What’s left to race for at F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix after champion decided?

The Formula One drivers and constructors world championships have both been decided heading into this week’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.

But there’s still plenty of stakes on the line for a handful of the other 21 drivers.

There will be a little less buzz when F1 returns to The Strip for the Las Vegas Grand Prix after 20-year-old Kimi Antonelli won the drivers’ championship last month after a dominant season and Mercedes clinched the constructors championship on Nov. 8 in Brazil.

All attention will be on the battle for second place where five drivers are separated by 33 points for the runner-up spot behind Antonelli with three races remaining in the season.

Action around the 17-turn, 3.853-mile course around the Strip begins on Thursday night with two practice sessions (4:30 and 8 p.m.). The 50-lap Las Vegas Grand Prix is at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Four-time champion Max Verstappen sits second in the points (279 points), 111 points behind Antonelli. But behind Verstappen sits George Russell (262 points), Lewis Hamilton (261), Charles Leclerc (249) and 2025 champion Lando Norris (246).

All five drivers can get the second spot in the standings, but the path to the runner-up spot will first take navigating the Las Vegas Strip circuit.

“I have no idea because Vegas is so different and so difficult for everyone to understand,” Verstappen said in a postrace news conference after his second-place finish in Brazil on Nov. 8 when asked if he thinks he’ll be the car to beat in Las Vegas.

“It’s a very long straight, so I think I would need to tuck in in the middle of the straight to try and gain some top speed. That is just the game this year with energy management on that straight. It’s going to be very, very difficult.”

Battle for 2nd

Verstappen is the defending winner of the Las Vegas Grand Prix and has won twice at the track. He is riding a streak of eight straight podium finishes (which includes three wins in the stretch) and 11 podiums in the past 13 races.

“It’s so cold over there that you get very different behavior from every car,” Verstappen told reporters in Brazil about the characteristics of the Las Vegas track. “Some suddenly work extremely well on a track like that. We’ve seen it in the past. I have to say that it’s normally not our best track because of that, but we’ll see if we can get the tires to work. That’s the key, to be honest, around there.”

Norris’ title-defense season has not gone according to plan. His win in Brazil earlier this month was his third of the year but sixth total podium finish through 20 races.

Norris, driving for McLaren, finished second in last year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, but shortly after the race was disqualified due to excessive rearmost skid plank wear. Still, Norris has a chance to finish as the season’s runner-up in a down year for McLaren.

“There’s always pressure every time I put my helmet on because I need to do well, the team require me to do well, and I want to do well for myself,” Norris told reporters in Brazil. “Maybe there’s more pressure from external situations, but any time I go on track, there’s pressure to perform and to do the best job I can.

“I feel the same this year as I felt last year. Especially in these conditions, you always feel a lot of pressure. So, I felt very similar this year to last year, and that’s just normal.”

Dominant season

Norris and his McLaren teammate’s double disqualification in Las Vegas last year moved Antonelli into third place, for the Italian driver’s third podium finish of his 2025 rookie season.

Antonelli was in contention to win in Brazil, but a spin cost him a chance at a 10th win of the season and he finished fifth as Mercedes locked up the constructors title. But Antonelli said after Brazil he is looking forward to getting another chance to contend more wins beginning in Las Vegas.

“I really want to finish on a high and hopefully come back … finish with a couple more wins and finish the season on a high,” Antonelli said to F1.com after his Brazil finish. “All we want is to keep the momentum going, as well into 2027, and the goal is to keep being successful.”

Contact Alex Wright at [email protected]. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.

Up next

■ What: Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix

■ When: 8 p.m. Saturday

■ Where: The Strip

■ Streaming: Apple TV

■ Favorite: Max Verstappen (+150)

Weekend schedule

Thursday

Practice: 4:30 and 8 p.m.

Friday

Practice: 4:30 p.m.

F1 Academy Race 1: 6:15 p.m.

Qualifying: 8 p.m.

Saturday

F1 Academy Race 2: 4:20 p.m.

Las Vegas Grand Prix: 8 p.m.