2024 F1 Round 22 Las Vegas Grand Prix: Russell wins from pole in Mercedes one-two, Verstappen fifth to clinch fourth consecutive title

The Las Vegas Grand Prix, Round 22 of the 2024 Formula 1 season, concluded at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit on 24 November, Beijing time. Pole-sitter George Russell controlled the race to win in 1h 22m 05.969s, finishing 7.313s ahead of second place as Mercedes secured a one-two. Lewis Hamilton charged from tenth on the grid to second. Max Verstappen finished fifth to clinch his fourth drivers’ championship with two rounds to spare, becoming the fifth driver in F1 history to win four consecutive titles after Juan Manuel Fangio, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Hamilton.

Ferrari brought both cars home in third and fourth, with Carlos Sainz ahead of Charles Leclerc, cutting its constructors’ championship deficit to McLaren to 24 points. Leclerc had attacked Russell with DRS on Lap 4 without success, after which worsening front-tyre graining cost him pace. Sainz also struggled as his hard tyres faded. Ferrari at one stage ordered the pair to swap places, then called off Sainz’s planned pit stop at the last moment, provoking his cry of “Wake up, guys!” By then Verstappen had risen to second on Lap 10. Front-tyre graining forced most drivers to abandon one-stop plans. Verstappen and Hamilton kicked off the leading group’s second round of stops from Lap 27, with other teams following.

The title fight was settled. Norris needed to outscore Verstappen by at least three points in Las Vegas to keep the championship alive into Qatar, but the MCL38 struggled to match the three leading teams’ pace in this race. He ultimately finished sixth (+43.385s), with McLaren using a free pit stop with two laps remaining to fit soft tyres and secure the fastest-lap bonus point. Verstappen, reminded by his engineer not to forget the day’s objective, calmly replied, “I know, I’m running my own race,” and avoided a needless fight with the Ferraris behind.

Yuki Tsunoda started seventh and held off Piastri at the start. When he stopped for hard tyres on Lap 10, pit work around a second quicker than Gasly’s allowed the RB to pass the Alpine in the pit lane. Piastri then struck back with an undercut by making his second stop earlier. Late in the race, Tsunoda lost eighth to Hülkenberg with DRS, falling to ninth, but resisted a fierce attack from Pérez to finish 62.808s behind the winner and take two points, keeping RB’s hopes alive in the fight for sixth in the constructors’ championship. Alpine’s Gasly retired with a power-unit failure and white smoke, while Williams’ Albon also retired.