@Max33Verstappen secures fourth title as @GeorgeRussell63 takes dominant #LasVegasGP victory. #F1

Russell Las Vegas Victory – George Russell lead from team-mate Sir Lewis Hamilton to score a dominant one-two victory for Mercedes at the Las Vegas GP as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz rounded out the top three. Max Verstappen secured his fourth-consecutive World Driver’s Championship crown in a row after crossing the line in fifth place.

 

 

Russell converted pole into victory at the Las Vegas GP and fended off the increasing threat from team-mate Hamilton, as Verstappen simply had to finish ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris to seal his fourth successive title and done so by taking fifth – Norris was sixth. The Red Bull driver was running third, before losing two positions to the Ferrari’s in the final ten tours.

 

With the World Drivers’ Championship all wrapped up, the battle for the Constructors’ Championship is likely to go down to the wire at the season-closing Abu Dhabi as Ferrari closed the gap to leaders McLaren to 24 points whilst Red Bull are a further 55 points behind the Woking based-outfit in third.

 

When the 50-lap Las Vegas GP began, pole-sitter Russell got a brilliant getaway into turn one as Leclerc made his way past both team-mate Sainz and Gasly into second place as the Monegasque driver sweep through at turns 1-3.

 

 

Behind them title rivals Verstappen and Norris went wheel-to-wheel as the Dutchman kept the McLaren driver behind.

 

The beginning of the second lap saw Russell’s lead sitting at 0.875 over Leclerc with Sainz third, Gasly fourth as Verstappen rounded out the top five.

 

Albon picked off Perez for P16, but the latter got the better of the Williams driver to snatch the place back.

 

Out-front on the third tour, Leclerc was right on the heels of Russell as they ran down towards the first corner.

 

Behind them, sixth-placed Norris was falling off the back of Verstappen, whilst Piastri lost out to Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg last time out.

 

Verstappen with DRS assistance on the back straight into Las Vegas Boulevard made a lunge up the inside of Gasly to move up into fourth place.

 

Leclerc had a look around the outside of Russell into turn 14, but the latter covered the Ferrari.

 

Leclerc attempted to pass the Mercedes around the outside into turn one again on the start of lap five, but Russell stood firm and kept the Monegasque at bay.

 

Race control noted a potential false start from Piastri.

 

On the seventh lap, Russell’s gap over Leclerc was at 2.203 seconds as the Ferrari driver started to cool his tyres, Sainz was third behind his Ferrari team-mate, Verstappen holding fourth as Gasly and Norris completed the top six runners.

 

Behind them, Hamilton was battling for eighth with McLaren’s Piastri down the back straight as the former tried to make the move on the Australian, but the McLaren kept him behind.

 

Leclerc fell back from second place as team-mate Sainz made his way into second place and Verstappen also made a move past the former on the back straight to jump into third.

 

On lap 10, Russell’s lead over Sainz was at 5.594 seconds with Verstappen third as Leclerc and Norris both pitted from fourth and sixth respectively for their fresh sets of the C3 white harder compound and both emerged in 16^th and 17^th behind Williams’ Franco Colapinto.

 

Verstappen breezed past Sainz to jump up into second place as the latter dived into the pits as Piastri was hit with a five-second-timed penalty for his false start.

 

The Australian, like Sainz stopped for their fresh sets of the C3’s and came out in 12^th and 18^th in the order.

 

Verstappen also pitted on lap 12 from second crucially emerged in seventh place in-between Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Williams’ Colapinto.

 

Verstappen made short work of the Sauber to jump into sixth as race leader Russell was told to box.

 

The Red Bull driver made the move on Magnussen to take fifth place as Sainz, Leclerc and Norris moved ahead of Colapinto at turns 14, the opening corner and four respectively.

 

Russell on fresh harder tyres, came back out in second behind team-mate Hamilton and just ahead of the yet-to-put Perez and Hulkenberg.

 

Hamilton then pitted and came out behind Norris in eighth as the former questioned how many places he lost.

