Lando Locked, Flying Dutchman's Final Gasp, Mercedes v Red Bull v Ferrari, and more ahead of the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix.

What happened at the 2025 Sao Paolo Grand Prix?

The Sao Paolo Grand Prix will forever be known as Max Verstappen's stomping ground.

That's what almost everyone who tuned into this year's race at Interlagos had to say after watching the Flying Dutchman arguably topped one his best performance of all time at last year's Sao Paolo Grand Prix. Verstappen's weekend looked to be over on Saturday after he followed teammate Yuki Tsunoda out in a shock Q1 exit. Then, the FIA announced that Verstappen would instead be starting from the pit lane after an engine change.

Max channeled his 2024 Interlagos self and rose from a pit lane start to race leader on the 51st lap. If not for his pit on lap 54 when he was about ten seconds ahead of 2nd placed Lando Norris, he may have even won the race, marking by far his best race and potentially the best individual performance in F1 history. Verstappen instead pitted on lap 54 to new softs to avoid losing further ground to Norris and Kimi Antonelli, gaining back up to P3 to go from pit lane to podium in dry conditions. Max is known to be especially great in wet conditions compared to the rest of the field, so the fact that he was able to accomplish this level of position gain during a dry race with a car that went out in Q1 is astonishing.

Meanwhile, Lando Norris came home quietly to take his second consecutive win and extend his lead in the drivers' champoinship to 24 points over teammate Oscar Piastri. Norris is now also 49 points ahead of Verstappen and can eliminate the Red Bull driver if he outscores him by ten points in this weekend's race.

Elsewhere, Mercedes rookie Antonelli finished a career-high second and Haas rookie Ollie Bearman followed up his fourth place with a sixth in Brazil. Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly were both able to score for Kick Sauber and Alpine, with Gasly's point being the first in a full race in over four months. Williams, Aston Martin, and Ferrari all went scoreless, with Ferrari double DNFing after Leclerc's unfortunate collision with Piastri and Antonelli and Hamilton sustaining terminal damage after a crash with Franco Colapinto.

In the sprint, Norris took the win with Antonelli second and George Russell third, completing a double podium for Mercedes. Piastri didn't finish, giving Norris eight more points in his buffer over the Australian in the drivers' championship. Home hero Gabriel Bortoleto DNFed in both the sprint and full race, and will hope for a much better performance at home in his sophomore season in 2026.

Podium Predictions

Here are my predictions for the podium finishers at the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix:

Las Vegas Grand Prix

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - The Red Bull looks extremely quick, and it seems like it's Verstappen's race to lose. He was unstoppable in free practice, so he should be primed for a much better qualifying this weekend.

   
   

2. Lando Norris (McLaren) - McLaren's car isn't too far off, and Norris has won the last two races. He's in form, and it seems like only Max can match him. It was a dissapointing FP3, though.

   
   

3. George Russell (Mercedes) - Mercedes went 1-2 last year in Vegas, and while that seems impossible to repeat, the car tends to perform well in colder settings. Russell is due for a redeeming result, and the defending Vegas winner will be back on the podium.

Five Spicy Hot Takes

Now, let’s spice things up with some bold hot takes for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, rated from 1 to 5 spicy pepper emojis:

1. 🌶️ - No driver is eliminated from the drivers' championship. The only way this is possible is if Lando Norris outscores Max Verstappen by ten points or more, which shouldn't occur this weekend.

   
   

2. 🌶️🌶️ - Williams finally score. The fifth-placed team in the constructors' shouldn't be struggling to score a single point. Neither Albon nor Sainz has scored in a full race in over a month, and the free practice sessions indicated that trend likely won't continue.

   
   

3. 🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Alpine again. Alpine didn't score a single time between Silverstone and Interlagos. Then, Pierre Gasly scored not only during the sprint, but in the race. It may have only been a total of two points, but the back-markers will take any signs of encouragement they can get.

   
   

4. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Mercedes on the brink. Not exactly a prediction, but it has its implications. Mercedes can't technically do this points-wise anytime soon, but if they further the gap to Red Bull and Ferrari this weekend, the Silver Arrows should be shoo-ins.

   
   

5. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ - No rookies in the top five. This is extremely unlikely. It may not seem that way, but we technically have six rookies and it has been multiple months since all of them missed the top five. Bearman, Antonelli, Hadjar, Lawson, Colapinto, and Bortoleto all must perform poorly.