We’re in Vegas baby, and the stakes are high for the F1 Las Vegas GP.
If Max Verstappen leaves with (at least) a 60-point lead ahead of Lando Norris, he’s officially a four-time world champion.
Franco Colapinto starts this race from the pit lane following his crash in qualifying. The Williams’ driver had new front brake cooling ducts replaced during parc fermé.
Annnnd we’re racing!
George Russell leads away well from pole, whilst the Ferrari drivers battle for the other podium places, with Charles Leclerc snatching 2nd from Carlos Sainz at the first corner.
Sergio Perez loses a place to Fernando Alonso and Liam Lawson makes up a space ahead of Kevin Magnussen.
On lap 4 Leclerc takes fastest lap and is gaining on the Mercedes race leader. Behind them, Verstappen gets past Gasly and his teammate, up into 4th, whilst the race leaders battle hard for P1.
Nico Hulkenberg gets past Oscar Piastri and into P8 whilst the Aussiei is noted for a false start. His teammate Norris is having no better luck as he drops back from Verstappen, now well out of DRS range.
Hamilton goes wheel to wheel with Piastri, but the Mercedes fails to make an impression yet.
Leclerc is in trouble as Verstappen moves up into the podium places, good for the title battle. At the same time, Hamilton finally gets past Piastri into P8.
Teams are predicting a one stop race, and on lap 9, Leclerc and Norris are called into the pits for new sets of hards, both coming out towards the back of the field.
Lap 10 and Verstappen breezes into 2nd, whilst Hamilton moves past Gasly into 4th.
A series of pit stops occur, with Vertsappen, Ocon, Zhou, and Lawson all changing their tyres. Verstappen comes out ahead of both Ferrari’s, and importantly, ahead of Norris.
As Piastri comes into the pits, he serves a five-second time penalty for a confirmed false start, not ideal for the McLaren championship battle.
Gasly reports smoke and low power but manages to make it back to the pits, avoiding a safety car on track. Despite a podium start for the race, his Alpine let him down, and he retires from the Las Vegas GP.
The other Alpine driver doesn’t seem to be having any better luck, with Ocon somehow missing the pit box and needing to re-enter the pitlane to box.
Lap 17 and the Mercedes’ are flying, Hamilton overtakes Norris and sets a new fastest lap. Russell holds off Verstappen for P1 with a comfortable 10-second lead.
We can now anticipate a two-stop race as Russell leads Verstappen, followed by Sainz, Leclerc, Hamilton, and Norris.
Most of the grid is on the hard compound tyre, following their pit stops. And despite the race being predicted a single-stopper, it’s looking like a two-stop race.
Albon pleads with the team on radio, asking, “Can we have one race without issues?”
Lap 26 and despite running in P10, the Williams driver has to retire due to power issues, handing the final points spot to Zhou Guanyu, just behind Perez.
Ferrari give team orders for a swap, with Sainz letting Leclerc ahead. The two narrowly avoid an overtake by Hamilton, who is picking up momentum.
Sainz looks like he’s going to pit alongside Hamilton but pulls back onto track, cutting across the pit entry. A penalty may be coming for the Ferrari driver.
Hamilton grabs another fastest lap from 4th, closing the gap behind Verstappen. On lap 32, Hamilton pushes past and goes up into P3, which is quickly P2, as Leclerc comes in for a second stop.
Leclerc comes out behind Sainz in fifth, but has fresher tyres. Will Ferrari ask Sainz to let Leclerc through again?
Russell pits from first and maintains his position, coming out of the pitlane with an impressive 11 second lead ahead of his teammate.
The world championship is looking good for Verstappen, as he sits in the final podium place, whilst Norris is down in P6.
Hamilton sets fastest lap after fastest lap, the Mercedes is flying!
Lap 38 and Perez made an unbelievable move on Lawson and Magnussen in one corner as the drivers went three-wide. Respectful racing that brought the Red Bull driver up into 12th.
The two Ferrari’s push behind Verstappen, and Sainz is the first to make a move, pushing past and moving up to 3rd. Leclerc should follow through soon. Verstappen is not putting up too much of a fight – his race is not with them.
Up front, Hamilton is gaining on Russell, a fantastic race for the Mercedes pair. Mercedes confirm on radio that Hamilton is free to push, and race his teammate.
5 laps to go and Hulkenberg gets past Tsunoda for P8. The rest of the grid maintains position.
Finally, Leclerc gets past Verstappen at turn 14 and takes P4. Verstappen doesn’t put up too much of a fight, he’s sitting comfortably as world champion.
Lap 49/50 and Norris pits for fastest lap!
We enter the final lap of the race and the Mercedes are sitting comfortably in P1 and P2, a fantastic turnout for the team.
But more importantly, the 2024 F1 world champion is confirmed. Max Verstappen takes his fourth world championship!