 

Third-placed Hulkenberg then stopped for his fresh set of hards and came out in 16^th place behind Albon.

 

On the 15^th tour, Gasly yelled out “No power! No power!” as smoke blew from the back of his A524 racer and came in to be the first retiree from the race.

 

The 16^th lap saw Perez let team-mate Verstappen by into second place as Sainz then made his way ahead of the Mexican for third.

 

Further back, Hamilton breezed in-front of Norris and Leclerc overtook the yet-to-pit Perez for fourth.

 

Hamilton and Norris then made short work of Perez as the latter came in to pit for a set of the C4 yellow-marked mediums.

 

Perez emerged down in 14^th place as the Red Bull driver committed to a two-stop strategy.

 

On lap 18 in the battle for fourth, Hamilton was the fastest car on track as he had a look to overtake Leclerc. The latter was quick to cover the seven-time world champion.

 

Lap 20 saw Russell’s lead over Verstappen sitting at 9.571 seconds with Sainz third, Leclerc fourth, Hamilton right on the Ferrari’s tail in fifth as Norris completed the top six.

 

Hamilton with DRS assistance on the back straight continued to keep close to Leclerc.

 

McLaren CEO Zak Brown commented on the race so far for his team “We don’t have the pace; Mercedes are clearly quick out there. It’s very slippery, we need some ice skates on the car. [A two-stop] is probably likely, based on driver feedback and what we are seeing I can’t imagine 30 more laps on these tyres.”

 

Brown also said “Go Lewis, go” as Hamilton continued to keep within DRS range of Leclerc.

 

Out-front Russell’s gap increased over Verstappen to 10.158 seconds as the track conditions were a few degrees warmer than it has been over the weekend, which has been helping with tyre temperatures, if not degradation.

 

Everyone on track has pitted with RB’s Tsunoda best of the rest in seventh place in-front of Piastri, Albon and Hulkenberg.

 

In terms of the championship, Verstappen was set to be crowned four-time world champion – as the Dutchman was sitting in second and Norris down in sixth and well off the back of Hamilton and would be more than enough for the Red Bull driver to wrap it up.

 

At half-race distance, Russell’s lead was at 10.2 seconds over Verstappen with Sainz third, Leclerc fourth, Hamilton fifth as Norris rounded out the top six.

 

A tour later, eighth-placed Piastri stopped for another set of the C3 hards and emerged back in 15^th behind Colapinto as Albon was told to come in and retire the car due to a power unit issue.

 

Sainz told his team he wanted to get off the hard tyres as quickly as possible as second-placed Verstappen was ordered to box.

 

Verstappen was then told not to as Ferrari told Leclerc to let Sainz through; Sainz managed to keep Hamilton behind as the Ferrari team made a late call for the Spaniard to stay out after Verstappen and Hamilton came in. Sainz cut across the pit-lane line to continue on and would be likely to be penalised.

 

Verstappen and Hamilton emerged in fifth and sixth respectively on their fresh set of C3’s.

 

Sainz then stopped on lap 30 and yelled to his team to: “Wake up” as Ferrari admitted they weren’t ready. The Spaniard came out in sixth place behind Hamilton.

 

On the 30^th tour, Russell’s gap to Leclerc was 15.725 seconds with Norris third, Verstappen fourth, Hamilton fifth and Sainz sixth.

 

Seventh-placed Tsunoda then pitted for a fresh set of the harder compound and re-joined in 13^th place behind Piastri.

 

Meanwhile, race leader Russell was told he is on Plan B – presumed to be a two-stop strategy as Norris pitted for hards and came out just in-front of Perez in seventh.

 

On the 32^nd tour in the battle for third, Hamilton cruised past Verstappen into second place as Leclerc stopped for his fresh set of hards to emerge in fifth place behind Sainz.

 

Race leader Russell stopped for his fresh set of hards and came out comfortably in the lead at over 10 seconds with his team-mate Hamilton holding second and was the quickest on track.

