Lewis Hamilton’s all-time F1 low? Las Vegas GP winners and losers

Max Verstappen hit the jackpot in Las Vegas while it was a weekend to forget for many of his rivals.

Here are our biggest winners and losers from the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix…

Winner - Max Verstappen

Another devastating masterclass from Verstappen, who was the biggest winner in Las Vegas. 

Firstly, he produced a dominant drive to claim his seventh victory of the season, and he gained massively due to both of his main title rivals being disqualified.

McLaren’s double DSQ has boosted Verstappen’s fading title hopes, leaving him just 24 points behind championship leader Lando Norris with just two races to go.

Verstappen was looking at a 42-point deficit, but the post-race exclusions mean he has gained a whopping 25 points on both McLaren drivers, putting him right back in the game.

Loser - McLaren

A disastrous result for McLaren, with both Norris and Oscar Piastri thrown out of the results for excessive skid-block wear.

Their double exclusion has made the prospect of Verstappen snatching the title from under the noses of one of their two drivers very real again. 

If McLaren do go on to miss out on the drivers’ world championship this year, they will look back on Las Vegas as being a pivotal moment.

Norris is still the firm favourite going into the final races, but the double disqualification certainly makes things more uncomfortable than McLaren would like. 

Winner - Kimi Antonelli

An impressive recovery from a disastrous qualifying as Kimi Antonelli fought back from 17th on the grid - and a five-second time penalty for a false start - to finish fifth on the road.

That would become third after McLaren’s double DSQ, handing Antonelli a second consecutive podium as he continued his recent upward trajectory.

A great weekend on the whole for Mercedes, despite George Russell being hampered by steering wheel issues in both qualifying and the race. A double podium strengthens the Silver Arrows’ grip on P2 in the constructors’ championship.

Loser - Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari

It can’t go on like this, can it? It can!

Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton in particular endured a weekend from hell in Las Vegas. At a track where Ferrari expected to be more competitive, an end result of fourth and eighth (only after McLaren being thrown out) was pretty dreadful.

Both Charles Leclerc and Hamilton were left extremely downbeat, especially the seven-time world champion, who called 2025 his “worst season ever”.

This is possibly the most miserable we have seen Hamilton on a weekend he qualified last for a race on pure pace for the first time in his F1 career. Despite a solid comeback in the race, this was a shocking weekend by the 40-year-old Briton’s high standards.

Winner - Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz’s class shone through as he claimed a stunning third on the grid in a hugely challenging wet qualifying, and converted that into the best possible result for Williams in the race.

The Spaniard continues his brilliant second half of the season by bagging yet more important points that help consolidate fifth place in the constructors’ for Williams.

Loser - Aston Martin

Another missed opportunity for Aston Martin as their rivals scored points in Las Vegas.

Lance Stroll’s race lasted just mere seconds before he was wiped out by Gabriel Bortoleto’s Sauber at the start, while Fernando Alonso lacked the pace to hold position in the points as he fell out of the top-10 and ended up 11th.

Aston Martin slip to eighth in the constructors’ as a result.

Winner - Nico Hulkenberg

Another performance from Nico Hulkenberg that typifies the veteran German’s 2025 F1 season as he claimed seventh.

Hulkenberg managed to keep Hamilton’s Ferrari behind him with relative ease with a strong drive that secured more valuable points to keep Sauber within touching distance of Haas and Aston Martin heading into the final two rounds.

Loser - Alex Albon

In contrast to his Williams teammate, Alex Albon had a weekend to forget in Sin City.

Albon picked up damage early on and made contact with Hamilton after misjudging an overtake on the Ferrari later in the race, earning him a five-second time penalty.

A radio communications failure compounded a frustrating race for Albon, whose misery finally ended when Williams retired his car on Lap 35.

Winner - Haas

Haas were one of the biggest winners from McLaren’s double disqualification, which promoted Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman into the points in ninth and 10th.

That has lifted the American team up to seventh in the constructors’, one point clear of Aston Martin and five ahead of Sauber.

Loser - Liam Lawson

Liam Lawson’s excellent qualifying was undone by an erratic and messy move that led to contact with Piastri’s McLaren at Turn 1.

Lawson was fortunate to escape a penalty for the incident but he did suffer race-ruining damage that left him a lap down in 14th and wrecked Racing Bulls’ hopes of a double points finish.