Las Vegas Grand Prix: F1 Race Results

Las Vegas Grand Prix: F1 Race Results

The lights of the Las Vegas strip greet the drivers for the Formula 1 race in Sin City

Hannah May 7 min read

Mercedes have dominated the Las Vegas weekend so far, will they maintain their momentum for the race?

George Russell Las Vegas Grand Prix
George Russell started on pole position for the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix. (Image Credit: @MercedesAMGF1 on X)

George Russell lines up in pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver came alive in Qualifying under the Vegas lights and set a 1:32.312 lap time. The young Briton also topped the timesheet in Free Practice 3 earlier in the day.

His teammate Lewis Hamilton had a disappointing Qualifying session. He made it through to Q3 but suffered from a mistake that saw him achieve no higher than P10. However, Hamilton had been in good form before Qualifying. The seven-time world champion was fastest in both Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2.

The Williams mechanics had another large workload after their driver Franco Colapinto crashed in Qualifying. The Argentine driver hit the inside wall at Turn 16 at speed. Williams released a statement regarding Colapinto after his impact of over 50G. It was confirmed early this morning that Colapinto would be taking part in the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris remain the only two drivers in contention for the 2024 Drivers’ Championship. After today’s race, the Red Bull driver could be crowned a four-time champion in his tenth Formula 1 season. If he and Norris cross the chequered flag in the positions where they qualified (Verstappen in P5 and Norris in P6), Verstappen will achieve the championship win.

Starting grid

The starting grid for the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix is as follows:

After his crash, Colapinto starts from the pit lane due to a penalty and moves down the order. Everyone after him (from P15 onwards) moves up one place on the grid.

Lights out

As the lights went out in Las Vegas, Russell had a fantastic start off the line and maintained the lead. Charles Leclerc got past the Alpine of Pierre Gasly in third and his fellow Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz in second.

Sergio Perez lost a place to Fernando Alonso on the soft compound tyres. Liam Lawson overtook the Haas of Kevin Magnussen. Magnussen fought back and the two went wheel-to-wheel. Perez then dived down the inside of Alexander Albon as Alonso passed Magnussen.

Nico Hulkenberg overtook Oscar Piastri for P8. Hamilton was then looking to pass the McLaren driver. Zhou Guanyu and Lawson were noted by Race Control for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

Four laps in, Leclerc set the fastest lap of the race, piling the pressure on Russell. On the same lap, Verstappen managed to pass Gasly for P4. Meanwhile, Leclerc and Russell went into battle. After a scrappy fight, Russell kept the lead.

Alonso came into the pit on lap five to ditch the soft compound tyres, with all other drivers on medium or hard compounds. Piastri was noted by Race Control for a false start.

After his close call with Leclerc, Russell then set the fastest lap of the race. He had a bit of rubbish stuck to the side of his car. Leclerc was now 2.2 seconds behind the race leader, protecting his tyres at Ferrari’s request.

On lap seven, Hamilton made the move to overtake Piastri, but Piastri maintained his P8 position into the corner.

Leclerc had dropped back behind his teammate into P3 after a huge drop in pace. Then, Verstappen overtook the Ferrari driver for P3. Meanwhile, Norris passed Gasly. By lap nine, the top 10 were Russell, Sainz, Verstappen, Leclerc, Norris, Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda, Hamilton, Piastri, and Hulkenberg.

Pit stops begin

After ruining his tyres and Ferrari insisting he stays out, Leclerc came into put on lap 10. Hamilton overtook Tsunoda. Leclerc rejoined the race in P16 on the hard compound tyres. Verstappen overtook Sainz for P2 on lap 10, as Hamilton moved into P4 past Gasly. Sainz then came into the pits.

Piastri received a five-second penalty for the false start. Other drivers then came into the pits, shaking up the order. Verstappen was called into box on lap 11 and Red Bull achieved a two-second stop. He rejoined in P7.

On lap 12, Mercedes called the race leader into the pits, promoting his teammate Hamilton to P1. Russell rejoined the race in P2. Norris then set the fastest lap of the race.

Esteban Ocon missed his pit box, left the pits, went around another lap, and then pitted again. Meanwhile, Aston Martin fumbled Lance Stroll’s pit stop, failing to have the tyres ready.

On lap 14, Hamilton was called into the pits and rejoined the race in P9. Both Haas drivers, Perez, Valtteri Bottas, and Colapinto had not yet pitted.

Hulkenberg was then called in to box on lap 15. After the flurry of initial pitting, the top 10 were Russell, Perez, Verstappen, Sainz, Leclerc, Norris, Hamilton, Magnussen, Bottas, and Tsunoda.

