George Russell led a Mercedes 1-2 in F1 Las Vegas GP from Lewis Hamilton, as Max Verstappen was crowned the 2024 drivers’ champion.
It was a clean start in F1 Las Vegas GP under the floodlights as Mercedes’ George Russell led the way from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who took the inside line to be second and ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly at Turn 1.
Both Sainz and Gasly went slightly wide which allowed Leclerc into second. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fifth from McLaren’s Lando Norris, as Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda maintained seventh ahead of the fighting Haas and McLaren drivers.
It was Oscar Piastri in front at the start of the lap, but Nico Hulkenberg retook the place to be eighth, as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton rounded out the Top 10. Outside the points, the likes of Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu, Visa Cash App RB’s Liam Lawson and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen jostled for position.
Two of their moves between Guanyu and Lawson along with Lawson and Magnussen came under the firing line but were cleared soon. But it didn’t for Piastri, who was handed a 5s time penalty for incorrect track position.
At the front, Russell came under pressure from Leclerc after a plastic got stuck on Russell’s floor. But he managed to fend off the Monegasque, who dropped off soon after his charge. He came under pressure from Sainz in just a lap.
Not just Sainz but also Verstappen managed to pass him after the Dutchman managed to clear Gasly. This forced the Monegasque to pit on Lap 10. No sooner that others followed as the leading cars were bunched up with the mid-pack cars.
The track position situation had Russell still in front as Verstappen jumped up behind the Brit by staying ahead of Sainz and Leclerc. Norris was just behind in the pack with Hamilton jumping places to tuck behind the McLaren driver.
Gasly, meanwhile, retired due to power unit issue and Williams’ Alexander Albon too had to retire a little later in the race due to a suspected power unit issue. It was Russell in the front from Verstappen, Sainz, Leclerc, Hamilton and Norris.
The Mercedes driver managed to pass the McLaren racer and tucked himself on the tail of Sainz and Leclerc. The Monegasque came under pressure from Hamilton soon, as Ferrari deployed team orders to swap positions after the Spaniard started to slow.
There was a late call from Ferrari to keep Sainz out of the pits in a scary moment with Hamilton close behind. The Brit did pit along with Verstappen on Lap 27 for the second time. Sainz pitted a lap later with Leclerc following suit then.
It was Russell ahead of Hamilton in a Mercedes 1-2 in F1 Las Vegas GP after their two stops, as Verstappen stood third from Sainz and Leclerc, with Norris a bit off in sixth ahead of teammate Piastri, who served his time penalty in the pits.
Tsunoda was eighth but Hulkenberg was right on his tail towards the end, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso up to 10th. Just outside, it was Red Bull’s Sergio Perez up to 11th after a bold move by the Mexican at Turn 14 on Lawson and Magnussen.
He took the inside the line when Magnussen tried the outside and this allowed Perez to take the place to line-up for the final point. At the front, Russell maintained his lead but Hamilton started to chip in slowly, with Verstappen under pressure from Ferrari.
Sainz made the move to take third and Leclerc followed after few laps to be fourth from Verstappen. A little behind them Hulkenberg passed Tsunoda crucially for eighth, as Perez took the final point away from Alonso in the fight for 10th.
It was a Mercedes 1-2 finish after Russell took the win in F1 Las Vegas GP from Hamilton, who climbed up to second after starting in 10th. Sainz was third from Leclerc to score for Ferrari especially against McLaren in the constructors’ fight.
Verstappen in fifth was crowned the 2024 F1 champion – his fourth title in a row. Norris was sixth with the fastest lap stop late in the race, as Piastri ended up seventh from Hulkenberg, Tsunoda and Perez in the Top 10 points places.
Alonso did well in 11th from Magnussen, Guanyu, Williams’ Franco Colpainto, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Lawson, Ocon and Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, where Ocon and Bottas ended up a lap down on the leaders.
Here’s link to a F1 Discord channel, join in to interact
