The 2024 Las Vegas GP gives another twist in the tale of this season.
Mercedes appeared baffled on Thursday night in Vegas. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton had topped both Free Practice sessions, and setting the tone for the Las Vegas GP. The Mercedes W15, which had been a more difficult beast to tame, found itself the quickest on this unique configuration.
The pattern continued throughout the Las Vegas GP, with Russell snatching pole by nearly a tenth of a second.
Ferrari were favourites heading into the Saturday showdown, but the Scuderia challenge never materialised.
Instead, the all-conquering Silver Arrows cashed in on a big haul at the Las Vegas GP. Russell cantered to victory, while Hamilton fought back from the lows of qualifying to rise to second.
But the bigger news headlines took over shortly after the two Mercedes crossed the line. Max Verstappen became Red Bull’s second four-time world champion, crossing the line a sedate fifth.
Meanwhile, Ferrari ensured they closed in on rivals McLaren in the Constructors’ standings. With Carlos Sainz finishing third and Charles Leclerc fourth, the team accumulated 27 points.
On an off-colour day, the papaya outfit finished sixth and seventh, with Norris grabbing the fastest lap point.
But the day well and truly belonged to the team from Brackley, who became the fourth team to finish 1-2 this season. However, many more storylines took centre stage in this topsy-turvy weekend in Vegas.
Verstappen salvages Las Vegas GP weekend with points
Early into Free Practice on Friday, Red Bull realised they had slipped up. The RB20 appeared to be losing time on Las Vegas’s straights. It was an estimated six-tenths of a second per lap.
Comparisons between Red Bull and the KICK Sauber outfit after FP2 highlighted the Austrian outfit losing out initially, before gaining time towards the end of the straights.
While the team planned to fly in a new specification of rear wing overnight from England, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko ruled this out due to logistical difficulties. The team then chipped parts of their rear wing to improve the aero, but this was just a quick fix. While Verstappen expressed his feelings of improvement towards the fag end of FP3, qualifying would still be a big test.
In a potential championship decider, Verstappen scrapped to qualify a lofty P5. Meanwhile, teammate Sergio Perez was eliminated in Q1, the Mexican unable to set a lap time in a difficult outing for Red Bull.
In a weekend as topsy-turvy as Las Vegas, you would never count the Dutchman out of the victory race. Yet, his main motive wasn’t to go all out and take victory, rather it would be to finish ahead of his championship rival Norris. The Briton started right alongside in sixth.
The Red Bull proved better on its tyres in the first stint, allowing Verstappen to run as high as third. He even moved up to second mid-race. Although he couldn’t keep the charging Hamilton or the Ferraris behind, P5 was enough for a fourth championship.
“It’s been a long season and of course, we started off amazing, it was almost like cruising, but then we had a tough run. But as a team, we kept it together, we kept working on improvements and we pulled off the win.” – Max Verstappen post race.
Mercedes – Class of the field around a tricky Las Vegas Circuit
Not many expected Mercedes to be class of the field at Las Vegas. The Mercedes was also not on pace ever since an unsuccessful upgrade following the summer break.
Yet, there was something about the Mercedes cars around the Las Vegas strip circuit. The Silver Arrows have struggled across hotter venues in 2024. Around the colder temperatures in Sin City, though, the Mercedes found its groove. Even team principal Toto Wolff was at a loss to understand how they gained the ‘strange’ advantage.
Russell took his fourth F1 pole on Friday night, by nearly a tenth of a second from Sainz. Hamilton, on the other hand, lost a shot at a front row after mistakes on both his Q3 laps. This left him a distraught tenth on the grid for Saturday’s race.
On Saturday night, however, the Mercedes were comfortably clear, and a cut above the rest of their competition. When the rest of the field experienced tyre degradation and graining, the two Mercedes didn’t experience any form of graining or degradation.
Russell’s comfortable defence of the lead on laps two and three saw the chasing Ferrari chew through its tyres quicker.
With Leclerc dropping back, and later Sainz too struggling, the Briton’s advantage widened. Russell built up a comfortable buffer of over ten seconds, only challenged by a charging Hamilton.
