Does Mercedes’ Vegas dominance change anything? Our verdict

Many wondered whether Mercedes’ strong pace across practice and qualifying would fall away in Formula 1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.

But a dominant one-two finish – including a charge from 10th to second from Lewis Hamilton – proves that Mercedes really had the car to beat in Vegas.

What does that mean in the midst of a rollercoaster season and for its chances of success in 2025? Our writers speak their minds…

This changes nothing

Glenn Freeman

By now we’re probably all used to Mercedes being confused about this car, whether it’s winning or struggling. And I doubt what happened this weekend will change that.

This is a strange track run in strange conditions at a strange time of day. I suspect that no one at Mercedes will be naive enough to believe that this is a definitive turnaround.

Once the joy of such a dominant one-two wears off, I imagine there will be an underlying frustration of ‘why can’t the car do this all the time?’.

It doesn’t really matter if this performance can’t be repeated in the final two rounds of 2024. What matters is whether Mercedes understands these rules set enough to make the changes it needs to with next year’s car , so it can be considered a factor in what we all hope will be a year-long, multi-team title race in 2025.

Enjoy it for what it is

Scott Mitchell-Malm

Vegas being the anomaly that it is, there probably isn’t too much to read into this performance beyond what we’ve already seen from the team’s highlights this season.

Toto Wolf has said it shows what Mercedes should be aiming for in terms of improving its weaknesses for next year. George Russell was a bit revealing about the sweet spot that the car can operate in, but is often removed by certain circuit set-up requirements.

Other than that, I’m just enjoying this for what it is – a surprise winner based on pre-weekend expectations. It’s always fun. And for what the drivers were able to do, it’s a nice end-of-season bonus for them considering how difficult the track has been over the last few months.

Russell was absolutely perfect in this race. It’s his best win so far and he looks really really convincing at the end of this season. It’s also good to see Hamilton on the charge and looking confident for a change, given how the last few races have gone, although he’ll be kicking himself for the mistakes in qualifying that very possibly cost him a win.

Further proof that Russell is ready to lead

Jack Benyon

Give him back his Spa win and George Russell would be close to Carlos Sainz, who drives a car that may still win the constructors’ title this year, in the points.

When you consider how bad the Mercedes have been at times this year, it’s a shame.

And it is Russell who has led the charge. Hamilton – who has been very adaptable to new cars in the past – hasn’t done as good a job as Russell this year of doing what he needs to do to get the best out of the car. And mistakes like in the qualifying in Vegas show it.

Russell has also made fewer high-profile mistakes this year – a criticism of him in the past – and just looks like a driver ready to lead and perform at the highest level even under intense pressure.

When the car is in the right window, I would still take Hamilton. But for a manager, you have to adapt and perform through the tough times, Russell has proven he can do as well or better than his seven-time champion teammate, at least at this point in their careers.

And Mercedes can build around this version of Russell.

It has a title challenger car to unlock

Josh Suttill

The key question that a race like this poses to me is, can Mercedes actually find a balance for 2025 that doesn’t sacrifice the tops of Silverstone-Spa-Las Vegas?

Because if Mercedes can be this good everywhere – or at least improve everywhere else and maintain an edge in these extreme conditions – then it has a 2025 title-challenging car if it is able to get the breakthrough it has been trying to get for three years.

Ferrari is probably the biggest template for hope. It started the year as king of the outliers and through a very difficult mid-season patch, came out the other side with a car capable of challenging for race wins every weekend.

It’s far from a guarantee, but it does mean there’s hope that Mercedes can strike a balance while still maintaining a front-running edge.

But the team just needs to realize that very quickly or it will be a case of why waste development time in 2025 trying to fix a car when there is a whole new set of rules that debuts a year later?

LOOKING GOOD FOR ANTONELLI

Dull beer

Given its unusual layout, temperatures and conditions, there was always the potential for someone to figure out what Vegas needed and dominate. And it’s not entirely shocking that it was Mercedes.

This is still a team that took three wins on the bounce very recently, hasn’t faded that far since then, and also doesn’t seem to fully understand its car, so it probably has a high chance of a random jackpot setup !

The main reason I’m relieved that Mercedes has broken its slide is for the 2025 story.

Choosing a teenage rookie to replace Hamilton when there were so many more established options is such a leap of faith for Mercedes and I want the Kimi Antonelli story to capture the public imagination in the way that such a brave commitment deserves.

That’s much more likely with a peaky car that can offer some huge heights than if Mercedes were heading into 2025 in a ‘podium-like at best’ fourth-fastest no-man’s land. Antonelli’s namesake Raikkonen’s first McLaren season, for example, ended 90% too anonymous behind dominant Ferraris and punchy Williams in 2002. Imagine Räikkönen in Williams-BMW that year…

Red Bull vs McLaren takes two and Ferrari with the addition of Hamilton are already big enough storylines. Being a bit safer now that Mercedes can also intervene in the narrative now is very welcome.