What’s at stake at F1’s second Las Vegas GP?

Formula 1 heads to Las Vegas for the second edition of its street race on the Strip. Here’s what’s at stake in Sin City.

A fourth F1 world title for Verstappen?

In the drivers’ championship, Max Verstappen could claim his fourth straight world title. With 86 points available across the remaining three grand prix weekends, the Red Bull man is guaranteed another crown by winning the race outright, or indeed by just finishing ahead of nearest challenger Lando Norris. Verstappen can even afford to finish directly behind Norris in most scenarios to claim the trophy on Saturday night.

The 27-year-old is poised to join the likes of Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Juan Manuel Fangio, who all won four consecutive titles before him, with Alain Prost the only other driver to conquer four drivers’ championships over his career. 

Verstappen will be champion in Vegas if:

• Verstappen finishes ahead of Norris
• Norris is second or third and Verstappen finishes right behind him with the fastest lap
• Norris is fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth and Verstappen finishes right behind him
• Norris is ninth, 10th or fails to score

Ferrari’s best chance to strike

In the constructors’ championship the battle rages on, courtesy of Ferrari enjoying a strong resurgence after its late-season upgrades cured some of the SF-24’s flaws. McLaren leads Ferrari by 36 points, but the Scuderia comfortably outscored its rival over the most recent American triple-header, with a win apiece for both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

Leclerc could have easily won last year’s Vegas event, and the slow corners and long straights are expected to benefit Ferrari more than McLaren and Red Bull this weekend. Leclerc did caution that Ferrari’s tyre management improvements this year may have inadvertently taken away a strength in the cold conditions likely faced in Nevada, so it remains to be seen if the Scuderia is as fast as it was last year.

But with McLaren still expected to have the most consistently fast car over the remaining three races, Ferrari will need a big weekend in Las Vegas to have a realistic chance of defeating the papaya team. The Italian squad is not expecting to be a match for McLaren through the high-speed corners of Qatar’s Losail circuit, while Abu Dhabi could go either way. So, Ferrari needs to outscore McLaren by a…