With 21 races left and three to go in 2025, F1 returns to America for the first of three consecutive race weekends on the iconic Las Vegas Strip, ending the season with the final battle for the drivers’ championship.
What has changed in Las Vegas in the third year of F1?
For the third year, the city known as the entertainment capital of the world and one of the world’s largest sporting organizations come together to race Formula 1 under the bright neon lights of Las Vegas this weekend.
The now-annual slot for F1’s takeover of the Vegas Strip, held in late November the week before Thanksgiving, has proven to be a solid success for the resort city so far. The inaugural race in 2023 will generate $1.5 billion worth of economic impact, including a one-time investment in the inaugural event, and generated $934 million in revenue last year, already making it Las Vegas’ largest annual event.
Two years on from the extraordinary hype that accompanied the first event, and F1 investing in the city to promote the race by buying the land on which the permanent pit building and the first part of the track are located, you would have hoped that the event would be starting to put down long-lasting roots.
Famous landmarks that the Las Vegas Strip circuit passes through
While the 3.8-mile, 17-turn street circuit that has produced successful races in the past will remain, including a 1.2-mile dash down the famous Las Vegas Strip past iconic locations such as the Venetian, the Bellagio Fountains and Paris’ Eiffel Tower, the schedule of floodlit events has been adjusted for 2025.
Both qualifying and the Grand Prix have been moved forward by two hours to 8pm local time, making it 4am on Saturday and Sunday respectively for Sky Sports F1 viewers in the UK and Ireland.
F1 car powers down Las Vegas Boulevard at more than 200 mph
The local race’s 8pm start will coincide with F1’s oldest night race in Singapore, a move that is likely to be welcomed by those in the paddock and those attending the circuit, especially as evening temperatures can be particularly chilly in Las Vegas at this time of year.
F1 Academy will also be the first of F1’s three official series to feature the Las Vegas Aid Bill, which is fitting given the women’s-only season concludes this weekend with Dorian Pynn and Maya Wiig facing off for the title.
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Look back at some of the most dramatic moments that happened at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Las Vegas hospitality and fan offerings also continue to evolve for the event’s third edition, with cheaper tickets now on sale early. Shaggy is one of this year’s headliners and will be playing several musical stages along the track.
Will Norris lose the title or will Piastri find a response?
Although the driver’s title cannot be decided in Las Vegas, Lando Norris could come much closer to winning his first title.
The 24-point lead built by the Briton following a perfect weekend in Mexico City and Brazil is a clear advantage at this stage of the season with only 83 points remaining with three events remaining. If they win their third consecutive title, they will be in a good position to win the title as early as next week in Qatar.
However, as Norris himself was quick to stress after the win at Interlagos, 24 points is still not a truly comfortable margin. For example, if Oscar Piastri wins in Las Vegas on Sunday and Norris fails to score, the Australian driver would suddenly be back in first place by one point heading into Qatar.
But barring some recent mistakes he didn’t seem to make, and some misfortune that may already have happened during the season back in Zandvoort, Norris looks set to take the title next week without a doubt, having found something like Martin Brundle’s ‘overdrive’ mode at the right moment.
In contrast, Piastri posted his worst times of the season, with no podium finishes in five races.
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A look back at the big moments this season that gave Oscar Piastri the lead in title contention
He urgently needs to find a way to get the car back ahead of Norris this weekend, but he also has to hope that McLaren will be a much more competitive proposition on this year’s strip circuit, although he has yet to qualify or finish better than sixth in the two races so far.
Norris doesn’t necessarily need to win a race or even a sprint in the final three weeks of the season to become champion, but he will be hoping for a better weekend in Las Vegas as he looks to score the first hat-trick of his F1 career.
Will Verstappen continue his mathematical exploration for at least another week?
Although he has written that he has withdrawn from championship contention at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Verstappen remains in mathematical contention for the drivers’ crown, at least for now.
Verstappen’s comeback, which saw him win races at Monza, Baku and Austin, was curtailed by Norris’ back-to-back reactions in Mexico and Brazil, leaving the Red Bull driver 49 points behind and needing further recovery in an even shorter period of time if he is to finish the season as a five-time world champion.
Yet, while emphasizing the clear respect they have for Max, neither Norris nor McLaren have written him off completely just yet, especially on the evidence of his pitlane-to-podium comeback drive at Interlagos.
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Check out the best overtakes from Max Verstappen’s incredible performance from the pit lane to the podium at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
As for the math, a top-two finish on Sunday would put Verstappen in the math fray no matter what Norris does, as he became the first winner of 2023 in Las Vegas despite his misgivings about the much-hyped first event.
However, if Norris beats Verstappen by nine points or more, the title race will officially become a race between the two McLarens from Qatar.
What will Leclerc and Hamilton say after Elkann’s intervention?
Ferrari arrived in Las Vegas in unfamiliar territory, fourth in the constructors’ championship, with a renewed focus on the 2025 battle by chairman John Elkann.
Elkann, who heads the holding company of the Italian dynasty Agnelli family that controls companies such as Ferrari and Juventus, told reporters at an event in Milan for the 2026 Winter Olympics, a day after the F1 team’s second DNF at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, that drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc need to “concentrate on driving and talk less.”
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Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have been warned by Ferrari chairman John Elkann to “talk less and focus on driving” after the disastrous Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend.
He also said areas of the team outside of work on the car by engineers and mechanics were “not up to par”, but revealed that the possibility of reclaiming second place from Mercedes at the final race of the season was not yet considered.
The Scuderia heads into Las Vegas just four points behind third-placed Red Bull, but 36 points behind last year’s race winner Mercedes.
Regardless of whether they were upset by Ferrari’s eventual boss’s apparent public rebuke, Leclerc and Hamilton posted messages on social media within hours of Elkann’s comments after Interlagos, underscoring their commitment to the Scuderia’s cause.
Thursday’s media day in Las Vegas will be the first time we’ll hear directly from the pair since Elkann’s surprise intervention.
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Simon Lazenby, Bernie Collins and Ted Kravitz discuss Ferrari chairman John Elkann’s comment that Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc should “talk less and focus on driving”.
Leclerc and Hamilton, who scored their last F1 podium in Las Vegas a year ago during their final weeks with Mercedes, are sure to face plenty of questions on the subject from the assembled broadcast and written media.
F1’s thrilling title race continues with this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
