McLaren's disastrous F1 Las Vegas GP record offers Max Verstappen glimmer of hope

Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, British GP, 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

Las Vegas Grand Prix

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

McLaren have not fared well at the Vegas street circuit.

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Thursday 20 November 2025 13:04 Updated: 11:37

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.

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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.

F1 Driver Standings
Position	Driver	Team	Points
1	Lando Norris	McLaren	390
2	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	366
3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	341

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.

Verstappen won the 2023 Las Vegas GP.

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 only finished P5 in Vegas last year, but it was all he needed to secure his fourth drivers' 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!

Lando and Oscar have not done well in Vegas...

So you're saying there's a chance? 😲 pic.twitter.com/1aFFdNXD6c
— GPFans Global (@GPFansGlobal) November 17, 2025

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

View full biography

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen McLaren Lando Norris Oscar Piastri