 

Perez stopped from seventh and came out on the C3’s in 15^th place behind Magnussen’s VF-24 entry.

 

Meanwhile, Norris picked off Hulkenberg for sixth as the German stopped for a set of the hards and returned in 12^th place behind Tsunoda.

 

Piastri was back up into seventh place, ahead of Zhou who only stopped once, and Ocon who had not pitted for second tyres as of yet.

 

Zhou then stopped on the 35^th lap and came out in 17^th and ahead of Sauber team-mate Bottas.

 

Lawson was in-front of team-mate Tsunoda as he let the latter by to chase Ocon and the Japanese driver made the move on the inside of Ocon’s Alpine on the Las Vegas Boulevard and made the overtake stick into the turn 14 left-hander to take eighth place.

 

Second-placed Hamilton out in clear air was eating into Russell’s lead on lap 38, bringing the gap down to 8.258 seconds. Championship leader Verstappen was five seconds behind Hamilton in third, Sainz a further 2.7 back in fourth. There was nothing on Sainz’s pit entry cut as of yet.

 

Hamilton was continuing to charge down team-mate Russell, reducing the gap down to 7.425 seconds as the former could be over-pushing the tyres. With plenty of laps to go anything could happen.

 

Behind them, Perez, Lawson and Magnussen were three wide heading down into turn 14 and somehow did not collide. Perez on the inside managed to squeeze his way ahead to take P12.

 

A lap later Perez made short work of Ocon to take 11^th place.

 

With ten tours left, Russell’s lead were at 6.867 over team-mate Hamilton with Verstappen third, Sainz fourth, Leclerc fifth as Norris and Piastri completed the top seven runners.

 

In the fight for the final podium place, both Ferrari’s were in DRS range of Verstappen’s Red Bull.

 

With DRS down the Las Vegas Boulevard, Sainz made a late lunge up the inside of Verstappen at turn 14 to snatch third place as Leclerc started to get on the rear of the Dutchman’s RB20.

 

At the front, Hamilton took another chunk out of team-mate Russell’s gap, bringing it down to 5.6 seconds as Leclerc got closer to Verstappen who was still within DRS range of Sainz.

 

Sixth-placed Norris was too far adrift to join in the fight with Sainz, Verstappen and Leclerc.

 

Upfront, Hamilton was still chasing and was 5.246 off team-mate Russell, but the former was running out of laps meanwhile Leclerc was over the back of Verstappen as the battle for fourth continued to intensify.

 

Mercedes confirmed that both drivers were free to race – although there was a caveat not to take each other out. Russell could see his team-mate Hamilton closing in on the straight.

 

Further behind, Hulkenberg managed to get in-front of Tsunoda at turn 14 to take eighth place off the RB driver.

 

On the 47^th lap, Leclerc then with DRS assistance on the back straight made a move on the inside of Verstappen into the turn 14 left-hander to jump into move up into fourth place.

 

On the 48^th tour, second-placed Hamilton’s tyres looked worn as the Briton ran into the run-off area as the gap out-front went back up to 5.8 seconds and the gap stabilised.

 

Lap 49 saw Norris come in for a set of the softs to push for the fastest lap bonus point and was more than a pit-stop clear from team-mate Piastri in seventh place.

 

Russell reached the chequered flag to take the Las Vegas GP victory (the second win of his career) and gave Mercedes a solid one-two finish – finishing 7.313 seconds clear of team-mate Hamilton as Sainz rounded out the top three for Ferrari – 11.906 seconds further back.

 

Leclerc followed in fourth place and ahead of Verstappen who took fifth and wrapped up his fourth World Title.

 

McLaren pairing Norris and Piastri settled for sixth and seventh respectively whilst Hulkenberg, Tsunoda and Perez completed the final points paying positions.

 

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso finished outside the top ten in 11^th place and in-front of Haas’s Magnussen who ended the Grand Prix 12^th and Sauber’s Zhou who crossed the line 13^th.

