Las Vegas is quite the storied city. In Formula 1 2024, several storylines were wrapped up or extended here – the chief being Max Verstappen securing this year’s world title.
He finished fifth on a weekend Mercedes dominated in a manner so previously familiar to F1, with the Silver Arrows squad leading every session and being so much faster than its rivals that Lewis Hamilton could recover from his Q3 errors to turn 10th on the grid into second behind superb winner George Russell. This was just three races on from the team’s shocking Austin weekend having lost its way since its mid-season wins.
Elsewhere, Lando Norris’s faint title hopes were finally extinguished, while there was much development in off-track topics, too. Here then, is our pick of the storylines from Vegas.
1. Only three drivers now head Verstappen in title terms
Verstappen is only the second driver after Vettel to win his first four F1 titles back-to-back
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Verstappen finished where he started in Vegas – fifth – but it was a far more interesting drive than the headline results suggest. Having gained after Red Bull got creative with its cutting tools ahead of qualifying, he was nearly wiped out by RB’s Yuki Tsunoda at Turn 1, then rose to second with a fine run and series of passes on the medium tyres most had started on.
The second and third stints on the hards were tougher for the Red Bull driver, which has been something of a theme this campaign. From trailing winner Russell by nearly 10s ahead of stop one, Verstappen was passed by old foe Hamilton and the Ferrari pair – in the first skirmish after a warning from race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to remember his main aim for the night.
That was wrapping up the title and not laying down more markers on rivals, but Verstappen was already in championship-sealing mode. He drove sensibly and was rewarded with the points he needed to fully extinguish Norris’s faint title hopes, having done the majority of that with his Brazil brilliance.
On four titles, Verstappen joins F1 legends Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel. Next up, there’s only Juan Manuel Fangio (five), Michael Schumacher and Hamilton (both seven) left to overhaul.
2. Cold weather really is Mercedes’ best friend in F1 2024
Mercedes topped every session in Vegas for its first victory since July’s Belgian GP
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
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