Las Vegas GP: Max Verstappen wins title, George Russell wins race ahead of charging Lewis Hamilton | F1 news

Max Verstappen won his fourth consecutive Formula One world title at a Las Vegas Grand Prix, with George Russell ending an unexpectedly dominant weekend for Mercedes to hold off team-mate Lewis Hamilton’s comeback charge for the race win.

Verstappen joined the exclusive ranks of four-time world champions by achieving the minimum requirement of finishing one place ahead of Lando Norris to secure the 2024 drivers’ crown with two rounds to spare.

Russell, meanwhile, powered away in the race itself to end Mercedes’ four-month wait for another F1 win.

The Briton led away from pole at the start and while he came under early pressure from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and then withstood a late charge from Hamilton, who had started 10th, the race leader didn’t put a foot wrong over the 50 laps to claim on. his second win of the year and Mercedes’ first since Belgium in July.

Hamilton finished seven seconds behind and was ultimately left to rue his couple of mistakes in the final stage of qualifying on Saturday, which had left him down to the fifth row of the grid on a weekend where Mercedes clearly had the fastest car around the spectacular illuminated Las Vegas Strip Circuit.

“I had planned to fly in a few hours, but I’m definitely not getting on that plane!” Russell said ahead of what appeared to be all-night celebrations for the race winner in the self-proclaimed Entertainment Capital of the World.

Verstappen had moved up to second from fifth on the grid in the first stint of the race to set himself up for the championship, but his Red Bull was less competitive in the third stint on hard tires and he was eventually pushed out of the podium places.

After being overtaken by Hamilton shortly after their respective stops, a relatively docile Verstappen, who clearly had the wider title picture in mind, was then overtaken by Ferrari pair Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

The Ferrari drivers had swapped positions several times and Leclerc, who had been the leading car until it was second at the final stops, was initially furious after taking the checkered flag two seconds behind his team-mate, launches a rant over the team radio.

With Norris’s McLaren off the pace throughout the race and a further 10 seconds back on the Ferrari, there was no real threat of Verstappen losing more ground and falling out of a title-winning position in the closing laps.

Yes, running in something of a no-man’s land in sixth, Norris made a late pit stop for fresh tires to take the bonus point for fastest lap of the race – which, although it had no bearing on the outcome of the drivers’ title race. , could be useful for McLaren’s now only challenge as he tries to close the constructors’ championship ahead of Ferrari.

With Oscar Piastri only seventh in the sister car, McLaren’s lead over Ferrari has been cut to 24 points with two race weekends remaining in the Middle East – first in Qatar next week and then Abu Dhabi on 6-8. December.

Constructors’ title holders Red Bull also remain mathematically in the hunt, but with 54 points remaining, their two-year reign as champions will be over as early as next Sunday unless they reduce their deficit by at least 10 points in Qatar.

Nico Hulkenberg drove strongly to finish eighth, taking Haas back ahead of Alpine to sixth in the Constructors’ Championship after their rivals’ unexpected double podium in Brazil, with Yuki Tsunoda ninth for RB ahead of Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull, who had started 15.

Viva Las Vegas for Mercedes: Russell steers, Hamilton charges

Mercedes’ 2024 car has proved wildly inconsistent all season yet, when placed in the narrow window of operation in which it thrives, it can be particularly impressive.

Las Vegas turned out to be one of those rare and, from the team’s perspective, mystifying weekends.

After storming to a brilliant pole in qualifying under the lights of Sin City, Russell successfully navigated the potential pitfalls of the race’s first lap as Leclerc jumped from fourth to second ahead of Sainz and Alpine qualifying star Pierre Gasly.

In fact, at the start of 4. lap Ferrari put pressure on the McLaren race leader into the first corner and a lead change briefly seemed inevitable.

But Leclerc’s early burst appeared to come at the expense of his tyres, and the Monegasque quickly fell back, with team-mate Sainz first repeating second and then Verstappen third as well.

With Leclerc and Norris, also battling on his intermediate tyres, soon headed for the pit stop after just 10 laps, Verstappen was second by lap 11 when he then passed Sainz.

But this was relatively unimportant to the speedy Russell, who continued to pull ahead in a stage of the race that effectively earned him victory.

Further back Hamilton was also showing strong pace and after picking off the cars at the bottom end of the top 10 over the opening laps of the race, he had positioned himself at the back of the podium-chasing pack when he stopped on lap 13. .

After passing Norris on his fresh tires shortly after, Hamilton followed the Ferraris and undercut them by pitting earlier at the second stop. He then passed Verstappen for second down the main straight at the start of the third lap.

At that point in the race, Hamilton was around 10 seconds back on Russell, and although he impressively and relentlessly set about eating into his team-mate’s advantage to get within seven seconds of the final 10 laps, the race leader looked set to themselves. his pace and eventually eased to a well-deserved victory.

“It’s been a dream of a weekend. I don’t know how I’ve been so fast, but I’m just enjoying this ride right now,” said Russell, who now has three Grand Prix wins to his name.

“Vegas is just a crazy place. I can’t even describe this place. To get the pole, the win and the one-two with Lewis as well, we couldn’t have picked a better place for this to happen.”

A distressed Hamilton suggested “it would have been a breeze” for him to win had he qualified at the front, before adding ahead of his final two races as a Mercedes driver: “We don’t know why we were so quick this weekend, but it’s the best the car has ever felt, so I’m grateful to have helped get it to that point.

“If the car runs like that in the next couple of races, I think we’ll be in a good place to challenge the guys in front.”

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