Will McLaren’s weakness open the door for Max Verstappen? Las Vegas talking points

There are now just three races to go in the battle for the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship.

Lando Norris leads McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri by 24 points after taking back-to-back wins.

Max Verstappen is 39 points off the lead in third and will require perfection to have any hope of taking the title.

However, Verstappen will be confident of a strong weekend relative to the McLaren duo, given the track layout - and conditions - shouldn’t suit the reigning world champions.

McLaren to struggle again?

The 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix was a low point for McLaren during their run to a first F1 constructors’ championship since 1998. McLaren were clearly the fourth-fastest team around the Strip.

Mercedes stormed to a surprise 1–2 finish, George Russell winning ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Ferrari claimed third and fourth, with Carlos Sainz completing the podium.

Next up was Verstappen, who secured fifth - enough to clinch his fifth world title. The cold track temperatures, combined with the long straights, didn’t suit last year’s McLaren.

While this year’s McLaren is far superior to its predecessor, their lack of pace at Monza and, more importantly, Azerbaijan suggests it could be another tough weekend for the Woking outfit.

McLaren boss Andrea Stella revealed in Brazil that they’ve taken “actions” to rectify their poor performance in 2024.

“We also had some aerodynamic issues when we tried to offload the rear wing,” he said. “We saw that we were losing too much efficiency, and we also had some issues with the set-up of the car trying to compensate for this graining and some of the understeer.

“We know in which direction we should change compared to last year, but will it be enough to be competitive now? We will only see it in Vegas. But definitely we took actions in response to what we saw last year because certainly the performance wasn’t satisfactory enough.”

Last chance for Verstappen

With a 39-point deficit to overturn in three races plus a sprint, Verstappen must win all remaining rounds. On paper, Las Vegas should be his best chance given McLaren’s likely difficulties.

Verstappen stormed to dominant wins in Italy and Azerbaijan to get back into the title race. Azerbaijan featured cooler temperatures on a street circuit with long straights - similar conditions to Las Vegas.

In theory, Verstappen should be more competitive than he was in Mexico and Brazil, where the Red Bull was no match for McLaren for most of the weekend. Even if Verstappen is victorious on Sunday, he will still need Norris to hit misfortune at one of the remaining races to have any chance of going into Abu Dhabi.

Focus on Piastri

Since his win at the Dutch Grand Prix in August, Piastri has stood on the podium just once. Remarkably, he has not out-raced his teammate (in races where both finished) since the Belgian Grand Prix.

If Piastri has any hope of winning the title, he must beat Norris on Sunday. The gap currently sits at 24 points, meaning Norris is on course to wrap up the title at next weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix.

While Piastri’s pace in Brazil was a clear step forward compared to Austin and Mexico, Norris comfortably built an eight-second lead before the first round of pit stops. With the entire paddock now expecting Norris to win the championship, the pressure should be off Piastri.

He has nothing to lose, given Norris can now afford to finish second in all remaining races and still clinch the title. For the sake of the spectacle, a Piastri fightback would set up a dramatic Abu Dhabi decider.

Will Ferrari drivers “talk less”?

Thursday’s media day in Las Vegas will be dominated by Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton’s reaction to chairman John Elkann’s comments following the São Paulo Grand Prix. After the race at Interlagos, Elkann delivered a remarkable message aimed at his two drivers.

Elkann said: “We have drivers who need to focus on driving, talk less, and we have important races ahead of us, and it is not impossible to finish second.”

Ferrari slipped to fourth in the constructors’ standings following a double DNF in Brazil. Leclerc’s retirement wasn’t his fault as he was taken out after Piastri’s collision with Kimi Antonelli.

By his own admission, Hamilton endured a “nightmare” weekend, suffering damage on the first lap. How Leclerc and Hamilton respond to Elkann’s comments will be one of Thursday’s biggest storylines.

A potential new winner in F1?

Given Mercedes’ exceptional pace earlier this year in Azerbaijan, could F1 be set for its first new winner since Piastri at the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix? Since Baku, Kimi Antonelli has made a notable leap in form.

He has been a far closer match to teammate George Russell, out-racing him in the last two rounds. Antonelli’s drive in Brazil was the best of his career, holding off Verstappen to finish second.

If Mercedes are in the mix again this weekend, Antonelli may have a genuine shot at his maiden grand prix victory.