Russell Wins, But Verstappen Crowned Champion In Vegas

Formula 1, the pinnacle of world motorsport, returned to action this weekend on the streets of Las Vegas in Nevada, USA, and Mercedes’ George Russell put in a classy drive to claim the victory spoils, but the bigger prize went to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as he sealed a fourth consecutive Drivers’ Championship title. His team was obviously delighted about his success but was still so rueing the fact that the points contributions (if not financial ones) from his teammate, Sergio Pérez, have been totally inadequate in comparison, leaving McLaren and Ferrari looking for Constructors’ Championship glory. If only Pérez had been able to score anywhere near Verstappen’s points haul this season in the same car, Red Bull would still have been utterly dominant again on the constructors’ front, with a lead over second-placed McLaren of almost 200 points rather than being only third.

2024 Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix
1 George Russell (Mercedes) 1hr22m5.969s
2 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +7.313s
3 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +11.906
4 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +14.283s
5 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +16.582s
6 Lando Norris (McLaren) +43.385s
7 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +51.365s
8 Nico Hülkenberg (Haas) +59.808s
9 Yuki Tsunoda (RB) +1m2.808s
10 Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) +1m3.114s
11 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +1m9.195s
12 Kevin Magnussen (Haas) +1m9.803s
13 Zhou Guanyu (Sauber) +1m14.085s
14 Franco Colapinto (Williams) +1m15.172s
15 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +1m24.102s
16 Liam Lawson (RB) +1m31.005s
17 Esteban Ocon (Alpine) Lapped
18 Valtteri Bottas (Sauber) Lapped
19 Alex Albon (Williams) Retired
20 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) RetiredDuring the build-up to this weekend's round, an additional brief news snippet emerged. The organisers of the sport have announced that they will move the traditionally mid-June Canadian Grand Prix weekend to May in 2026, directly following the Miami Grand Prix. This will not only simplify the logistics of moving F1 freight from location to location and reduce carbon emissions by eliminating a crisis crossing the Atlantic, but it will also be a significant step in Formula 1’s pledge to be carbon-net zero by 2030.

Turning back to Las Vegas, because the 3.8-mile street circuit here requires the temporary closure each day of some of the city’s most famous public roads, including the Strip, the practice, qualifying, and race sessions were scheduled for the evenings to minimise disruption. This meant that Saturday’s Grand Prix was set to have a local start time of 10 pm (6 am the following day back in the UK due to the eight-hour time difference). The decision to race on the Saturday rather than the Sunday evening was understandably taken in the hope of maximising both American and European viewing audiences.

The track proved to be very lacking in grip when Thursday evening’s opening free practice session began, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri describing the conditions as being like driving in the wet. However, it was dry but cold as the Mercedes duo of Russell and Sir Lewis Hamilton battled for the top spot on the timing screens, and the honour went to the latter. Lando Norris was third quickest in the other McLaren, ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, which sandwiched fifth-placed Verstappen.

This all left Russell, Hamilton, and Sainz as the post-race podium trio, but it was Verstappen who won the jackpot in Las Vegas after becoming world champion again with two Grands Prix and a Sprint race to spare.

At 22:00 local time on Thursday evening, Alex Albon's stranded Williams car, plagued by fuel flow issues, briefly interrupted the second practice. Come the session’s conclusion, we had a British 1-2-3 at the top of the leaderboard, with Hamilton edging out Norris and Russell. This left the Mercedes team admitting that they were baffled about why they were suddenly so quick and urged caution about how the weekend might progress as the track increased its grip levels. Meanwhile, Red Bull was soon realizing that it had brought a different rear wing configuration compared to many of its rivals, and its high-drag nature meant that the team was struggling for outright pace, with Verstappen and Pérez only 17th and 19th fastest.

It was Russell who posted the fastest time in Friday’s final practice period, which featured further red flags after Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin had ground to a halt, and a red electrical system warning light meant that this had to be dealt with before marshals could safely touch the car and remove it. Piastri, Sainz, and Norris slotted in just behind Russell in terms of pace.

...racing is racing, and when those famous five red lights were extinguished to signal the beginning of the 50-lap encounter...

