Max Verstappen crossed the line in the city that never sleeps in fifth place and sealed his fourth consecutive world champion title in the Las Vegas Grand Prix with two races to spare.
George Russell capped an unexpectedly dominant weekend for Mercedes. The English driver held off teammate Lewis Hamilton's comeback charge for the race win, with Ferrari's drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc securing third and fourth spots.
"It’s been a dream of a weekend"
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 24, 2024
George Russell was overjoyed after claiming Mercedes' first pole and win in four months#F1 #LasVegasGP https://t.co/T3mpD5mmhL
The Red Bull driver, who started one spot ahead of Lando Norris in fifth, finished the 50-lap race in the same position, while the McLaren driver came home in sixth.
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Verstappen joined an elite list of drivers after clinching the world title in Las Vegas.
The moment Max Verstappen retained his crown 👑#F1 #LasVegasGP pic.twitter.com/KG5eoheDoY
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 24, 2024
The Dutchman joins Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel in winning four Formula 1 world championships, following the tracks of Argentinian driver Juan Manuel Fangio (five), Lewis Hamilton (seven) and Michael Schumacher (seven).
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"And to stand here as a four-time world champion is of course something that I never thought was possible. So, at the moment just feeling relieved, in a way, but also very proud," said Verstappen.
The 27-year-old also became the fifth driver to win four championships in a row. Schumacher is the only one that holds five consecutive titles.
For a night race where the teams' main concerns were the strong wind and tires, 18 out of the 20 drivers finished the Las Vegas race.
Alpine's Pierre Gasly, who started on a stunning P3, retired a lap 16. He radioed his crew with a "no power" message as smoke came out of the rear of his car. Frenchman was forced to return to the pit lane and park outside the Alpine garage.
Williams' Alex Albon was the second driver to retire from the race due to technical.
Several teams decided to make early pit stops to switch to hard tires, with Ferrari and McLaren bringing their drivers in on lap 15, making the 35 remaining laps challenging for drivers.
Despite the challenges, Mercedes had the quickest car on the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.
The last drivers to cross the finish line were Lance Stroll with Aston Martin, Liam Lawson with RB, Esteban Ocon with Alpine, and Valtteri Bottas with Kick Sauber.
The race for the constructor's championship between McLaren and Ferrari is heating up ahead of Qatar's race.
Here are the final Las Vegas 2024 GP results. The next F1 race takes place in Qatar, on Dec. 1.
