2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix Preview: 5 Big Talking Points Heading into the Weekend

Linus O'Howell
Nov 20
3 min read

The Final Stretch

We have officially entered the final stretch of the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship, with just 3 rounds to go before season’s end! As of right now, Lando Norris is firmly in Pole Position to become the 2025 World Drivers’ Champion, having now extended his lead to teammate Oscar Piastri to 24 points! However, there is still a lot of other things to play for. Red Bull and Ferrari are currently separated by just 4 points in the fight for third (with Mercedes now 32 points clear in second), whilst the gap between Racing Bulls in 6th and Kick Sauber in 9th is just 20 points (with only 2 points separating Aston Martin and Haas)! Whatever happens, we’ve definitely entered the final triple header of 2025, and let’s hope the season goes out with a bang (not literally)!

Esteban Ocon Needs a Strong Weekend

The start of Esteban Ocon’s career at Haas went about as well as he could’ve hoped, with an amazing P5 finish in China, whilst he also scored positive points in both Bahrain and Monaco (and a P5 in the Belgium Sprint)! However, in recent times, Esteban has easily come off second best against his Rookie teammate Oliver Bearman, with Ocon finishing below Bearman in each of the last 7 Grand Prix’s! In fact, Bearman has outscored Ocon 32-3 during that period, and that’s not good reading for such an experienced hand! Also, whilst Esteban driving well benefits himself, it also helps Haas, who could still realistically end up 6th in the Championship if both of their drivers deliver! At the end of the day, the biggest problem Estie Bestie has is his terrible Qualifying record, but he will need to fix that before pressure starts to build!

Mercedes’ Best Chance?

Out of all of the weekends on the Formula 1 Calendar, Las Vegas is probably the one that Mercedes get the most excited about! The Mercedes of recent seasons has always run better in the colder conditions, something that very much fits in with Vegas, given the insanely late times that the sessions are run, and we of course can’t forget about their first 1-2 finish in 2 years this time last year! Because of this, some people will say that Mercedes enter this weekend as the favourites, and that very much suits last year’s winner George Russell! George is the only driver on the entire grid this season to have a 100% Pole-to-Win ratio, so if Mercedes do come out of the blocks firing, Russell is a great shout for another victory! However, in Sao Paulo, GR spent the entire weekend playing second fiddle to young Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who comes off the back of his best weekend in Formula 1 to date! So, if Kimi can outdrive George again, we may just end the weekend with a brand-new Race Winner!

A Bunch of Special Liveries

As always when I preview weekends that take place in America, we get to talk about special liveries! For once, McLaren haven’t done one (it’s a miracle), but on a serious note, there are some cool ones! Firstly, Racing Bulls have once again delivered with a very calming look, with their trademark white gelling really nicely with bits of pink, purple, orange, and blue! Secondly, Kick Sauber are counting down the days until they become Audi with a special chequered flag design (to go alongside their strong green), whilst Williams have brought out an all-black car with some nice-coloured lines to make it stand out! Personally, I think Williams’ design is by far the best, but I’m interested to hear your guys’ thoughts on it!

Now or Never for Oscar Piastri!

What felt like complete control at one point, Oscar Piastri’s grip on the Formula 1 World Championship has gone from feeling inevitable to all but over! The last 6 rounds have been an absolute disaster for the Aussie, with Piastri dropping 58 points to his teammate and Championship Rival Lando Norris during that period! With the gap now at 24 points, Piastri doesn’t just need to be perfect to win; he also needs Norris to stumble! So, if Oscar Piastri is ever going to turn his form around, he has to do it this weekend at a track that hasn’t exactly suited either Lando or McLaren in the past! It’s going to be tough, but it really is “Now or Never” for Oscar!