The Red Bull driver snatched the lead immediately when Norris’ aggressive chop from pole didn’t hold, allowing Verstappen to slip through as the McLaren ran deep into Turn 1.

From there the four-time champion was never threatened, controlling the pace and cruising to his sixth win of the season and the 69th of his career.

The result moves Verstappen to within 42 points of Norris and only 12 behind Piastri, who now trails his teammate by 30 points with two rounds remaining. With a Sprint and two grands prix still to come, all three remain mathematically in the hunt heading into Qatar.

Piastri again found himself fighting back after first-lap chaos. The Australian started fifth but was pushed to seventh when Liam Lawson clipped the side of his McLaren while avoiding a late-braking George Russell.

Lawson damaged his front wing in the process and was forced to pit, promoting Piastri back to sixth before he cleared Isack Hadjar a few laps later.

From there the race settled into a strategic climb as Piastri targeted the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and Williams of Carlos Sainz ahead.

After shadowing Leclerc early, McLaren rolled the dice with an undercut that vaulted him past both Leclerc and Sainz. He later crossed the line fifth but was elevated to fourth after Kimi Antonelli’s five-second penalty for a start-line infringement was applied.

Antonelli’s drive was one of the standouts of the evening. Starting on softs, the Mercedes rookie pitted at the end of Lap 1 for hards and remarkably carried them to the finish.

Even with the penalty hanging over him, Antonelli defended fiercely from Piastri in the closing laps. The McLaren driver’s boldest attempt came on Lap 39 when he braved the outside line but slid wide, briefly falling back into reach of Leclerc.

Despite the pressure, Antonelli held on to take fourth on the road and fifth overall — delivering another impressive race in his maiden season.

Ahead of them, Russell secured the final podium place after spending most of the race in second. Norris eventually reeled him in and made the decisive move on Lap 35, but by then Verstappen was out of reach and the McLaren driver soon needed to back off anyway due to fuel concerns.

Verstappen said tyre conservation had been the key to his dominant display after a tricky build-up left teams unsure of race-stint behaviour.

“It was good,” he said.

“Of course with in practice not really knowing what the tyres were going to do, even in the race I think you could see everyone just trying to find the rhythm, see how much you could push, especially in the first stint because you’re on the more fragile tyre.

He added that the car felt good in race conditions.

“Yeah, it worked really well,” he said.

“Normally the race is always a tough one for us. We are normally that great on tyres, but today it seemed like we had that a little bit more under control and I could push a little bit more.

“That just unlocked a bit more pace and stayed out a bit longer and split basically the race in half. That definitely helped a lot.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by FORMULA 1® (@f1)

Norris admitted fault for the Turn 1 lunge that cost him the lead, shrugging it off with some humour.

“I let Max have a win. Let him go. Let him have a nice race,” he said.

“No I just braked too late, it was my ‘eff up.

“I wanted to put on a show right, that’s why we’re here in Vegas I guess.”

The Briton said the race had been enjoyable despite not being able to match Verstappen.

“It wasn’t my best performance out there. But when a guy wins by 20 seconds it’s because he’s just done a better job and quicker,” he said.

“So fun race out there, difficult as always, but good fun.”

Russell said his race was heavily compromised by steering issues and tyre wear, admitting third was likely the maximum.

“It was there throughout [steering issue], but to be honest with the tyres, when Max came out the pits, I thought I had a chance with the cold tyres and I really really pushed hard,” he said.

“And I just damaged the tyres. From there on in I was on the radio saying I’m not sure if this tyre is going to make it to the end.

“It was really difficult. So it wasn’t a great race our side. But standing here on the podium is probably the maximum we could’ve achieved.”

Behind Leclerc in sixth, Sainz produced a tidy drive to take seventh for Williams, staying in touch with the Piastri–Antonelli battle to the end.

Hadjar finished eighth after a clean race for Racing Bulls, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton, who delivered one of the stronger comeback drives of the evening. Hamilton recovered from last — after contact with Alex Albon — to score points for the first time since Mexico.

The race featured two Virtual Safety Cars triggered by incidents at Turn 1 and Turn 12.

The first came after Gabriel Bortoleto launched into the side of Lance Stroll at the opening corner, damaging the Aston Martin’s rear wing and forcing the Canadian out on the spot.

Bortoleto limped into the pits for repairs but retired a few laps later, prompting the VSC to clear debris scattered across the track.

The second VSC followed on Lap 16 when Albon clipped Hamilton while battling through the midfield, shedding more carbon fibre onto the circuit. Albon eventually retired, joining Stroll and Bortoleto on the sidelines.

Lawson’s race never recovered after his Lap 1 clash with Piastri and subsequent early stop. The Kiwi finished 16th, one of two drivers — along with last-placed Franco Colapinto — to be lapped.

With two races and a sprint still on the table, all three title contenders remain in the fight heading into a decisive final fortnight of the 2025 season, beginning in Qatar next weekend.