Key events
Circle 24/50: Verstappen leads by more than 20 seconds, but that will change when he pits, with Russell and Norris possibly on his tail or even ahead.
Circle 23/50: Norris feeds, like Sainz. Norris returns to the track in fourth.
Piastri zips past Sainz like Usain Bolt driving past a traffic cone.
Circle 22/50: Piastri enters the pit lane and drops to 10th place, but he will easily pick up several cars after they come for their tires.
Lap 21/50: Hamilton is ninth.
Leclerc is looking to break Sainz's grip on the podium.
Circle 20/50: Hamilton was targeting ninth place.
Albon receives a five-second penalty for the collision with Hamilton. It is already the last of 18 machines still operating.
Lap 19/50: Antonelli is surprised to learn of his penalty. His team says it is investigating.
Norris enjoys the clean air in Russell's absence. He sets the fastest lap of the race and is slightly ahead of Verstappen.
Circle 18/50: Russell Peets. Then Bearman.
Top 10
1. Verstappen
2. Russell
3. Norris
4. Sainz
5. Leclerc
6. Plates
7. Khajuk
8. Bear Man
9. Hulkenberg
10. Windows
Hamilton is in 11th place.
Lap 17/50: Piastri's car spits sparks as he passes Hadjar, who tries to reclaim his seat but is unable to do so.
How long will Sainz stay ahead of Leclerc and Piastri?
Circle 16/50: NOW we have a virtual safety car that can be used to pick up car wrecks.
We have more debris on the track and it looks like Albon is involved.
Time for a virtual safety car? The pit lane is buzzing.
Antonelli does receive a five-second penalty.
Circle 14/50: Leclerc passes Hajjar and takes fifth place. Will Piastri be able to return?
Alex Albon made a pit stop.
Russell says on the radio: “Rule, wheel.”
Circle 13/50: Norris set the fastest lap. Any chance he could catch Russell?
Circle 12/50: Hajar tells his team on the radio that he wants to play aggressively. Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri sits on his rear bumper. But Leclerc comes up and passes Piastri!
Circle 11/50: Finally something on the radio. Leclerc says he pushes like an animal. This doesn't narrow things down.
Circle 10/50: Verstappen sets the fastest lap on his way to inevitable victory. Yes, 40 laps left. But when he and his car are in this shape, forget about it. Russell loses contact.
Oh god – Albon has been under investigation from the very beginning. Is anyone behind the top three? No bump into someone or start too early?
Oops, maybe I spoke too soon. Kimi Antonelli is under investigation for a false start.
Circle 9/50: There are no penalties for starting fraud yet.
The top nine all ride on medium tires. The bottom seven are on hard tyres.
Top 10
1. Verstappen
2. Russell
3. Norris
4. Sainz
5. Hajar (??!!)
6. Plates
7. Leclerc
8. Bear Man
9. Alonso
10. Hulkenberg
Hamilton moved up to 12th place.
Circle 7/50: Russell chases Verstappen like Wile E. Coyote chases the Road Runner, but he doesn't get close enough to pass him.
Norris is more than two seconds behind them, which means something is wrong, in addition to a possible mistake at the start.
Circle 6/50: Alex Albon's radio is not working.
Leclerc passes Bearman and takes seventh place.
First of all, will it be interesting? Actually, yes. Russell had just set his fastest lap and had his sights set on Verstappen.
Circle 5/50: Bortoleto and Lawson both visited the pits to fix the situation, and Bortoleto does not return. These are two cars.
Some race marshals at some point found themselves on the track with oncoming cars. This is something they would rather avoid.
Circle 4/50: The stewards review the Piastri-Lawson incident early on, but it appears that Lawson was at fault and paid for it.
The virtual safety car has left the game. The wreckage of a car lies on the highway.
The replay shows Bortoleto overtaking several cars at the start, but then colliding with Stroll, who appears to be out of the race.
Circle 2/50: Bearman and Hamilton received six seats each. Piastri, like his teammate Norris, is down two, but immediately takes one from Lawson, whose car is clearly faulty.
