F1 News: Russell wins Las Vegas GP, Verstappen wins 4th title

Polesitter George Russell led the 2024 Las Vegas GP from start to finish, winning by 7.3s over Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton who charged from 10th to 2nd at the finish, but it was Max Verstappen who beat Lando Norris for 5th to secure his 4th straight World Driving title.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Russell was ecstatic with the most dominant win of his career, while Verstappen was emotional to clinch his 4th straight title on the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.

He was denied the win in Belgium on a technical infringement, while he inherited his victory in Austria earlier this year.

But tonight’s win was purely on merit

The two Ferraris of Carlos Sainz Jr and Charles Leclerc came home 3rd and 4th, 11.9s and 14.3s behind Russell.

Max Verstappen drove a conservative race to make sure he beat Norris to secure his 4th consecutive title, 16.5s behind Russell. Verstappen leads Norris by 63 points, 403 to 340, with two Grand Prix and one sprint race to go.

A well-deserved victory for the Englishman, who didn’t put a foot wrong tonight.

“I was planning on flying in a couple of hours, but I am definitely not getting on that flight – I’m going to enjoy this with all my team,” said a happy Russell.

“Vegas is just a crazy, crazy place. To get pole, a dominant weekend, a 1-2 with Lewis as well – I was just waiting for something to happen, the last two I’ve had on pole have been crazy races with rain, red flags. But I’m so, so happy right now.”

“Firstly I have to say a big congratulation to Max, winning the championship,” said Hamilton. “If I’d done my job yesterday, it would have been a breeze today. But I had fun coming from P10, we don’t know why the car was so quick, but that’s the best the car has felt. If the car drivers like that in the next couple of races, we’ll be able to challenge the guys in front.”

“It was a bit of a shock – the mediums, it lasted eight, nine laps for me and from there it was a damage limitation,” said 3rd place Sainz Jr.

“We just didn’t have it today. This race has delivered a good show and I’m looking forward to coming back here in the future.”

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were 6th and 7th for McLaren, with Norris bagging the fastest lap bonus point.

Nico Hulkenberg was P8 for Haas, picking off Yuki Tsunoda who finished ninth ahead of Sergio Perez in P10.

There are two race weekends left now, in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Qatar is a Sprint weekend too, and while one championship has been decided, the other is very much still to play for.

McLaren’s lead has been cut from 36 points to 24 – but they do think Qatar should suit their car. Here McLaren lacked pace in the race which will worry them now that they can no longer use their cheater flex-rear wing, finishing sixth and seventh in the end. They were lucky that Mercedes were so fast, limiting the points loss to Ferrari in the end.

The World Champion – Max Verstappen

He did more than enough tonight by beating Norris and now Max Verstappen is a four-time world champion.

A championship that was built with total dominance in the early stages of the season, then kept alive with some sterling drives through the summer in a car that was not the class of the field.

The São Paulo GP will live long in the memory as the drive which more than earned Verstappen another title, and he didn’t need long after that to seal the deal.

He is now level with Sebastian Vettel and Alain Prost on four world titles.

In many ways this has been his toughest season, as for much of it he had a car that was tricky to handle, it wasn’t the class of the field and everyone at Red Bull was scratching their heads as to how to make it perform.

But he kept eking out those points, maximizing every result, and the consistency he showed through the middle of the season when he had at times the fourth-fastest car is what has won his a fourth drivers’ title.

It’s been a very impressive season to watch.

“It’s been a long season. We started off cruising, and we have to be proud of everyone. To stand here as a four-time world champion, I never thought it was possible. I’m relieved in a way, and very proud.

“We hit the ground running with the new concept, and to be a four-time champion is just incredible. It was a very challenging season, I had to be calm and in a way – I still prefer last season, but this season taught me a lot of lessons, and I’m very proud how we handled it as a team.”

“All these highs we are achieving right now, it’s very special to achieve with all the people here and back at the factory, it’s very special,” added Verstappen.

“Of course, if you look at next year right now, it will be a proper battle between lots of cars. But I need to enjoy this, there are still two races to come, and then we have a little break before we go back at it next year.”

Red Bull Team Boss Christian Horner on Verstappen’s Title

“It’s been a rollercoaster of a year, but Max has been truly outstanding. Max got off to a flying start, we had a difficult summer but he has just been outstanding. I think it’s been his best and hardest world championship, he’s delivered on days when the car wasn’t quite there.

“This one has been hard won. All credit to the men and women in Milton Keynes. The others have pushed us really hard this year. Max joins an elite group of champions now, it puts him in among the all-time greats.”

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali on Verstappen’s Title

“I want to congratulate Max Verstappen on an incredible season and his fourth world title,” said F1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali. “He is a true great of this sport and has so much more to look forward to in his impressive career. This season has been thrilling and 2025 looks set to be even closer. Congratulations Max and congratulations to all the team at Red Bull.”

Next Up:

Round 23 of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship is the Qatar Grand Prix at the Losail International Circuit. Practice / Sprint Race Qualifying – Friday November 29. Sprint Race / Qualifying – Saturday November 30. Race – Sunday December 1.

2024 Las Vegas GP Race Results

* Provisional results. Note – Norris scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.