2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix – Saturday
Las Vegas, 22 November 2025 – Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber extended its points-scoring streak to four consecutive races as Nico Hulkenberg finished ninth in the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The German delivered another faultless performance, executing a one-stop strategy to perfection and maximising the car’s potential throughout a race defined by low degradation and tight midfield margins.
Gabriel Bortoleto’s evening, however, came to an early end. After a strong launch off the line, the Brazilian rookie was involved in a first-corner incident that forced him to retire. The FIA later confirmed a five-place grid penalty for Gabriel for next weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix.
With the two points secured tonight, the team now sits on 64 points in the Constructors’ Championship, with two rounds of the championship left on the calendar.
Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal: “Another mixed weekend for the team. We went into the race committed to a hard–medium one-stop strategy, with a clear backup plan in case graining became an issue. The track surface here is unique, so tyre behaviour was our main focus throughout the weekend. Unfortunately, Gabi misjudged his braking point in the first corner which resulted in an incident that both ended his race early and resulted in a five-place grid penalty for Qatar.
“On the other side of the garage, we saw another great performance from Nico which, for the second race in a row, resulted in a points finish. We leave Las Vegas with 64 points, getting a bit closer to our main competitors in the Constructors’ Championship with only two races left this season.”
Nico Hulkenberg (car number 27):
Race result: 9th
Fastest lap: 1:34.592 (Lap 49)
Strategy & Pit Stops: Start (New Hard) - Lap 30 (New Medium)
“Another couple of points on the board today, and I think we can be pretty satisfied with that – it was likely the maximum available. Everyone who finished ahead started ahead and probably had a bit more pace, so we executed well to bring it home where we did. It was a clean, solid one-stop strategy in a low-deg race with not too much variation, and the team did a great job.
“The first stint on the hard tyre was strong - managing it while racing closely in the early laps took some effort, but we pulled it off nicely. We gained two important points for the team, and while the fight in the standings is still very close, there’s everything to play for.”
Gabriel Bortoleto (car number 5):
Race result: DNF
Fastest lap: -
Strategy & Pit Stops: Start (New Hard) - Lap 1 (New Medium - DNF)
“First of all, I would like to apologise to Lance [Stroll]. It was my fault – I had a strong launch and went for a move on the inside of the Williams, but by the time I committed, I misjudged the braking point by a few meters and it was already too late to slow the car down properly. I went in a bit long, had no angle to make the corner, and ended up hitting him. It’s a shame, because the weekend seemed promising until qualifying, and then the mistake on lap one ruined both our races. I just need to put everything together now for the remaining two races of the season – clean laps, clean weekends – because not finishing these last two races meant losing track experience I should have been gaining. I’ll learn from this, reset, and make sure to come back to the performance levels I've shown before as we come to Doha next week.”