In the 2024 Las Vegas grand prix Max Verstappen managed to claim victory and was crowned a four-time Formula 1 world champion on Saturday night as George Russell led a one-two victory for Mercedes with Hamilton 7 seconds behind and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz taking up 3rd on the pole.
Verstappen Started the race by just holding on to the drivers’ championship after a record finish in the Sao Paulo grand prix, knowing he could secure the title by simply finishing ahead of rival Lando Norris. During the starting grid Verstappen and Norris qualified in the same line with Verstappen taking up fifth after many issues with his car and Norris just behind in sixth place.
Mercedes also had a great week with a 1-2 victory at the 2024 Las Vegas grand prix taken by George Russell and Lewis Hamilton starting with Russell from pole position put on a flawless race shooting to victory and Hamilton with a veteran’s performance going from P10 to P2.
The win in Las Vegas marked Russell’s third career victory after he was disqualified from a first-place finish at the Belgian Grand Prix earlier this year. Russell said afterwards: “I was planning on flying in a couple of hours but I’m definitely not getting on that flight and going to enjoy this evening with all my team, it’s been a dream of a weekend, I don’t know how we’ve been this quick but I’m riding the wave right now…a one-two with Lewis as well, we couldn’t have chosen a better place to make this happen.” The win marked Mercedes’ first one-two victory since the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix and the team’s fourth grand prix win of a roller-coaster season.
Ferrari then took up P3 with Carlos Sainz staring P2 after Mercedes George Russell. Though Ferrari didn’t have such a good night with Sainz just avoiding investigation for a pit lane cut due to the team not needing him at the time and Sainz ignoring the team and overtaking Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc which lead to a few choice words after the race with Leclerc saying “I did my job but being nice f**ks me over all the f**king time, all the f**king time. It is not even being nice, it is just being respectful,” Leclerc said on the radio. “I know I need to shut up but at one points it’s always the same, so… oh my f**king god.”
Overall, the night was all about one man, Max Verstappen. Despite finishing fifth in the lineup for red bull, the Dutchman sped to victory claiming the 2024 F1 World Drivers’ Championship in style.
“Oh my god what a season! Four times, four times!” Verstappen said on team radio after the race. “We pulled through and gave it all.
“I never thought this was possible, but thanks to you guys it was. So, thanks again.”
Finally, heads are now turned towards the Constructors championship with the team heading up on the most points being McLaren with Ferrari behind by twenty-four points and red bull about fifty-five points behind the top competitor. With a maximum of 103 points still in play it will be a rough race between the top teams battling it out on the last two races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
Featured image credit: Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times
