McLaren's disastrous Las Vegas GP record offers Max Verstappen glimmer of hope

McLaren may be dominating the drivers' championship in 2025, but the papaya F1 team have not impressed on their previous outings at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The Las Vegas Street Circuit only made its first appearance on the F1 calendar in 2023, meaning that McLaren's track record in Nevada is short yet disastrous.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are the two strongest contenders for this year's world championship, with the Woking-based squad's British star currently leading the standings.

Heading into Saturday's night race in Nevada, Norris has a 24-point lead over Piastri and a 49-point advantage over Verstappen. The reigning champion sits down in third 25 points behind Norris’ Aussie team-mate, but the Dutchman’s chances of retaining the title could be erased if he fails to pick up enough points this weekend when racing on the Vegas strip.

The chance to stay in the title fight is Verstappen's to lose and if he fails to outscore Norris by nine or more points after the 50-lap race, it will be mathematically impossible for him to retain his championship status.

But, there is a silver lining for Verstappen, a stat that provides the four-time champion with a glimmer hope, and that is the truly abysmal finishing positions that Norris and Piastri have come away with in the previous two races under the Vegas lights.

Norris not confident of improving poor Vegas form

There have only been two previous grands prix in Las Vegas at the modern track layout and McLaren have failed to finish in the top five with both Norris and Piastri on either of those past occasions.

At the inaugural F1 race on the Las Vegas strip, now 11-time grand prix winner Norris DNFd after barely lasting three laps before suffering a huge crash at the wheel of his MCL60. He thankfully came away unscathed from the incident, but also without any points to his name.

Norris nearly took out his team-mate in that race-ending crash, and whilst Piastri, who was a rookie at the time, was able to continue the grand prix, he only picked up a single point after crossing the line in P10.

McLaren were a changed team the following year, heading into the 2024 Las Vegas GP as strong contenders for the constructors' title. Norris had even had his first taste of a championship battle with Verstappen, but Vegas was where it all changed.

After struggling across the weekend, Norris finished the grand prix in P6, just one place ahead of Piastri in P7. Verstappen on the other hand managed to turn his P5 starting position into a race win, picking up the 25 points he needed to secure his fourth championship.

Vegas brings memories of past success for Red Bull's star driver whilst McLaren appear to find the track synonymous with doom and gloom. Norris even spoke poorly of Vegas last time out in Brazil when he should have still been riding high from his win in Sao Paulo. Instead, he reflected on his past poor performances at the US circuit, saying: "We’ve never been good there, so I'm not the most confident about going into that race."

And he's not wrong. If the 2023 results were replicated place this weekend for example - Verstappen would put 25 points on Norris and 24 on Piastri - closing the gap to 1st to 24 points with two rounds to go. Given that the next race weekend also includes a sprint, this would mean Verstappen would still be in with a serious fighting chance of a fifth title….stranger things have happened!

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