Circle 1/50: What the hell happened to Norris? Verstappen and Russell flew past him.
Yellow flag for possible injury to Lawson.
Lights out
And Norris ran wide of the gate in the first turn, opening the door for Verstappen to take the lead!
The formative stage is coming to an end… let's go…
The sphere shows an animation for this, turning into a cartoon face that looks like it's following drivers. Freaky.
Lewis Hamilton will be No start on the 20th. Red Bull changed the power unit in Yuki Tsunoda's car, so he will start from the pit lane.
Careful! Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall, US Olympic/Paralympic pair. Tara is a Red Bull fan and supports Verstappen.
Now it's Damron Idris, one of the stars of the recent Formula 1 movie and a frequent participant in gridiron racing. He's working on a biography of Miles Davis. Perhaps he is the coolest person on the planet right now?
Kravitz extols the virtues of Brooklyn Nine-Nine after talking to Crews. Really great show. One of the last great comedies on American television.
Okay, they'll catch Terry. “Vegas was made for Formula 1, and vice versa.”
At the end, he's going to drive a Lego Cadillac to get people to the podium. Sweet.
Terry Crews talking to…an ESPN reporter? Should I watch a different ESPN stream instead of the one they get from Sky?
Ted Kravitz and Jenson Button take the walk in Brundle's place and it looks like they're trying to do an interview on the tarmac.
Isn't this race going to feature a walk on the grid for Martin Brundle? This seems like the perfect scene for it. Surely some characters are near the cars.
I look at the news – yes, apparently this is one of the races that Brundle is missing. Strange.
Football is over. It's time to see how fast the cars go under the bright lights of Vegas.
I'm doing double duty tonight. Please note the five minutes of stoppage time in the NWSL final:
Weather report
After yesterday's raw qualification, Accuweather tells us that “showers cannot be ruled out during the race.” Big.
Preamble
After such a long work with many breaks, the Formula 1 season is quickly coming to an end:
Tonight: Las Vegas.
Next week: Qatar
In a week: Abu Dhabi
That's all.
We have a legitimate three-way fight in the season standings, but if Lando Norris can win from pole tonight it could all but eliminate four-time defending champion Max Verstappen.
Today's lineup and its position in the season…
1. Lando Norris, McLaren (1st place, 390)
2. Max Verstappen, Red Bull (3rd, 341)
3. Carlos Sainz, Williams
4. George Russell, Mercedes (4th, 276)
5. Oscar Piastri, McLaren (2nd, 366)
6. Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls
7. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
8. Isak Hajar, Racing Bulls
9. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
10. Pierre Gasly, Alpine
11. Nico Hulkenberg, Kick Sauber
12. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
13. Esteban Ocon, Haas
14. Oliver Bierman, Haas
15. Franco Colapinto, Alpine
16. Alex Albon, Williams
17. Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
18. Gabriel Bortoleto, Kick Sauber
19. Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull
20. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Bo will be here soon. In the meantime, here's how Cadillac is preparing for life in Formula 1:
Twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac finally got the green light as the newest Formula One car for 2026. Building a team from scratch entailed a frantic pace of work that team leader Graham Loudon likened to the Apollo moon landing. This weekend, as Formula 1 comes to Vegas, Cadillac knows it's running out of time.
With just over 100 days left before they take to the track for the first time in Melbourne for the 2026 opener, Cadillac have made leaps and bounds in what must seem like a Sisyphean task, but they know there will never be enough hours in the day.
Chief Technology Officer Nick Chester joined the nascent team in March 2023, shortly after its formation, when the team did not even have a confirmed roster yet. He has been in his heart ever since and enjoys a wry smile whenever he thinks about the trip.
“You can look back at what you've done for five minutes and think, 'Wow, isn't it fantastic what we've done in less than three years,'” he says. “And the next minute you think, 'Yeah, we still have a lot to do.'
You can read the full article below:
