Lando Norris has admitted he is “not looking forward” to the Las Vegas Grand Prix amid concerns McLaren could struggle again on the street circuit.
Norris has won back-to-back races in Mexico and Brazil to open a 24-point lead over McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri at the top of the drivers’ championship, but he is far from confident going into the first of three races to end the season.
McLaren has struggled in the past two races held at the Las Vegas Strip circuit since it was added to the F1 calendar in 2023, with Norris finishing sixth and Piastri seventh last year despite having a car capable of winning the constructors’ championship.
Competition sessions in Las Vegas take place in the evening under the city’s stunning lights, so McLaren has struggled to operate its cars in much cooler temperatures than most other events on the calendar.
Asked whether this year’s Las Vegas conditions would help or hinder McLaren, Norris said: “It’s definitely going to be a hindrance. I think last year was the worst race, so I’m not really looking forward to it.”
“We’ve been working very hard to improve these things. I know Mercedes were incredibly strong there last year, Red Bull and Ferrari as well. I think we were last of the four.”
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Highlights from the Las Vegas Grand Prix, where George Russell started from pole position and Max Verstappen aimed for his fourth world title.
“Well, we’ll see. Obviously, a lot of things have improved this year, so I’m not going to be too negative.
“I think there’s a lot to look forward to. I know Abu Dhabi and Qatar are the races we’re looking forward to. Las Vegas is a little bit less because it’s probably some of the weakest races in the last two years. So we’ll see.”
Norris’ answer in the post-race press conference after his victory in Brazil led one journalist to question whether he was displaying an overly negative mindset, to which Norris further explained his views.
He added, “I can say what I want and I can think what I want. What I always do is always try to be as honest as possible. If we don’t think we’re going to be fast, I don’t think we’re going to be fast.”
Lando Norris on a truck passing through the immersive Sphere venue in Las Vegas in 2024
“And I’m not saying I’ll be 10th. I’m just saying I think it’s going to be hard to win. We were far apart. Look at last year’s data. Look at the race tracks. We were miles apart.”
Stella: I know which direction to go.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has further expressed his hopes that the lessons from last year’s race in Las Vegas could lead to a better result this time around.
Unlike last year, McLaren entered the race with the constructors’ championship already confirmed, with all eyes on the battle between Norris and Piastri for the drivers’ title.
“Last year in Las Vegas was one of the most difficult races,” Stella said. “As you said, we had problems with the behavior of our tires. In qualifying we weren’t fast so we had problems with the behavior of the tires, and in the race we had a lot of graining so we had problems with the behavior of the tires.
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Let’s take a look back at the big moments this season that gave Oscar Piastri the lead in the title race.
“We also had some aerodynamic issues as we tried to reduce the load on the rear wing and found that we were losing too much efficiency and in some ways we also had a bit of a problem setting up the car trying to compensate for some of this graining and understeer.
“The review from Las Vegas last year gave us a lot of information to look at ways to improve. I would say we know what direction to change compared to last year, from a tire perspective, from an aerodynamic efficiency perspective and from a car set-up perspective.
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Let’s take a look back at the big moments this season that gave Oscar Piastri the lead in the title race.
“Is it enough to be competitive now? We only see it in Las Vegas, but certainly the performance was not quite satisfactory, so we took action according to the situation last year.”
Wolff doubts Mercedes’ dominance will repeat
Mercedes dominated last year in Las Vegas, with George Russell winning from pole position and Lewis Hamilton leaping from 10th on the grid to do a one-two for the Silver Arrows.
Looking at this performance, some may consider them the early favorites to win this tournament, but team principal Toto Wolff admits that there are doubts about their success again.
“I used to say, ‘Let’s keep using exactly the same car as last year, let’s not change it,’ but unfortunately that is no longer the case,” Wolff said.
“We need to analyze very much what car we need for Las Vegas, what the surrounding environment is and if we can really repeat that kind of performance (from last year), but I doubt it.
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Relive George Russell’s hilarious radio message after winning the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
“I need to go there with an open mind. It’s a new weekend and I hope it goes well.”
Part of Wolff’s doubts stem from the fact that Mercedes hasn’t necessarily performed as well as the team expected by 2025.
Russell cited the lack of competitiveness in the British and Belgian races, where he was trying to fight for the win, but Russell admitted after Mercedes’ victory in Singapore that the result was a big surprise.
Asked whether Vega had given Mercedes the best chance of victory over the last three races, Wolff replied: “Yes. “I would say Silverstone was a great chance, Montreal, we won, but Silverstone wasn’t like that at all, Spa wasn’t like that at all.
“I don’t want to make predictions based on last year’s results, because we’ve lost before. For example, in Brazil, one year we dominated and the next year we were nowhere.”
“So I think we’re really looking forward to getting into the swing of things in Las Vegas and seeing what we can do there.”
Sky Sports F1 Las Vegas GP Schedule
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Take a look back at some of the most dramatic moments that happened at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Thursday, November 20th
2am: Driver press conference
5am: Paddock uncut
Friday, November 21st
12:00am: Las Vegas GP Practice 1 (Session starts at 12:30am)*
1:55am: F1 Academy practice*
2:50 a.m.: Team representative press conference
3:45am: Las Vegas GP Practice 2 (session starts at 4am)*
5:25am: F1 Academy Qualifying*
6.10am: F1 Show*
Saturday, November 22nd
12:15am: Las Vegas GP Practice 3 (Session starts at 12:30am)*
2:10am: F1 Academy Race 1*
3am: Las Vegas GP qualifying build-up*
4am: Las Vegas GP Qualifying*
6am: Ted’s Qualification Notes*
Sunday, November 23rd
12:15am: F1 Academy Race 2
2:30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Las Vegas GP Build-up*
4am: Las Vegas Grand Prix*
6am: Checkered flag: Las Vegas Grand Prix reaction*
7am: Ted’s Notes*
*The main event will also be broadcast live on Sky Sports
F1’s thrilling title race continues until the Las Vegas Grand Prix from November 21-23, broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