As usual, the crucial moments during a Grand Prix weekend occur during the qualifying hour, which determines the grid for the race. This was the case at 22:00 on Friday local time, when the weather was decidedly cold but still dry. It proved to be a thrilling affair too, as King’s Lynn’s Russell beat Sainz to pole position by a margin of just 0.098 seconds, and no one had predicted that Pierre Gasly would claim third for Alpine, with Leclerc set to join him on row two of the staggered grid. Immediately to their rear, fifth-placed Verstappen earned the right to start just ahead of his title rival, Norris, with the latter knowing he had to beat his Dutch opponent in the Grand Prix and by more than three points to stop him from being crowned champion in Nevada. In contrast to Russell’s pole position, a couple of driving errors from Hamilton consigned him to start the race down in only tenth position.

The top ten shootout had been delayed by half an hour after Franco Colapinto had crashed his Williams car heavily at Turn 16, leaving the track littered with debris and adding even more to the team’s recent major repair bills following previous incidents with both of its cars. Although the Argentinian climbed unaided from his badly damaged car after suffering a 50G impact with the barriers, Williams subsequently confirmed that the health of the young rising star would be medically reassessed prior to the Grand Prix to check if he would be fit enough to start. Fortunately, he proved to be so, with the Williams mechanics having done a brilliant job to get his car repaired in time, but a few setup changes meant he would start from the pit lane.

There was an enthusiastic sell-out crowd present as the race neared, including, of course, plenty of celebrities, but it still felt strange to be holding a Grand Prix on a Saturday with a 10 pm start time, not to mention the rather chilly and windy weather! Still, racing is racing, and when those famous five red lights were extinguished to signal the beginning of the 50-lap encounter, it was Russell who made a brilliant start to lead the pack into the first lefthand corner, and such was his dominance that he was never challenged before reaching the chequered flag. There was still plenty of other action behind him, though, and Leclerc also capitalised at the start by moving up from fourth on the grid to second ahead of his teammate Sainz and Gasly, the latter being due to subsequently retiring on lap 16 with power unit woes.

Verstappen, with the bigger picture always in mind, knew that he didn’t need to take any unnecessary risks or fight for the victory but still usurped Gasly for fourth position on lap four and then claimed third place from Leclerc, who had damaged his tyres by pushing them too hard too soon. As the first pitstops began, Verstappen also swept past Sainz into second place, and Piastri had to serve a five-second penalty for a false start. By lap 18, all the leading contenders had pitted, and the true running order at this stage was Russell ahead of Verstappen, Sainz, and Leclerc before a second series of pitstops for further hard specification tyres followed.

With Hamilton showing strong race pace, he subsequently passed Verstappen for third position on lap 32, with the champion elect knowing he had no need to resist the move, and after Leclerc pitted for a second time, we had a Mercedes 1-2 out front. Russell’s lead was such that he could undertake his own second stop and still rejoin the circuit with an 11-second advantage over Hamilton, as third-placed Verstappen held off the pair of Ferraris.

Formula 1’s legendary logistical prowess now very much comes into play again as the drivers and cars are set to be back on track in the Middle East in just a few days’ time...

With the Grand Prix edging towards its closing stages, Hamilton steadily reduced the gap between himself and the leading Russell, with both allowed to race each other rather than follow any team orders, but the Ferrari-bound driver had taken too much life out of his tyres and ultimately had to settle for second position. Sainz and then Leclerc found a way past Verstappen, but the latter knew that a fifth-place finish would still make him champion, as Norris was running sixth almost ten seconds to his rear.

With Norris very unlikely to catch Verstappen, McLaren pitted him again on the penultimate lap for a set of grippy soft tyres, enabling him to head back out and at least claim the extra point for the fastest lap of the race. This all left Russell, Hamilton, and Sainz as the post-race podium trio, but it was Verstappen who won the jackpot in Las Vegas after becoming world champion again with two Grands Prix and a Sprint race to spare. McLaren currently leads Ferrari and Red Bull in the Constructors' title this year.

Formula 1’s legendary logistical prowess now very much comes into play again as the drivers and cars are set to be back on track in the Middle East in just a few days’ time for a Sprint event and the penultimate Grand Prix of the season, and, as you read this report, many members of the F1 circus will be airborne, bound for Qatar. This year’s campaign has featured 24 Grands Prix and six Sprint races, which so contrasts with the seven rounds of the first Championship held back in 1950. Some consider this to be overly gruelling with all the travelling and time spent away from home, but most involved wouldn’t want to work in any other environment.


2024 Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship

1 Max Verstappen 403
2 Lando Norris 340
3 Charles Leclerc 319

2024 Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship

1 McLaren 608
2 Ferrari 584
3 Red Bull 555