Red Bull’s Max Verstappen went into the Las Vegas Grand Prix eager to win his fourth Drivers Championship title in a row and close out the Championship for good. The chances of Norris delaying Verstappen winning the title were slim to none, but there was still a race to run.
The premises for the weekend weren’t as great as Max Verstappen hoped. Free practice held some unwelcome surprises for the Milton Keynes team, who realized they brought the wrong rear wing to the single-seaters for the Las Vegas GP.
The completely altered times compared to those of the rivals made it clear from the outset that something was wrong with the cars. During FP1 the team tried the more aerodynamically loaded configuration.
However, during the second free practice session the two drivers opted for the more unloaded version which they then used for the rest of the weekend.
Qualifying
Qualifying held a lot of surprises and not only for Red Bull.
Unfortunately, Sergio Perez’s Q1 exit was not did not come as a surprise. This season has seen him actively struggling to keep up with his teammate’s pace. Sure, next to a Champion like Max it can be difficult to shine. But from a second driver of a champion team, one would at least expect the driver in question to stay close to his teammate.
In the end, Perez qualified in 16th place and all eyes were focused on Verstappen.
“I think we’ve got a fundamental issue at the moment with the car that is just not working for me, at the moment we come to the weekends and we just explore a lot of things – it’s just a difficult one to make it work.” – Sergio Perez after his Q1 exit.
Pole position went to George Russell followed by Carlos Sainz and, surprisingly, Pierre Gasly.
While struggling with the one-lap performance through the course of the weekend’s action the Dutchman wound up behind Charles Leclerc in fifth place after Q3. Certainly not the result hoped by Red Bull and Max Verstappen.
Verstappen’s closest rival, Lando Norris, qualified behind him in P6. This meant that it would have been a battle for the title as early as the first corner.
“It was quite close for P3, little details that could have been a bit better maybe, but overall I’m happy with the laps, was not much more in it. […] It’s a bit of a question mark, how the tyres are going to behave for us, because for me at least, on my side, both of my long runs were not particularly great. I hope tomorrow is going to be a little bit better but we’ll see.” – Max Verstappen after qualifying.
Four-time Champion of the world
Max Verstappen went into the race knowing that despite the difficulties with the car all he needed to do the be crowned Champion was keep Lando Norris behind him. He achieved that by holding position in the first corner and then gradually pulling away from the McLaren driver.
At the front, George Russell made a clean getaway and kept P1 from the start. Russel only lost the lead when he went in for his first pit stop, but easily regained it, and held strong till the chequered flag.
Verstappen pitted for Hards on Lap 12 rejoining the action in a group of midfield cars but crucially in front of both Ferraris and title rival Norris.
The Dutchman managed his own race, barely putting up a fight against the faster Ferraris and Mercedes’. Maybe the knowledge of being comfortably in front of the only person who could have stopped him from gaining another World Championship put him at ease well enough.
In the end, Mercedes celebrated a glorious one-two and Carlos Sainz got on the remaining step of the podium. However, everyone focused on Verstappen and his long-awaited fourth Championship title.
This year in particular Max proved his talent. He has silenced all those who insinuated that it was all down to the car. When all is said and done, this season, unlike the previous one, has not seen Verstappen’s clear domination, yet he has still proven his talent.
It has instead brought out the essence of the driver. It has shown that his talent and mentality are the foundation of his victories. No one at the moment could have snatched victory from his hands, even with the fastest car on the grid.
