Russell conquers Las Vegas; Verstappen, four-time Formula 1 luxury champion

He Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024 Formula 1The penultimate event of the season was Max Verstappen’s first ball of the game and he didn’t miss it. Even though he started fifth, his rival Lando Norris was just behind in sixth, so the Dutchman knew that he only needed to maintain the position to become world champion for the fourth time in a row, but he was not satisfied with this and tried unsuccessfully to fight . for the podium, while the McLaren driver could do nothing to get into this fight.

At the start, George Russell retained the lead in the race and from that moment on, no one could stop him from breaking away and running a peaceful race to the checkered flag. Behind Verstappen quickly moved up to fourth place, and Norris began to show clear signs of lack of McLaren. and he remained sixth, unable to do much.

The Ferraris on the podium changed positions several times until Verstappen himself managed to take the position from them. Lewis Hamiltonstarting 10th, showed that Mercedes was the fastest car in Las Vegas with a magnificent comeback that, after half the race, put him in second position on the podiumahead of the Dutchman and two Ferraris.

In the final laps, Sainz and Leclerc returned to the fight and The Spaniard managed to return to the podium after overtaking Verstappen on track, who later dropped to fifth when Leclerc did the same.

After those battles Verstappen He was again fifth and Norris sixth, as at the start of the race, although the 10-second advantage allowed the Red Bull driver to breathe easy and settle the fight for the World Drivers’ Championship in 2024

without any special complications.

Past, George Russell took his second win of the season in relative comfort.and Lewis Hamilton completed the Mercedes double, which was celebrated in style at Brackley.

Oscar Piastri finished seventh behind Norris, both driving McLarens to complete defeat in Las Vegas. Nico Hulkenberg was eighth, Yuki Tsunoda ninth and Fernando Alonso, who completed the points positions after a great performance and a different strategy.

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*Full summary after results and photos

F1 2024 Las Vegas GP Race Results

Full race report for F1 2024 Las Vegas GP

Russell retains lead, Verstappen returns and Norris defenseless

At the start, due to the short finish line, there were few noteworthy movements. At the front, Leclerc overtook Gasly and teammate Sainz for second place, while Sainz dropped to third on the podium and Russell retained the lead.

At the back of the grid, Alonso was the only one to start on soft tyres, and on the first lap he had already passed Perez and Hulkenberg for 14th place in his quest for points.

In the opening laps, Leclerc began to put pressure on Russell, who was increasingly suffering on the long Las Vegas straights, and the two came very close to touching. Behind them, Verstappen managed to move up to fourth place, passing Gasly, while Norris remained sixth, with fewer and fewer opportunities to close the gap and avoid the Dutch driver winning his fourth world title.

The first pit stops begin

On lap 5, Alonso had already lost a soft tire and had to go to the pits to get harder tires installed, so he apparently fell to last position, over 15 seconds behind 19th place.

On laps 7 and 8 out of 50, Leclerc began to lose pace sharply and fell from the podium, losing position to Sainz and Verstappen, complaining about his engine. The other driver to return was Hamilton, who after starting tenth was already seventh, chasing Gasly.

Sainz entered the pits on lap 11 to remove the medium and set the hard, but shortly before this step he had already lost second position on the track to Verstappen. Norris, Gasly, Piastri, Albon and Stroll also came through the pits at this time. Leclerc, who had made the move earlier, was 1.5 seconds behind his teammate and the problems appeared to have been resolved.

On the next lap, Verstappen did the same, but a superb pit stop saw him get ahead of Ferrari and pass Bottas, allowing him to catch some air, while Sainz and Leclerc lost time passing Bottas and Colapinto himself, whom they had passed. haven’t stopped yet, as they came out hard. However, when the Ferraris overtook these two cars, Verstappen managed to overtake Magnussen, although this did not become an obstacle for Sainz and Leclerc.

Meanwhile, it was Russell who felt most comfortable, who was able to make a quiet pit stop, and once everything was more or less back to normal, he led the race by 10 seconds over Verstappen, with Sainz third with +2.5 seconds . the Dutchman and Leclerc 3 seconds behind his teammate. Hamilton made the biggest comeback, finishing fifth behind Norris and already less than a second behind the Ferrari duo, who saw their podium in danger.

Pierre Gasly, who started third and slowly dropped back, complained on the radio of engine problems and was then forced to retire when smoke appeared behind his Alpine.

Race stabilizes and Hamilton threatens Ferrari podium

After all drivers made their first pit stop, the front positions were maintained and Hamilton began to put increasing pressure on Leclerc and Sainz.

Behind, Alonso was 11th after his idiosyncratic strategy of using the hard tires much more often than his rivals. Perez, who stopped last to remove the hard wheels and install medium ones, dropped to 14th place.

Between laps 20 and 25 there was virtually no movement on the track and Hamilton was the only driver in the top 10 to attack his opponent, in this case Leclerc, who defended well. In the attack, Verstappen was unable to reduce the 10-second gap with Russell, and Sainz gradually, thousandth by thousandth, approached the Dutchman.

Albon suffered engine problems in his Williams while tenth and was ordered to pit and leave the race, allowing Checo Perez to move up to the final points position.

Second pit stops arrive, Ferrari loses podium, Mercedes aims for double

On lap 28, Verstappen, 12 seconds behind Russell, pulled into the pits. Hamilton did the same to overtake Ferrari as he was unable to overtake on the track. They both installed new tires. Just a lap later, Sainz, who had already lost position to Leclerc, made a pit stop and was clearly behind Verstappen and Hamilton, more than 3 seconds behind.

When Leclerc stopped in the pits on lap 33 he was 1.8 seconds behind Sainz, but although fifth, he had much better hard tires and this allowed him to attack in the later stages of the race.

Up front, Hamilton showed Mercedes was the fastest car in Las Vegas and passed Verstappen on track to take second place, a double for the German marque. Russell, who was still “in his own world”, made his second pit stop and remained in the lead, 11 seconds behind his teammate.

Behind, Alonso managed to reach the points zone on lap 37 as he overtook Ocon on lap 13 for tenth, although the zone was very open with Perez, Lawson, Magnussen and Colapinto also in contention.

Ferrari is aiming for the podium and Verstappen for the title; Hamilton, for Russell

In the last 10 laps of the race, Sainz and Leclerc came very close to the Dutchman and on lap 41 of 50 the Spaniard regained third position on the podium, and the Monegasque on lap 47 also overtook Verstappen, who dropped the Reds. The Bull driver finished fifth, with Norris trailing but maintaining a significant 10-second gap to secure the championship despite the Briton’s fast lap on the final lap of the race. career.

Hamilton closed the gap on Russell and was less than five seconds behind his teammate, but the young Briton upped the pace in the closing laps to secure victory and was never seen in danger of winning during the 2024 Las Gran Premio.

Finally, Sainz was the one to accompany Mercedes on the podium, while Verstappen, who finished fifth, was hailed as a four-time Formula One world champion, leveling with the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis. Hamilton.