Viva Las Vegas: Can Lando Keep His Cool While the Strip Goes Full Send?

Viva Las Vegas: Can Lando Keep His Cool While the Strip Goes Full Send?

The F1 circus is rolling back into Sin City for round two of the Las Vegas Grand Prix – neon lights, 200‑mph down the Strip, and a title fight that’s suddenly looking very, very papaya.
Lando Norris arrives in Vegas as the championship leader on 390 points, with Oscar Piastri on 366 (‑24) and Max Verstappen on 341 (‑49). There are 83 points left on the table with three races and one sprint to go, so nobody’s getting crowned under the Vegas lights – but someone’s season could absolutely get wrecked here.
Let’s set the scene for a 4am UK start, questionable life choices, and a lot of caffeine.

The Title Fight: Lando in Control, Oscar Under Pressure, Max on the Brink

Brazil was a statement. Norris didn’t just win; he clean‑swept the weekend – sprint and Grand Prix – and looked every bit like a champion in waiting. Piastri, meanwhile, is on a five‑race podium drought and has been a bit scruffier lately, with mistakes creeping in just as the pressure ramps up.
Even if Piastri suddenly goes god‑mode and wins every remaining race, with Norris finishing second each time, Lando still wins the title by two points. That’s how strong a position he’s built.
Verstappen’s situation is even more brutal. He needs a big Vegas result just to stay mathematically alive. If he loses 9 or more points to Norris this weekend, his title defence is officially done.
So Vegas isn’t about crowning a champion – it’s about:
  • Whether Norris can keep that calm, Brazil‑spec form going on a track that doesn’t really suit his car.
  • Whether Piastri can stop the rot and remind everyone he’s not just the “other” McLaren.
  • Whether Verstappen can drag himself back into the conversation or gets quietly shuffled into “best of the rest” territory.

McLaren’s Vegas Headache: Low Grip, Cold Track, High Stress

Here’s the twist: McLaren might be the form team, but Vegas is exactly the kind of track that exposes their weaknesses.
The circuit is:
  • A 3.8‑mile street track.
  • 17 corners.
  • A monster 1.2‑mile straight down the Strip.
  • Low grip, long straights, big stops, and very cold night temps (around 12°C for quali and the race).
This is not the kind of high‑energy, high‑grip circuit where the papaya car normally shines. Norris himself has been pretty open about it – Vegas is one of the places he’s least confident about. You’ve got:
  • Low track evolution early in the weekend.
  • Tyres struggling to switch on in the cold.
  • Walls waiting if you overstep by a millimetre.
If McLaren nail the setup, they can still be right at the front. But if they miss the window, this could be the race where the title fight tightens again – especially with Mercedes and Ferrari sniffing around for a big result.
For Norris, the job is simple but brutal: limit the damage. For Piastri, it’s even harsher: he really needs a big, clean weekend to stop this season ending with a whimper.

Mercedes: Can Kimi Keep Swinging and Russell Hit Back?

Last year in Vegas, Mercedes locked out the 1–2 – George Russell ahead of Lewis Hamilton – and the car just came alive on this layout.
Fast‑forward to now and the storyline’s flipped:
  • Kimi Antonelli is coming off a huge P2 in Brazil, looking more and more like the real deal.
  • Russell, once the clear standard‑bearer, is suddenly under pressure to re‑assert himself.
  • Mercedes sit ahead of Ferrari in the constructors’ and would love to use Vegas to slam that door shut.
Vegas suits them: long straights, big braking zones, and a track where confidence on the brakes is everything. If McLaren stumble on the low‑grip stuff, don’t be surprised if a silver car is suddenly right in the mix for the win.
Kimi vs Russell is quietly one of the spiciest intra‑team battles on the grid now. If Kimi backs up Brazil with another big result under the Vegas lights, the narrative going into 2026 writes itself.

Ferrari Under Fire: Elkann’s Public Blast and a Team on Edge

Ferrari don’t arrive in Vegas quietly. They arrive with their chairman publicly calling out the drivers.
John Elkann has basically said:
  • The mechanics and engineers are doing their job, but “the rest is not up to scratch”.
  • Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc “need to focus on driving and talk less”.
  • Second in the constructors’ is still possible if Ferrari are united.
This comes off the back of a brutal São Paulo weekend:
  • Double retirement in the Grand Prix.
  • Hamilton describing his first Ferrari season as a “nightmare”.
  • Ferrari dropping to 4th in the constructors’:
    • 36 points behind Mercedes.
    • 4 points behind Red Bull.
  • Leclerc taken out in a crash involving Kimi Antonelli and Oscar Piastri after qualifying P3.
Leclerc’s response? A very honest post about it being a “very difficult” weekend and a “critical moment” in the fight for P2 in the constructors’. He’s adamant that only unity will turn it around. Hamilton, meanwhile, is defiant: “I back my team, I back myself. I will not give up. Not now, not then, not ever.”
Ferrari have history in Vegas – strong qualifying, big results – but this time they arrive with the boss basically saying: PROVE IT.
Vegas for Ferrari is redemption or meltdown. No middle ground.

How to Watch the Las Vegas GP in the UK & Ireland (Without Losing Your Mind)

Right, the important bit: how you actually watch this thing without sleeping through the start.

Session Times (UK Time)

Practice and qualifying are also in the middle‑of‑the‑night territory, so this is very much a “set alarms and question your life choices” kind of weekend.

Sky Sports – Full Live Coverage

Friday November 21
12am: Las Vegas GP Practice One (session starts at 12.30am)
1.55am: F1 Academy Practice
2.50am: Team Principals' Press Conference
3.45am: Las Vegas GP Practice Two (session starts at 4am)
5.25am: F1 Academy Qualifying
6.10am: The F1 Show

Saturday November 22
12.15am: Las Vegas GP Practice Three (session starts at 12.30am)
2.10am: F1 Academy Race One
3am: Las Vegas GP Qualifying build-up
4am: LAS VEGAS GP QUALIFYING
6am: Ted's Qualifying Notebook*

Sunday November 23
12.15am: F1 Academy Race Two
2.30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Las Vegas GP build-up
4am: THE LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX
6am: Chequered Flag: Las Vegas GP reaction*
7am: Ted's Notebook

TheTeeShop Take: 4am, Neon Lights, and Your Favourite F1 Tee

So that’s Vegas:
A title fight that can’t be won here but absolutely can be lost.
A McLaren car that’s suddenly out of its comfort zone.
Mercedes smelling opportunity.
Ferrari under public fire from the chairman.
And a bunch of drivers fighting for their seats, futures, and reputations under the Strip’s glow.
If you’re setting an alarm for 3:45am, here’s the move:
  • Stick the kettle on and get your favourite TeeMug© ready.
  • Throw on your favourite motorsport t-shirt – ideally something that doesn’t make you look like unpaid pit crew 😉.
  • Settle in for some chaos down the Strip.
  • Enjoy the race!

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