LAS VEGAS Max Verstappen hopes that events in Vegas will be recorded in history rather than simply remaining in Vegas.
The Red Bull racer has the opportunity to win the Formula 1 world championship here on Saturday night, joining only Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Alain Prost, and Juan Manuel Fangio as four-time champions.
The 27-year-old Dutch driver Verstappen can win the trophy if he finishes the 50-lap race ahead of Lando Norris, his only opponent for the title. Verstappen leads McLaren’s Norris by 62 points going into the weekend. Even though Norris’ chances of winning the title are minimal, he must beat Verstappen by at least three points.
With three races remaining in the season, no other driver is mathematically in the running for the championship.
It appears little better in the championship now. However, Verstappen told reporters in Las Vegas, “We’ll see this weekend.” We aspire to be competitive, but I’m not sure how competitive, of course.
Additionally, there is a three-way race for the constructors championship, with Red Bull trailing McLaren by 13 points and Ferrari by 36.
Since Finnish driver Mika H. Kinen won the drivers title in 1998 with the now-papaya-colored squad, McLaren is hoping to win its first constructors championship. Since 2008, Ferrari, the team with the most titles (16), has not given the trophy back to Maranello.
While Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have each won three and two races this season, the Woking-based team has profited from both Norris and Oscar Piastri, who have each won two. 72% of Red Bull’s points have come from Verstappen, while teammate Sergio Perez has only finished on the podium four times and hasn’t won a race.
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After winning a record 19 races the previous year, Verstappen started the year as the clear favorite. However, Red Bull lost their advantage over other teams when he finished on the top step of the podium in seven of the first ten races, and he would go ten Grand Prix races without winning.
After starting 17th on the grid, Verstappen’s long-awaited victory occurred three weeks ago over a rainy weekend in Brazil. It was a valiant and much-needed victory that stands as one of his best drives. Despite receiving a five-place grid penalty for using a new engine component, he finished the race 19 seconds ahead of Esteban Ocon of Alpine, who ended in second position.
Norris admitted that his dreams of winning the event were dashed when he finished in sixth place.
For me, post-Brazil was difficult because, in all honesty, it was the first time I realized that “it’s hard to get first position now.” In Las Vegas, Norris told reporters, “Little by little, we were on such a good run of form.” Max didn’t have any horrible races, so it’s difficult to give him any major points. However, I had a difficult week since things simply didn’t work out for us. My actual battle for the title was defeated by the largest margin of nearly the entire year.
With at least four rookie drivers joining the grid in 2025, the lights and glamour of Vegas provide an almost Hollywood-style prelude to the season.
Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton’s unexpected revelation that he would be leaving Mercedes for the Ferrari Rosso Corsa marked the start of the so-called silly season.
The following year, Andrea Hamilton, 39, will be replaced at the Silver Arrows by 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli, while Oliver Bearman, Antonelli’s Formula 2 teammate, will join Haas, the only American-based team on the grid. Gabriel Bortoleto, the current leader of the Formula 2 championship, will drive for Kick Sauber, which will change its name to Audi in 2026. Jack Doohan, an Alpine reserve driver, will be elevated to a full-time position with the Enstone-based squad.
Additionally, Liam Lawson, who made a rare midseason trade to replace Daniel Ricciardo, wants to guarantee a berth at his current team, RB, for the upcoming season.
earning points and participating in competitive races. Before the race, Lawson told NBC News, “That’s the best way to secure myself a spot next year.” To be honest, the objective is to return to Formula 1 full-time. I feel like I’ve only just begun.
22-year-old Lawson considered the difficulties rookie drivers have in entering the sport as more experienced drivers continue to drive.
Many seasoned men have been racing for a considerable amount of time. Younger drivers find it more challenging to take over,” he added. However, I do believe that teams may be beginning to trust us a little bit more today than they did in the past. The grid wasn’t actually shifting there for a while. It’s exciting to see how much it’s changing now.
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