LAS VEGAS — All the post-race headlines following Formula One’s third running of the Las Vegas Grand Prix were dominated by one thing: McLaren’s double disqualification.
The technical infringement had major implications on the world championship, cutting Lando Norris’ lead and bringing Max Verstappen, who won Saturday night’s race, firmly back into the title conversation.
But the grand prix itself did not yield a huge amount of action. After Verstappen took the lead at Turn 1, he was able to keep the race under control. In the chasing pack, there were fewer position swaps than the past two years in Las Vegas, as it too suffered from the current overtaking struggles being felt within F1 right now.
The grand prix in Las Vegas has always been about far more than what happens in the race, perhaps too much so. Verstappen’s line ahead of the inaugural race in 2023 that it would be “99 percent show and 1 percent sporting event” summed up the imbalance many felt, with the drivers uneasy about the demands being placed on them, such as taking part in the opening ceremony.
“I think that was a bit too much for everyone,” reflected McLaren’s Norris after the race on Saturday night. “(We) might as well have been in Cirque du Soleil with what we were doing back then.”
Year 2 in 2024 offered the chance to scale things back a bit and focus more on making the event more accessible for fans, including a review of the ticket pricing and structure. For 2025, the goal was to stick to that while also reintroducing some elements that would ensure the event really felt unlike anything else on the calendar.
The change was noticeable from the moment the paddock convened on Wednesday. A giant, neon ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas’ sign greeted those swiping in through the gates. The wedding chapel from Year 1 returned, this time bright pink, with Elvis impersonators on hand to officiate and serenade any couples looking to tie the knot or renew their vows. In the lead-up to lights out, Louis Tomlinson performed on top of a giant light box at the front of the grid.
Post-race festivities also offered a flavor of Las Vegas. A full-size Cadillac car built out of Lego (more than 400,000 bricks, and also bright pink) was driven to the podium by Terry Crews, with Verstappen, Norris and George Russell crammed into the back. After the podium ceremony, F1 leaned into its new partnership with Disney, as Mickey Mouse conducted a fireworks and fountain show at the Bellagio. It wouldn’t be seen at any other race on the calendar.
The paddock also had lots of smaller touches that proved popular, especially an In-N-Out truck at the entrance serving hamburgers. The Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada had a stand giving out cookies. There was even a stand with a series of chessboards for people to play on next to one of two paddock bars that left a distinct smell in the air as guests enjoyed themselves prior to lights out. Vegas staples like the Blue Man Group and several showgirls also roamed the paddock to entertain people.
But the drivers were not required to do nearly as much as in the first year. Much as the second running of the race in 2024 felt much more like a “normal” race weekend, 2025 was similar. They could focus on what they were primarily there to do: drive.
“I didn’t enjoy the first year, given the manhole cover issues and too much of a try-hard that F1 was doing to look like Vegas,” said Williams’ Carlos Sainz. “I think F1, since then, has reacted and put together more of a standard event that always works. And since last year, to be honest, I enjoyed Vegas quite a lot.”
Norris said the drivers were “all much happier with what we’re doing now” in Las Vegas, while Verstappen, the leading critic in 2023, acknowledged the need to lean into the venue’s reputation. “I still like to be in Vegas, but I’m personally less of a showman,” he said. “I’m not really into that. But I get it, it’s part of the calendar. If you’re in Vegas, it needs to be like this.”
Yet not everything about the weekend was so smooth — quite literally.
A criticism made by multiple drivers after the race concerned the bumps that were now being felt at points of the layout. Given the track comprises the Strip and its surrounding streets, which are important traffic channels all year round, it’s obvious the asphalt would be subject to changes from year to year, yet the added bumps made it uncomfortable in the car.
“I think the type of asphalt is not Formula One standard, to be honest,” said Fernando Alonso. “It’s too slippery, and we cannot put the tires and temperature, and there is no grip, and it’s extremely bumpy, at the limit of being safe to race. I think for the future, we need to talk with the FIA if this is acceptable or not for the following years.”
Although Sainz felt the levels of grip had improved from last year, he said the new bumps “make the ride of the car quite a lot tougher. Hopefully they can look at it next year.”
But the biggest complaint once again surrounded the scheduling of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Following feedback from the paddock, the organizers did move the race start time from 10 p.m. on Saturday night to 8 p.m., with the rest of the weekend timetable also coming forward two hours as a result. That was a positive step that ensured the timings weren’t quite so brutal and there was less pressure on everyone to work right through the night, even if the wait for the stewards’ ruling on McLaren’s disqualification did make it a late finish into the small hours of Sunday morning.
Las Vegas still started a brutal run to end the season, taking place at the start of a triple-header with Qatar and Abu Dhabi for the second year in a row. A regular topic of conversation within the paddock this weekend was how to best tackle that journey and the whiplash-inducing time zone shift, be it going straight to Qatar or trying to sneak home to Europe for a couple of days.
“It’s difficult for us to come here with the time difference, and how far it is from Europe and Brazil two weeks ago, and we go to Qatar now straight,” said Alonso. “It’s 17 hours on the plane, 13 hours time difference. I don’t think any other sport in the world would accept that.”
Alonso added that he believed the timing of the race was “because it’s a quiet weekend of the year in Vegas,” but did not think that was a completely sound argument. “It’s not like we go to Monaco in February because it’s quiet,” Alonso said. “There are certain things we need to think about the sport first.”
Sainz said the drivers had been “quite vocal” about the calendar timing when speaking to Stefano Domenicali, F1’s CEO and president, and suggested it would be better paired with Brazil before having a week off ahead of the Middle East double-header.
“What the reasons are to not be able to do that in the calendar, I don’t know. But for me, I couldn’t agree more that a triple-header of Vegas, Qatar, Abu Dhabi the second year in a row, I don’t think that’s any good for anyone.”
A lot of drivers also noted how cold the conditions are in Las Vegas at this time of year. “If it was a bit warmer, I think everyone would enjoy it as a weekend a bit more,” said Norris. “Even the fans, it’s not pleasant sitting out there in the cold the whole day and in the rain. So if it could move, I’m sure some things would please everyone.”
But Las Vegas is quite firmly set in its slot on the week before Thanksgiving. In 2023, Clark County gave a 10-year approval for the race to take place on that weekend each year, and as Alonso noted, it has traditionally been one of the slowest weeks for Vegas and has now turned into a very lucrative one.
If F1 were to try and create some room on the calendar to make the recovery from Las Vegas a little easier, then it would need to push both Qatar and Abu Dhabi back by one week. The downside of that would be finishing the F1 season even later as a result. This year’s finale in Abu Dhabi is already on Dec. 7. The triple-header again closes out the season in 2026, but discussions will surely keep taking place between the drivers, teams and F1’s leadership to try and find some kind of solution.
For F1’s own calendar composition to be the biggest sticking point for the Las Vegas Grand Prix after year three is indicative of a race that is maturing and starting to find its feet. Locals are increasingly warming to the grand prix, and F1 no longer seems to be overreaching to make an impact.
By doing what it does best — letting the on-track action speak for itself, and throwing in a dash of sparkle and entertainment without diluting the event — F1 took yet another step forward with year three in Las Vegas.
