MAX VERSTAPPEN DOMINATES VEGAS AS LANDO CLOSES IN ON F1 TITLE FIGHT
Max Verstappen won the Las Vegas GP, but Lando Norris extended his F1 title lead with a P2 finish. Norris is now 30 points clear of teammate Oscar Piastri and can clinch his first championship in Qatar.
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Max Verstappen from Red Bull was the winner at the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Saturday, but Lando Norris from McLaren is close to winning the Formula 1 title after he came in second, increasing his lead over his teammate Oscar Piastri to 30 points.
Piastri ended up in fourth place after Kimi Antonelli from Mercedes, who was ahead of the Australian when the race ended, had five seconds added to his time for starting too early.
George Russell, who won last year's race with the bright lights and is, like Norris, starting his 150th race, took third place for Mercedes.
With two more races and one short race to go, where a total of 58 points can be earned, Norris has 408 points compared to Piastri's 378, while Verstappen, who has won four world championships, still has a chance with 366 points.
Norris finished 20.741 seconds behind, but he now has the chance to win his first title in Qatar next weekend, and McLaren has already won the constructors' title for the second year in a row.
Quite a decent gap
Verstappen said, "The car was working quite well, much better than I expected," as he was driven to the podium with Norris and Russell in a pink Cadillac convertible made of LEGO bricks, driven by actor Terry Crews as fireworks lit up the sky above the Strip.
"In the end, there was quite a decent gap."
This was Verstappen's 69th victory in his career and his sixth this season, as well as his 125th time on the podium and eighth in a row in the 150th grand prix of Red Bull's partnership with Honda.
Norris lost the lead to Verstappen at the beginning, dropping to third when he went wide at the first turn, allowing the Dutch driver and Russell to pass him.
He took back second place from Russell on the 34th of 50 laps, but then he had to save fuel until the end.
"I let Max win," he joked. "I let him go and have a good race. No, I just braked too late," he added, using a bad word on live television, which could cause trouble for the Briton with the FIA, the sport's governing body.
"It wasn't my best performance, but when someone wins by 20 seconds, it's because they did a better job and are a bit faster."
Antonelli finished fifth, with Charles Leclerc from Ferrari in sixth and Carlos Sainz from Williams in seventh. Isack Hadjar came in eighth for Racing Bulls, and Nico Hulkenberg from Sauber and Lewis Hamilton from Ferrari finished in the top 10.
Piastri fell from fifth to seventh on the first lap after hitting Liam Lawson from Racing Bulls, who dropped to last place with a badly damaged car.
Verstappen was 20 seconds ahead of the others by lap 23 and made a pit stop at the halfway point, rejoining the race in the lead after Russell and Norris had already switched to the hard tyres.
Lance Stroll from Aston Martin was knocked out by Gabriel Bortoleto from Sauber when the Brazilian rookie drove aggressively into the first turn and ran out of room, causing both of them to retire immediately.
Pierre Gasly from Alpine also spun around when the race began, and a caution period was put in place during the second lap so workers could pick up pieces of car parts between the first and fourth turns.
The caution period was used once more on lap 16 because there were more pieces of cars on the track after Alex Albon from Williams and Hamilton crashed; Hamilton had moved up from 19th and last place to 13th place on the first lap.
Albon, whose team could not talk to him in his car from the very beginning, was given a five-second time penalty for causing the crash and was also warned for not following the correct steps at the start.
SERGIO PEREZ BREAKS SILENCE ON CADILLAC’S FIRST FOUR RACES OF 2026 F1 SEASON
Discover why Sergio Perez is confident in Cadillac’s 2026 path despite urgent needs for better pace and reliability fixes.
Sergio Perez didn’t waste time sharing his thoughts on Cadillac after the first four races of the 2026 Formula 1 season.
Cadillac shows up in 2026 as F1’s newest team, but honestly, not a lot of people expected fireworks right away. With veterans like Valtteri Bottas and Perez behind the wheel, the team’s start has been a mix, some moments full of promise, others derailed by reliability issues.
Still, Cadillac isn’t just stuck at the back. Lately, they’ve been right there fighting with Aston Martin and even managed to split them in Miami, which turned a few heads.
Perez knows the team is at risk of falling behind in this crazy-fast development race, though. “We still have work to do, but I’m confident we’re on the right path,” he told reporters, including Motorsport Week.
He added, “Sometimes, once tyre degradation sets in, we can hang with the midfield, but they always seem to find another gear. There’s a long way to go this season, but we’re in a rush to find more pace. We know Aston will get stronger, and we don’t want to be left behind.”
Racing Aston Martin has actually brought Perez some enjoyment. He especially likes battling Fernando Alonso, calling those fights fair and satisfying. Still, he pointed out a weak spot: “We’re having fun with them. Racing Fernando is always great because he’s so fair. But we struggled with tyre degradation; we burnt through them too quickly. We picked the hard compound, but honestly, looking back, I should’ve gone with the soft.”
He said there’s plenty to analyse, and really, the key is getting a better grip on their car as they look ahead to Canada. “We don’t have much time, but in the short term, we need to fix the degradation. We have some ideas, but putting them together is our biggest challenge in the next few weeks.”
Cadillac may be the new kid on the block and still finding its feet, but it’s already starting to make an impact. The road out of the lower ranks won’t be easy, but they’re moving in the right direction.
HOW KIMI ANTONELLI’S THREE-RACE WIN STREAK IS REDEFINING THE MERCEDES TEAM HIERARCHY
With a 43-second gap in Miami, Antonelli proves he’s ready to lead the World Championship. Can Russell bounce back in Canada?
David Coulthard, the former Formula 1 driver, recently pointed out that Kimi Antonelli might be on track to overtake George Russell as Mercedes’ team leader.
Antonelli has been on an impressive run, clinching victories in the last three races and pulling ahead by 20 points over his main competitor and teammate, Russell.
At the Miami race, the young Italian once again outperformed his more seasoned teammate, with Russell managing only fourth place, trailing by 43 seconds.
Coulthard acknowledged Antonelli’s rapid rise in 2026, which is just his second season in F1. He highlighted Antonelli’s strengths and suggested that the Italian is, in many ways, now leading the Mercedes team.
“He’s come of age,” Coulthard said during the Up To Speed podcast.
Despite being relatively new, Antonelli has shown resilience, dealing not only with the pressure from a driver like Lando ready to strike but also with technical glitches like inconsistent paddle shifts. Coulthard mentioned how Antonelli kept his cool even when his engineer, Bono, was trying to help troubleshoot the issue in a tense moment.
“I think he’s earned the right to lead the World Championship,” Coulthard added, noting that this situation probably feels uncomfortable for George. Still, the expectations now lean heavily toward Antonelli leading the team, especially based on recent results.
Coulthard also pointed out that Russell has the experience and skill to reclaim his position as the team’s lead driver, but emphasised that only one can come out on top; someone must finish first and the other second.
The rivalry between them might start opening doors for other teams. Coulthard noted that improvements from McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull were already noticeable, especially in Miami.
“Winning in the best car isn’t always straightforward. Many have tried and struggled,” he said.
For Russell, who is feeling the weight of this momentum shift, the upcoming race in Canada will be crucial if he wants to close the gap and halt Antonelli’s winning streak.
