston Martin are another team slipping down the standings. After a relatively average start to the season, where they kept their heads above water in the midfield battle, they’ve fallen down the pecking order. Now seventh in the table, with only 20 points separating the teams from sixth to ninth, Aston Martin are in danger of being overtaken by both Haas and Sauber.
In the last six races, the Silverstone team have scored only twice — through Fernando Alonso’s P7 and P10 finishes in Singapore and the US, respectively. While they might have the race pace to finish in the lower half of the points places, their qualifying form has hurt them the most.
It is unlikely Aston Martin will manage a complete turnaround in the final three races or even end their podium-less run, which is rather disappointing considering they were being considered the dark horses and the best-of-the-rest side by many at the start of the season.
F1 Las Vegas Prix 2025: Race details
Circuit: Las Vegas Strip Circuit
Venue: Paradise, Nevada, United States
Practice Session 1 time: 06:00 IST, November 21, 2025
Practice Session 2 time: 09:30 IST, November 21, 2025
Practice Session 3 time: 06:00 IST, November 22, 2025
Qualifying time: 09:30 IST, November 22, 2025
Main race time: 09:30 IST, November 23, 2025
Where to watch: F1 TV Pro / FanCode
