Is Mercedes the favourite again?
Mercedes dominated the 2024 running of the Las Vegas GP, with George Russell leading pretty much the whole race from pole position while team-mate Lewis Hamilton recovered from 10th to give the team a one-two.
However, team boss Toto Wolff believes one cannot convincingly expect the W16 to replicate this form given how different it is to its predecessor. “I doubt it,” he went as far as saying.
Will McLaren get a first Vegas podium?
This might sound surprising, but McLaren has never finished a race on the podium at the modern Las Vegas track (John Watson did take second place at Caesars Palace in 1982).
The team had a rare down on its upward trajectory in 2023 with both cars out in Q1 and Oscar Piastri scoring a solitary point; last year, on its way to the world constructors’ title, both cars qualified and finished outside the top five, led by the Mercedes, Ferraris and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull under the chequered flag.
McLaren had badly suffered from the graining, but tyres don’t grain as much this year, which gives team principal Andrea Stella cautious optimism, especially as the team hopes to have improved its track-specific set-up – but Lando Norris remains unapologetically wary of what will happen this weekend.
Will Verstappen keep his title bid alive?
Verstappen has a not-insignificant chance to be ruled out of the title fight in the Las Vegas GP.
For this to happen, his deficit to Norris would need to increase from 49 to 58 points. In other words, it would require the Briton to finish in the top five and the Dutchman to have a shocker, or the McLaren driver to win and the Red Bull racer to finish no higher than third, among other permutations.
Norris has never finished ahead of Verstappen in Vegas, but has outscored him by this margin on seven occasions in 2025: it happened in Monaco (25 points to 12), Spain (18-1), Austria (25-0), Britain (25-10), Hungary (25-2), Mexico (25-15) and Brazil (25-15).
In other words, only once did Norris score at least nine more points without winning – and that was when Verstappen lost his composure and drove into Russell at Barcelona.
How will Leclerc and Hamilton respond to Elkann’s criticism?
“We have drivers who need to focus on driving and talk less.”
Ferrari president John Elkann’s criticism of Charles Leclerc and Hamilton following a poor Brazilian Grand Prix – and amid a so far winless season – came as a bombshell.
Elkann praised the Scuderia’s mechanics and engineers, strongly implying that drivers are the team’s key problem after it dropped from second to fourth in the constructors’ championship in Sao Paulo, with the runner-up spot now elusive.
Let’s see how the drivers take it. Golden boy Leclerc has been Ferrari’s driving force this season, and he usually refrains from engaging in any media talk that might be detrimental to the team – but will he this time?
Hamilton has been struggling but insists he’s working as hard as ever to get to his team-mate’s level. The seven-time world champion is aware he needs to step it up, but equally may not appreciate Elkann’s comments.
How cold will it get in the Nevadan desert?
Temperatures are forecast to be slightly below seasonal norms, with 10C and potential showers for free practice on Thursday night, 8C for qualifying on Friday night, and 11C during the race on Saturday night (Sunday morning in Europe). This would be significantly cooler than the first two runnings of the race, which took place around 16-17C.
This is a bit cool for the Pirelli rubber to perform optimally, but likely not cold enough for it to be a significant issue.
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