The seven-time champion spent many laps behind Leclerc’s rear wing, but a crucial overtake on Verstappen saw him move up to second.
With both Ferraris tripping over themselves, Hamilton focused on chasing Russell down for the win. Although he finished 7 seconds behind, this was his first podium since the summer break.
As for Russell, it was his second victory of the season and perfect redemption for losing victory at Spa earlier this year.
Ferrari trip over themselves, McLaren have an off-colour day
Both championship contenders of Ferrari and McLaren experienced off-colour days in Vegas. The two teams were unable to match the expectations set before the weekend.
Ferrari had won two of the prior three rounds, while McLaren were supremely quick around Interlagos. The former were tipped from contenders for victory after Thursday’s practice. Both Leclerc and Sainz expressed they had some ‘homework’ to do to find qualifying form. Beating the tyre warm-up struggles would be a challenge to overcome if they wanted pole on Friday.
While Sainz managed to take second in qualifying for the second year in succession, Leclerc managed fourth. The Monegasque experienced oversteer at the tricky turns 7/8 chicane on his first Q3 run, slowing his pace in the session.
Meanwhile, both McLarens qualified only sixth and seventh, Norris ahead of Piastri.
On race day, both drivers experienced plenty of graining and degradation around the Las Vegas Strip Circuit. Leclerc’s challenge for the lead was a brief one, as he suffered from degradation on his race-starting mediums, having moved up to second. Despite an improved second stint on the hards, he would controversially fall behind teammate Sainz. The Spaniard, on the other hand, was called into the pit lane on lap 28, before being ordered to stay out.
Furious, he called the team to ‘wake up’ over the radio, after his failed attempt to pit lost him crucial ground. Both Ferraris managed to salvage third and fourth, overtaking Verstappen and giving themselves five extra points to close the gap to McLaren in the Constructors’ standings.
As for McLarens, the off-colour qualifying form translated into the race, as both Norris and Piastri couldn’t challenge for a podium. The fastest lap point proved the salvation in their close battle with Ferrari in the Constructors’.
Midfield tales: Haas and VCARB make ground; Alpine lose out
In the utterly close battle for sixth, Haas and VCARB made up vital ground on Saturday night. Nico Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda both qualified within the top ten for the race. However, their biggest challenger, Pierre Gasly started third for Alpine, after a standout qualifying lap on Friday night.
Alpine’s struggles returned after bliss in Sao Paulo though. Gasly lost ground after qualifying a lofty P3, as was expected considering the Alpine’s pace differential to the frontrunners. It would be gutting for Gasly after his engine gave out on Lap 15, confining him to the garage.
Ocon, meanwhile, lost a heap of time after Alpine called him into the pits, with the pit crew not ready. He effectively drove through the pits and went around for another lap, before eventually pitting.
Alpine’s struggles opened the door for the chasing duo of Haas and VCARB to close up in the battle for sixth. While Magnussen and Lawson scrapped outside the points, Tsunoda had initially jumped ahead of Piastri’s McLaren.
However, he would soon fall behind, and into the clutches of the chasing Hulkenberg. The German would find his way past in the final ten laps of the race, while Tsunoda held on to ninth from a chasing Sergio Perez.
The four points for eighth meant Haas moved up to sixth, ahead of Alpine by one point. VCARB moved within three points of Alpine in seventh after Tsunoda took ninth in Vegas.
With the three teams only separated by three points, it makes for an exciting scrap with two weekends to go. Considering these teams are smaller outfits, there’s even more at stake, with millions on the line for each championship position.
Important statistics from the Las Vegas GP
Max Verstappen won his fourth world championship on Saturday. He also became the second Red Bull racer to win four successive championships.
Ferrari closed the gap at the top of the championship to McLaren, now 24 points adrift of the papaya team.
Mercedes finishing 1-2 in Vegas marked the first time four different teams took 1-2 finishes in an F1 season. This was also their first one-two since the Brazilian GP in 2022, and their 60th overall.
With George Russell winning in Las Vegas, it means seven different drivers have won two races or more in an F1 season for the first time.
In the battle for sixth, Haas moved up to 50 points, one ahead of Alpine in seventh. VCARB sit on 46 points in P8.