An early retirement

On lap 16, Gasly was screaming on the radio to Alpine that something was wrong with the car. Alpine responded that there were no issues. However, shortly after smoke was seen billowing from Gasly’s car. Luckily, he was near the pit entry and was able to bring the car back to the garage to retire the car, avoiding the need for a safety car.

Meanwhile, Hamilton set the fastest lap of the race and Sainz passed Perez for P3. Hamilton then passed Norris, and Tsunoda passed Hamilton. Perez came into the pits on lap 18, rejoining the race in P14.

The track was causing more tyre degradation than expected. Therefore, it seemed likely to be a two-stop race. If the race finished now, with Verstappen in P2 and Norris in P6, Verstappen would claim his fourth world championship title.

Williams told Albon to drop back from Hulkenberg in front as he was experiencing overheating issues in P10.

Halfway point

By lap 25 of 50, Perez overtook Lawson for P13. Williams then informed Albon to retire the car due to mechanical issues, a suspected power unit issue. It looked like a plastic bag had lodged in an air duct too. Piastri then entered the pits on lap 26 for a tyre change.

Albon’s car woes promoted Zhou into the points positions, could this be the Sauber driver’s first points finish? Both Zhou and Bottas are without a seat next year, but some points may soften the blow to the end of his time in F1.

On lap 27, Verstappen came into the pits. Before he pitted, Verstappen cut the corner on Turn 7 losing a second. Meanwhile, Hamilton got close to Leclerc, chasing for P4. Ferrari told their drivers to swap positions as Sainz pleaded with the team to pit him.

Sainz stayed out while Hamilton came into the pits. Sainz had crossed the line for the pit lane, but Ferrari told him to stay out. He will likely pick up a penalty for crossing the pit entry line. Verstappen’s stop was 3.4 seconds, while Hamilton’s was 2.6.

Sainz finally came into pits on lap 29 asking the team what happened. Ferrari responded that they were not ready for him. He rejoined the race in P6 behind Hamilton.

On lap 29, the top ten were Russell, Leclerc, Norris, Verstappen, Hamilton, Sainz, Tsunoda, Hulkenberg, Perez, and Zhou. Russell had a 15.5-second lead on Leclerc, who in turn was 11.3 seconds ahead of Norris.

On lap 31, Norris was called into the pit lane as Hamilton set the fastest lap of the race. Norris rejoined the race in P7. Race Control noted Lawson and Ocon for an incident, but no further action was taken.

On lap 32, Hamilton passed Verstappen for P3 as Leclerc came into the pits. Leclerc rejoined in P4 ahead of his teammate.

Race leader pits

On lap 33, Russell entered the pits with a 32-second lead on his teammate Hamilton. He rejoined the race maintaining the lead. The gap was then down to 13 seconds.

Perez entered the pits shortly after, a quick stop of 2.4 seconds by Red Bull. He rejoined in P15 on new hard tyres. Colapinto passed Bottas for P16.

Hulkenberg came into the pit lane on lap 34, rejoining in P12 between Tsunoda and Alonso with fresher tyres.

With 15 laps to go, Hamilton had reduced the gap to his teammate to 9.3 seconds. Then, Tsunoda passed Ocon for P8. If the race ended now, RB would go ahead of Haas for P7 in the Constructors’ Championship.

Hamilton set another fastest lap which was then topped by Leclerc. On lap 38, Perez dove down the inside of Magnussen and Lawson going three into a corner. The Mexican driver moved into P12.

10 laps to go

On lap 40, Tsunoda passed Hulkenberg for P8 and Perez overtook Ocon for P11. On lap 41, Hulkenberg went wheel-to-wheel with Tsunoda but the RB driver maintained position.

Sainz overtook Verstappen for P3. Hamilton was within 5.7 seconds of his teammate in P1. Verstappen remained within DRS of Sainz, meaning that Leclerc could not get past the Red Bull driver.

On lap 45 into Turn 14, Hulkenberg passed Tsunoda for P8. Meanwhile, Zhou overtook Ocon for P14. Perez then passed Alonso for the final points position. Then, on lap 47, Leclerc finally managed to overtake the Red Bull driver for P4.

With three laps to go, the top 10 were Russell, Hamilton, Sainz, Leclerc, Verstappen, Norris, Piastri, Hulkenberg, Tsunoda, and Perez.

Hamilton cut across the run-off area, costing him seven-tenths. His front right tyre had grained. That error may have cost Hamilton the chance to battle for the lead before the race ended.

With a 23.4-second lead ahead of his teammate, Norris pitted for fresh tyres and claimed the fastest lap of the race point from P6.

Russell crossed the chequered flag to win the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix. He was followed by his teammate Hamilton in P2 and Sainz in P3.

Verstappen finished in fifth ahead of Norris in sixth, meaning that he achieved his fourth consecutive Drivers’ Championship victory.

Grand Prix classification

To follow…

Featured Image Credit: @F1 on X

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