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After Max Verstappen’s brilliant performance in Brazil, his first Grand Prix win since Barcelona back in June, he will arrive in Las Vegas this weekend with a huge amount of confidence. He won this race last year and, if the Red Bull works well, Max will be aiming for another win as he closes in on his 4th World Championship title.
He leads Lando Norris by 62 points and, if he leaves Las Vegas with a lead of at least 60 points he will take the title.

However we need to be careful about making too many predictions because this season has produced plenty of competition and lots of surprises. Las Vegas is also an unusual track, very quick including on the flat-out 1.9kms run from Turn 12 to Turn 14, but also with slow speed corners such as Turns 7 to 9 which go around the famous Las Vegas Sphere.

The desert climate means the night time is cold, and with Las Vegas keeping to its late-night format including the race on Saturday at 10pm local time, getting the tyres up to temperature and managing that aspect of performance is critical as always.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will be aiming to make life difficult for Max and we can expect their McLarens to be competitive in both qualifying and the race. Lando really needs the win, certainly to be ahead of Max and to focus on having a clean weekend with no dramas.

Oscar can support him, and this is where McLaren continue to have an advantage over Red Bull, whose second driver Checo Perez has suffered a difficult season. In an ideal world Lando will be pushing for the win with Oscar acting as his wing-man, keeping Max even further behind, but it won’t be easy. There is a reason Max is leading this championship – he is a formidable driver and knows how to get the most out of his car.

The team most likely to spoil Red Bull and McLaren’s fun is Ferrari, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr having won in both Austin and Mexico at the end of October. They qualified first and second in Las Vegas last year, and with team boss Fred Vasseur telling his team to be aggressive and to take some risks, Ferrari has not yet given up hope of winning the World Championship for Constructors. It is still Game On in that fight.

Take Note

The Las Vegas Strip Circuit is the second longest track on the F1 schedule behind Spa- Francorchamps and the drivers were really positive about last year’s inaugural race. That flat-out section along the world famous Strip sees the cars reach speeds of 350kph, which is incredible when you consider this is in the centre of the city.
There are also three heavy braking zones, it’s a street circuit where overtaking is possible and I think we will see a great race this weekend. The teams have data from last year’s race so they will be arriving better prepared, knowing what to expect and ready to maximise performance.

Mika’s Tip

With so much at stake in both the Drivers and Constructors’ World Championships I fully expect to see a three-way fight in Las Vegas between Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari. If each team runs its weekend correctly that means Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc going head-to- head for the win, focusing on the job they each have to do and ignoring all the distractions that come with racing in Sin City.

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