 

Colapinto was the sole Williams driver left and came home 14^th and ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who took 15^th.

 

RB’s Lawson, Alpine’s Ocon and Sauber’s Bottas brought up the rear.

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2024 Las Vegas GP – The Top Three

 

 

2024 Las Vegas GP Winner – George Russell, #63, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W15 – 25 Points:

“I was planning on flying in a couple of hours, but I am definitely not getting on that flight – I’m going to enjoy this with all my team. Vegas is just a crazy, crazy place. To get pole, a dominant weekend, a 1-2 with Lewis as well – I was just waiting for something to happen, the last two I’ve had on pole have been crazy races with rain, red flags. But I’m so, so happy right now.”

 

2^nd Place – Sir Lewis Hamilton, #44, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W15 – 18 Points:

“Firstly I have to say a big congratulations to Max, winning the championship. If I’d done my job yesterday, it would have been a breeze today. But I had fun coming from P10, we don’t know why the car was so quick but that’s the best the car has felt. If the car drivers like that in the next couple of races, we’ll be able to challenge the guys in front.”

 

3^rd Place – Carlos Sainz, #55, Scuderia Ferrari, SF-24 – 15 Points:

“It was a bit of a shock – the mediums, it lasted eight, nine laps for me and from there it was a damage limitation. We just didn’t have it today. This race has delivered a good show and I’m looking forward to coming back here in the future.”

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5^th Place – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB20 – Four-Time World Champion

 

 

“It’s been a long season. We started off cruising, and we have to be proud of everyone. To stand here as a four-time world champion, I never thought it was possible. I’m relieved in a way, and very proud. We hit the ground running with the new concept, and to be a four-time champion is just incredible. It was a very challenging season, I had to be calm and, in a way, – I still prefer last season, but this season taught me a lot of lessons and I’m very proud how we handled it as a team.”

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Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali On Max Verstappen’s fourth World Championship:

“I want to congratulate Max on an incredible season and his fourth world title. He is a true great of this sport and has so much more to look forward to in his impressive career. This season has been thrilling and 2025 looks set to be even closer. Congratulations Max and congratulations to all the team at Red Bull.”

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Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024 Race Results Classification (50 Laps)

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	63	George Russell	Mercedes	50	1:22:05.969	25
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	50	+7.313s	18
3	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	50	+11.906s	15
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	50	+14.283s	12
5	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	50	+16.582s	10
6	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	50	+43.385s	9
7	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	50	+51.365s	6
8	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	50	+59.808s	4
9	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT	50	+62.808s	2
10	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	50	+63.114s	1
11	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	50	+69.195s	0
12	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	50	+69.803s	0
13	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber Ferrari	50	+74.085s	0
14	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams Mercedes	50	+75.172s	0
15	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	50	+84.102s	0
16	30	Liam Lawson	RB Honda RBPT	50	+91.005s	0
17	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	49	+1 lap	0
18	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber Ferrari	49	+1 lap	0
NC	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	25	DNF	0
NC	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	15	DNF	0
* Provisional results. Note – Norris scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.

https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2024/races/1250/las-vegas/race-result

 

Click here for the 2024 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructor’s Championship Standings

 

The penultimate round of the 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship heads straight to the Losail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar for the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2024 from Friday November 29-Sunday December 01.

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#F1 #LasVegasGP Qualifying: @GeorgeRussell63 pips @Carlossainz55 to pole by 0.098s.

#F1 #LasVegasGP: @GeorgeRussell63 tops red-flag affected FP3 session.

#F1 #LasVegasGP FP2: @LewisHamilton quickest ahead of @LandoNorris by 0.011s.

#F1 #LasVegasGP FP1: @LewisHamilton pips team-mate @GeorgeRussell63 by 0.396s.

#F1 @Heineken Silver #LasVegasGP 2024 Preview. #Formula1 #LasVegasGrandPrix

#TermiOnTrack #F1 Newsbites – November Edition. #Formula1 #F1Newsbites #F1News