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The F1 Las Vegas GP has arguably served as one of the biggest bombshells in the championship battle this season. Both McLarens being disqualified means we have two races left with three drivers in contention for the title.
While that is the case, the race itself presents numerous challenges and intrigues for the drivers at various points. This weekend was no different as a wet Las Vegas GP qualifying greeted the drivers.
So how did they perform? Let's take a look at our driver ratings.
Criteria
- Performance in both qualifying and races is judged.
- Results achieved compared to the car's potential.
- Mistakes made over the weekend.
- Relative performance against teammate.
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2025 F1 Las Vegas GP: Rating the drivers
McLaren
Lando Norris
Rating: 8
When you get disqualified, it does make it hard to ascribe a rating, but overall, Lando Norris, 'the driver', had a good weekend. The pole was sensational on Saturday, but the start was simply poor.
Gifting potential race leads is just not what you expected from your potential title winners. The F1 Las Vegas GP would have left a sour taste for Lando Norris after everything that happened, but the McLaren driver's performances were still more or less in line with what he needed to do to win the title.
Oscar Piastri
Rating: 6.5
Oscar Piastri is slowly losing touch with Lando Norris both in terms of performance and in the championship. The Australian ironically gained from the disqualification, but the race in itself was perhaps not the best.
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc
Rating: 9.5
A defiant Charles Leclerc doubled down on his claim that his performance in the F1 Las Vegas GP was one of his best in the season. He should have been on the podium if not for Ferrari's strategic blunder of letting Oscar Piastri undercut him.
While the frustration mounts for Leclerc, you cannot fault the driver for effort and performance.
Lewis Hamilton
Rating: 5
Lewis Hamilton left the F1 Las Vegas GP in a worse place than he came into it. The driver struggled in qualifying, and except for the first race melee that helped him, he made little progress. Another weekend to forget for the 7x world champion.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen
Rating: 9.5
Max Verstappen left the F1 Las Vegas GP a happy man, and he should be. That was another brilliant and measured drive from the Red Bull driver as the team continues its resurgence. With only a 24-point deficit, a title is on the table.
Yuki Tsunoda
Rating: 6
In what has become a weekly occurrence at Red Bull, Laurent Mekies apologised to Yuki Tsunoda for the error in setting up the tires for the driver. Yuki started the race from the pit lane and was never a factor after that.
Mercedes
George Russell
Rating:8
In what was previously perceived as an issue with the car, it seems George Russell simply overstressed his hard tires early in the stint, which cost him an initial shot at P2 on the track.
Perhaps a better weekend could have helped overcome a challenge for the win, but the Brit achieved more or less what was on the table.
Kimi Antonelli
Rating: 7.5
A podium in the end is fine work for Kimi Antonelli, but he should be disappointed with the overall weekend. The rookie had the pace of the frontrunners, and if only he had qualified better, there was maybe a potential for a bigger result.
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso
Rating: 8
The damp conditions helped Fernando Alonso work his genius in qualifying in the F1 Las Vegas GP, but it was dry on Sunday, and that was it. The Aston Martin is just not the car to be on at tracks with long straights, and it got exposed once again.
Lance Stroll
Rating: 6.5
Lance Stroll had a weekend to forget, but it wasn't necessarily his doing. The gamble of being on intermediates in Q2 for the F1 Las Vegas GP qualifying didn't work. In the race, Gabriel Bortoleto just ran into him and ended his race there and then.
Alpine
Pierre Gasly
Rating: 8.5
Just like Fernando Alonso, Pierre Gasly rose through the ashes in the damp conditions and dragged his Alpine into Q3. In the dry F1 Las Vegas GP, he couldn't really do much more with the car; the incident in the first turn didn't help either.
Franco Colapinto
Rating: 5.5
Colapinto's teammate is once again outperforming him at Alpine. The Argentinian didn't have a Las Vegas GP to remember for the most part.
Haas
Esteban Ocon
Rating: 8.5
One of the rare strong weekends for Esteban Ocon in the second half of the season. At worst, he was right on par with teammate Ollie Bearman in qualifying, and in the race, he demonstrated better race management, finishing ahead and scoring a few points as a result.
Ollie Bearman
Rating: 7.5
A decent weekend for Ollie Bearman, where his teammate had the legs on him. The start was quite impressive, and the way he managed to keep Lewis Hamilton behind in the first stint was an interesting watch.
He just lacked the final tenth that Ocon had this time around, but overall it was a clean weekend for the rookie.
Racing Bulls
Liam Lawson
Rating: 5
The incident on the first lap is exactly what Liam Lawson didn't need as he's fighting for his seat in the sport. The pressure is on the Kiwi to come up with a better result in the next two races.
Isack Hadjar
Rating: 8
Another weekend where Isack Hajdar more or less achieved what the Racing Bulls were capable of. The French driver is quite clearly showing more maturity than his teammate, and that's arguably one area where he will have the edge in the team's hierarchy.
Williams
Alex Albon
Rating: 4.5
A disastrous F1 Las Vegas GP for Alex Albon, who is slowly looking at Carlos Sainz taking over the team and scoring points more consistently. The errors in qualifying and the race were simply unacceptable, and these are the areas where the Thai driver needs to work on more rigorously.
Carlos Sainz
Rating: 8.5
Carlos Sainz had a standout qualifying session, followed by a standout race performance where he knew who he was supposed to battle with and who he wasn't. He's slowly becoming the leader that James Vowles envisioned him to be.
Sauber
Nico Hulkenberg
Rating: 8
A veteran performance from Nico Hulkenberg, where he made sure that he brought home the points that the car deserved. He kept things stable throughout the F1 Las Vegas GP race weekend and brought home a P7 in that Sauber.
Gabriel Bortoleto
Rating: 4
A weekend to forget for Gabby, and unfortunately, it will trickle down to the next race in Qatar.
