Key events
Lap 4/50: Stewards are looking at a Piastri-Lawson incident at the start, but it looks like Lawson was at fault and has very much paid the price.
Virtual Safety Car is out. There are pieces of car on the track.
Replay shows Bortoleto at the start charging past several cars but then running into Stroll, who appears to be out of the race.
Lap 2/50: Bearman and Hamilton each gained six places. Piastri, like his teammate Norris, lost two, but he immediately takes one back from Lawson, whose car is definitely dinged up.
Lap 1/50: What on earth happened to Norris? Verstappen and Russell flew past him.
There’s a yellow flag, maybe for damage to Lawson.
Lights out
And Norris runs wide in Turn 1, opening the door for Verstappen to sail into the lead!
The formation lap is winding up … here we go …
The Sphere is bringing out the animations for this one, breaking into a cartoon face that looks like it’s following the drivers. Freaky.
Lewis Hamilton will not start 20th. Red Bull changed out the power unit on Yuki Tsunoda’s car, so he’ll start from pit lane.
Neat! Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall, the US Olympic/Paralympic couple. Tara is a Red Bull fan and supporting Verstappen.
Now it’s Damron Idris, one of the stars of the recent F1 film and frequent grid-walker. He’s working on a bio of Miles Davis. Is he possibly the coolest person on the planet right now?
Kravitz, after talking with Crews, extols the virtues of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Great show indeed. One of the last great US TV comedies.
OK, they get Terry. “Vegas was made for F1 and vice versa.”
He’s going to drive a Lego Cadillac at the end to take people to the podium. Sweet.
Terry Crews is there talking with … an ESPN reporter? Should I be watching the other ESPN stream instead of the one they pick up from Sky?
Ted Kravitz and Jenson Button are doing the walk in place of Brundle, and it looks like they’re trying to interview the asphalt.
Are we not getting a Martin Brundle grid walk for this race? This seems like the perfect scene for it. Surely some characters by the cars.
Checking the news – yes, apparently this is one of the races that Brundle skips. Odd.
Soccer’s done. Time to watch some cars go fast under the bright lights of Vegas.
I’m pulling double-duty tonight. Please check out the five minutes of stoppage time in the NWSL final:
Weather report
After yesterday’s soggy qualifying, Accuweather informs us that “a shower cannot be ruled out during the race.” Great.
Preamble
After such a long slog with plenty of breaks tossed into the mix, the F1 season wraps in rapid fashion:
Tonight: Las Vegas
Next week: Qatar
The week after: Abu Dhabi
And that’s it.
We have a legit three-way contest in the season standings, but if Lando Norris can win from the pole tonight, that may all but eliminate four-time defending champ Max Verstappen.
Tonight’s lineup and where they stand on the season is …
1. Lando Norris, McLaren (1st, 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. Isack Hadjar, 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 Bearman, 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
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s how Cadillac is preparing for life in F1:
Twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the green light as Formula One’s newest entry for 2026. Building the team from scratch has entailed a frenetic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 descends on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know time is getting tight.
At the final race of the season to be staged in the United Statess, with just over 100 days to go before they take to the track for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are aware there will never be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, joined the nascent operation in March 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart ever since and enjoys a wry smile when considering the ride.
“You can have five minutes looking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Wow, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he says. “And then the next minute you think: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
You can read the full article below:
