Introduction
Max Verstappen became a four-time world champion with an assured drive to fifth place during Saturday night’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, while pole-sitter George Russell and the charging Lewis Hamilton earned a one-two finish for Mercedes.
Click here to subscribe to our print edition!
Verstappen entered the 50-lap encounter knowing that he needed to keep title rival Lando Norris behind him to secure another crown, which the Dutchman achieved by holding position into the first corner and gradually pulling away from the McLaren driver.
Having held a podium spot after the second round of pit stops, Verstappen opted against a fight when the Ferraris arrived at the rear of his Red Bull in the closing laps – both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finding a way past before the chequered flag.
At the front, Russell expertly managed a tricky race in cool, slippery conditions, keeping a fast-starting Leclerc at bay in the early laps – the latter running into tyre troubles due to that aggression – and controlling proceedings thereafter.
Hamilton bounced back from a challenging conclusion to qualifying, which left him 10th on the grid, to work his way through the field and back up teammate Russell, whose win marked the first Mercedes triumph since July’s Belgian Grand Prix.
Norris made a successful bid for the fastest lap in the dying moments as he took sixth and mathematically dropped out of championship contention, with teammate Oscar Piastri crossing the line seventh after a time penalty for a false start.
Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg cleared RB’s Yuki Tsunoda late in what could be crucial for the tight constructors’ battle over P6, especially after second-row starter Pierre Gasly suffered an agonising retirement due to technical trouble aboard his Alpine.
Sergio Perez added a point to Red Bull’s tally in 10th, denying Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, with one-stopping Haas racer Kevin Magnussen 12th from Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu and the Williams of Franco Colapinto, who started in the pit lane following his scary qualifying crash.
Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Liam Lawson (RB), Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Valtteri Bottas (Kick Sauber) were the final finishers after Alex Albon became the second retirement from the race for Williams due to technical gremlins of his own.
All the attention, though, was on Verstappen when he returned to Parc Ferme, the 27-year-old lapping up the celebrations with the Red Bull team thanks to him joining a group of F1 greats on four world titles – all achieved one after the other.
Mario Isola, Motorsport Director, Pirelli:
First of all, congratulations to Max Verstappen on his fourth world title, an incredible achievement for a youngster who has only recently turned 27. Well done, too, to Red Bull, as this is the eighth time one of their drivers has been crowned champion. After the start of this season, it seemed to follow the same pattern as last year’s. Max had a tough time but fought hard race after race, even though he did not have the most competitive package, proving to be an extraordinary champion.
Congratulations must also go to Formula 1 for having put on a fantastic event here in Las Vegas, full of sights and sounds and, above all, a great show on track, which definitely proved popular with the crowd of over 300,000 spectators who came to the track over the weekend and the millions watching on television and on-line.
As for tyre performance, it could have been a more precise cut Grand Prix, starting with the strategy choices. Before the race, the one-stop was the quickest option, but in the end, almost all the drivers pitted twice; if we leave out Norris, who made an additional stop to go for the point for setting the fastest race lap and Ocon, who preferred not to take any risks at the end. From an initial analysis of the data, this was due mainly to the fact that several drivers chose to push hard right from the start without giving too much thought to tyre management. As a consequence, some of them, therefore, suffered more than expected with graining and were forced to make their first pit stop earlier than planned, which triggered a chain reaction which, bit by bit, pushed everyone towards a two-stop, especially as they knew they could count on two sets of Hard tyres, which was without a doubt the most competitive compound for the race.
On average, the level of performance degradation was relatively low on both the Medium and the Hard, and so was wear. Some drivers suffered from deformation more than others, especially on the C4, but a one-stop was still doable if the tyres were managed carefully. The result was an action-packed Grand Prix with plenty of overtaking and wheel-to-wheel battles, which was great for all the fans of this wonderful sport.”
The day on the track:
Temperatures were slightly higher for the race, both ambient and track, compared to the previous days at 18/17 °C. On the grid, the vast majority of drivers opted to start on the Medium. There were four who chose otherwise: Alonso on Softs, Perez, Bottas and Colapinto, the latter starting from pit lane, on Hards. Almost all drivers made two stops, preferring to get the most out of the tyres, especially the two sets of Hards they had kept for the race, rather than trying to manage them, especially in the first stint.
As is so often the case, the laurels for the longest stints went to three specialists in this discipline, Kevin Magnussen and Esteban Ocon both completing 33 laps on the Hard, while Valtteri Bottas did 18 with the Medium.
2024 Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix Race Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Country | Team | Time | Points | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 63 | George Russell | Great Britain | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | 1:22:05.969 | 25 | 217 |
| 2. | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Great Britain | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | +7.313s | 18 | 208 |
| 3. | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Spain | Scuderia Ferrari | +11.906s | 15 | 259 |
| 4. | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Monaco | Scuderia Ferrari | +14.283s | 12 | 319 |
| 5. | 1 | Max Verstappen | Netherlands | Red Bull Racing | +16.582s | 10 | 403 |
| 6. | 4 | Lando Norris | Great Britain | Mclaren Racing | +43.385s | 9 | 340 |
| 7. | 81 | Oscar Piastri | Australia | McLaren Racing | +51.365s | 6 | 268 |
| 8. | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Germany | Haas F1 Team | +59.808s | 4 | 35 |
| 9. | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Japan | Visa Cash App F1 Team | +62.808s | 2 | 30 |
| 10. | 11 | Sergio Perez | Mexico | Red Bull Racing | +63.114s | 1 | 152 |
| 11. | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Spain | Aston Martin F1 Team | +69.195s | 0 | 62 |
| 12. | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Denmark | Haas F1 Team | +69.803s | 0 | 14 |
| 13. | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | China | Kick Sauber F1 Team | +74.085s | 0 | 0 |
| 14. | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Argentina | Williams Racing | +75.172s | 0 | 5 |
| 15. | 18 | Lance Stroll | Canada | Aston Martin F1 Team | +84.102s | 0 | 24 |
| 16. | 30 | Liam Lawson | New Zealand | Visa Cash App F1 Team | +91.005s | 0 | 4 |
| 17. | 31 | Esteban Ocon | France | Alpine F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 23 |
| 18. | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Finland | Kick Sauber F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 0 |
| 19. | 23 | Alexander Albon | Thailand | Williams Racing | DNF | 0 | 12 |
| 20. | 10 | Pierre Gasly | France | Alpine F1 Team | DNF | 0 | 26 |
2024 Constructor Standings
| Pos | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | McLaren Racing | 666 |
| 2. | Scuderia Ferrari | 652 |
| 3. | Red Bull Racing | 589 |
| 4. | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | 468 |
| 5. | Aston Martin F1 Team | 94 |
| 6. | Alpine F1 Team | 65 |
| 7. | Haas F1 Team | 58 |
| 8. | Visa Cash App F1 Team | 46 |
| 9. | Williams Racing | 17 |
| 10. | Kick Sauber F1 Team | 4 |
Here are the team-by-team highlights:
McLaren Racing
Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Team Principal Andrea Stella after the 2024 Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]Both cars hold their positions off the start. Oscar is overtaken by Hulkenburg, dropping him back to P9, but then gets back past him. Lando closes up on Gasly in P5 and, on Lap 8, manages to overtake him. Hamilton overtakes Oscar for P8. On Lap 9, Lando pits for a set of Hard tyres. Oscar gets handed a 5-second penalty, which he serves during his pit stop on Lap 11 while switching to the Hards. Hamilton overtakes Lando for P6, but both are promoted after Perez pits. Both drivers are struggling with graining, so Oscar boxes for a fresh set of Hards. Lando stays out for a few more laps before also pitting for Hards. The pit stops shuffle out by Lap 34, with Lando running in P6 and Oscar in P7. In the closing laps, Lando boxes into the gap between himself and Oscar to secure an extra point for the fastest lap. The Chequered Flag falls, with Lando in P6 and Oscar in P7. Congratulations to Max Verstappen on capping a fantastic season with a fourth Drivers’ World Championship.
Lando Norris
Firstly, big congratulations to Max on winning the Drivers’ Championship. He deserved it. He drove better than everyone over the year and rarely makes mistakes, so congrats on delivering again.
As for today, it was a reasonable race, but we didn’t have any pace in the car and experienced difficult, challenging conditions. It’s just not been our weekend, and we struggled a lot. Clearly we have a lot of things we need to improve on the car for the future.
We’ll now turn our attention to next weekend and coming back stronger in Qatar, a circuit that should suit our car better than Vegas. All our focus is on these last two races.
Oscar Piastri
It was a challenging evening. We just struggled with the tyres, so there are some things to consider. I don’t think we hoped for much more than where we finished, but obviously, the gap was disappointing. OK, points, and hopefully, the next two will be more fun for us.
Finally, congratulations to Max on winning the Driver’s Championship. He’s fought well throughout the year and deserves this fourth championship.
Andrea Stella
Before anything else, I’d like to express congratulations to Max Verstappen on behalf of our team. The four-time World Champion is among the greatest in the sport’s history. He thoroughly deserves this title. He was incredibly consistent, even when his car wasn’t the best. Max and Red Bull Racing, overall, as a team supporting him, have done a superb job. Well done to them.
We can be proud that we’ve given Max something to think about and taken the title race this deep into the season. We lost too many points at the start of the year when we were not competitive enough. Once the car improved, I think we’ve proven we have the qualities as a team, and the qualities in Lando and Oscar, to contend for both titles.
Tonight, we can’t be happy with the result because we go racing to finish on the podium, and we go racing to win. We had some headaches with car and tyre performance, and we’ll be doing a lot of analysis between here and Lusail. Considering the weekend we’ve had, I think we were able to limit the damage this evening. Qatar and Abu Dhabi should be more suitable grounds for the MCL38, but there are four teams in contention for victory all of the time. That’s great for Formula 1, but it means we have to perform at our absolute best to win the Constructors’ Championship. Not very long ago, the notion that we would be in contention for the title would have been incredible and unthinkable, but now it’s realistic, and we must finish the job.
