Russell Wins 2024 Las Vegas GP as Verstappen Seals Fourth Title – Sport Grill

Mercedes’ George Russell dominated the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, whilst Max Verstappen won a fourth consecutive F1 title.

Russell led from lights to flag – bar one lap – to take a dominant victory from teammate, Lewis Hamilton who drove from tenth to second, as Mercedes claimed their first one-two finish since 2022 Sao Paulo GP.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished third and fourth after late overtakes on Verstappen, who settled for fifth to take his fourth consecutive title.

McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri settled for sixth and seventh ahead of; Nico Hulkenberg, Yuki Tsunoda and Sergio Perez.

In the drivers’ standings, Verstappen extended his title lead to an unassailable 63 points over Norris, who is now 21 points ahead of third-placed Leclerc.

In the constructors’ standings, McLaren now lead Ferrari by 24 points with Red Bull a further 29 points behind.

At lights out, Russell got a clean getaway but Sainz squabbled with Pierre Gasly which allowed Leclerc to sneak past the pair into second on the inside.

Leclerc quickly proceeded to pressure Russell for the lead to no avail and he found himself suffering tyre graining, which lost him two positions on lap eight to Sainz and Verstappen – who passed Gasly on lap four.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso had gambled on soft tyres from 16th on the grid but after recovering just two positions, he was the first to pit at the end of lap four which soon triggered a flurry of stops.

Up front during the first round of pit stops, Verstappen overcut Sainz by staying out until lap 12 after the Spaniard pitted a lap earlier as Russell continued to control the race until he pitted on lap 13.

Russell however regained the lead a lap later when Hamilton made his stop to switch from medium to hard tyres like many drivers.

Hamilton subsequently cleared Norris on lap 16 then sat behind Leclerc who swapped positions with third-placed Sainz on lap 27.

Verstappen and Hamilton however pitted a lap later which allowed the Brit to get on the three-time champion’s tail and successfully passed for then-third on lap 31 before Leclerc pitted from second a lap later.

With Norris sat sixth, Verstappen knew that the title was his and didn’t battle hard as Sainz passed him into turn 14 for third on lap 41.

Leclerc followed through a lap later as Verstappen settled for fifth to seal his fourth title, ahead of Norris who could only manage sixth and the bonus point for fastest lap, albeit after a third stop at the end of lap 48.

Up front, Russell clinched his third race win of his F1 career from Hamilton, as Mercedes became the fourth team this season to record an one-two finish.

Piastri recovered from a five-second time penalty for a false start to finish seventh, whilst Hulkenberg’s eighth-placed put Haas sixth in the constructors’ standings as Tsunoda fought off Perez for ninth.

Post-race, McLaren CEO – Zak Brown paid tribute to Verstappen for an ‘incredible’ fourth title worthy of his ‘talent and dedication.’

Congrats to @Max33Verstappen on clinching your fourth World Championship. An incredible achievement and a testament to your talent and dedication. 👍 pic.twitter.com/dXFKHXHnby

— Zak Brown (@ZBrownCEO) November 24, 2024

F1 now heads to Qatar from 29 November – 1 December for the penultimate round and final sprint weekend of the season.