Red Bull Racing
Max Verstappen secured his fourth consecutive Formula One Drivers’ Championship with a fifth-place finish at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The Dutchman now joins legends Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel with four titles, trailing only Juan Manuel Fangio (5), Lewis Hamilton (7), and Michael Schumacher (7).
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]Mercedes’ George Russell won the Las Vegas Grand Prix, leading the race from pole position, with teammate Lewis Hamilton coming home second. Ferrari’s Carlo Sainz Jr rounded out the podium, edging teammate Charles Leclerc, who finished in fourth.
Verstappen arrived in Nevada following a remarkable comeback win at the São Paulo Grand Prix, where he charged from 17th on the grid to victory. In Las Vegas, his task was straightforward: finish ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris to clinch the championship. Starting fifth, one position ahead of Norris, Verstappen expertly managed his race, crossing the finish line in fifth, while Norris placed sixth.
With this milestone, Verstappen became the fifth driver in F1 history to win four consecutive titles—an achievement surpassed only by Schumacher’s unprecedented five.
Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez delivered a gritty performance, climbing from 16th on the grid to 10th, securing a vital championship point.
Max Verstappen, Driver, Red Bull Racing
It feels incredible to win here today, and I am so proud to have won the championship. It has been quite a year, and I’m proud of how we handled everything as a Team. We started the season strong, and then it became pretty tough; we never wanted to give up and got the best result we could, barely made any mistakes, and that is what you need to win a title. We stuck together as a team, pushed back hard, and returned stronger. I’m super proud of everyone for what we achieved and also of myself for how we have worked together this season. Today, I stayed calm and overtook drivers one by one. I tried to hang in there and do my race, but we pulled it off. Ultimately, every Championship win is different, which also makes it special and means a lot to us. I am very proud to be part of this Team, especially as we are now celebrating our fourth World Title. It’s simply lovely.
Sergio Pérez, Driver, Red Bull Racing:
Congratulations to Max, I think he has had the best season I have ever seen from a driver, because a lot of the time we did not have the best car and Max made the difference a lot of weekends. The way he pushed the Team forward, he was just a pure force, and I think this has been the best year for him in the four we have been together. He has been tremendous, well done to him for all the success he has had, he deserves it. For me today, I think the pace was the positive thing about the race, but unfortunately, we may have got the strategy wrong because we went out on the hard initially when the track was at its worst. Unfortunately, The degradation was much higher than expected, and we used the best tyre in the beginning, so I had to do quite a long stint on the medium. I feel like we are getting there, but we need that extra jump, and I don’t feel like we are getting there, so, hopefully, for the coming weekends, we can come back stronger.
CHRISTIAN HORNER, CEO and Team Principal
This marks the culmination of an epic campaign and a fantastic win for Max. Not just today but throughout an uncompromising year and, at times, without the necessary tools at his disposal. He has been inspired in the cockpit but also out of it. The way he has conducted himself and the way he has worked with the engineers and wider team has been phenomenal. Together with 2021, this was one of the toughest years the Team have experienced. But Max has once again elevated himself to another level of exceptionalism. He’s won more than double the races of any other driver, mounting a formidable campaign and, at times, having to overcome insurmountable margins. On the days when we didn’t deliver a win or when he had everything thrown at him, he still delivered points. He has been extraordinary. Behind the scenes was a massive effort to help bring this championship over the line. It is something to celebrate here at track but equally back at the factory. I am incredibly grateful for all the work and late nights that went into this success, and everyone back in Milton Keynes can be proud of their hand in this championship. Ultimately, though, this win belongs to Max. Congratulations on number four, Max; you deserve every moment of it!
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari HP picked up plenty of points and had one driver on the podium in the Las Vegas Grand Prix courtesy of Carlos Sainz, who crossed the line third ahead of Charles Leclerc. The race was far from perfect but nevertheless the team has made up 12 points on McLaren, closing the gap to the Constructors’ championship leaders to 24. The laps run on the Medium tyres in the first stint weighed heavily on the team’s performance as the SF-24 struggled more than its rivals with graining. But it was clear that today Mercedes was clearly quicker than the rest. Today, Ferrari was the second best team and that was reflected in the result.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]The season continues immediately with the teams now packing their bags and heading off on the long flight to Qatar, for the penultimate round of the season. It’s a Sprint weekend, which means there are 59 Constructors’ championship points up for grabs.
Carlos Sainz #55
Considering the pace Mercedes had today, I think we maximised the team’s points, and even without the misunderstanding at the pit entry on my second stop, I don’t think we would have been able to stay ahead of Lewis. After what we had seen in practice, I expected to be more competitive, but we struggled quite a lot with graining today. We will keep fighting in the following races to keep the battle for the Constructors’ title open until the end. On to Qatar.
Charles Leclerc #16
I finished the race where I started it today, so it wasn’t that exciting, but if you look at the details, it was quite an eventful one. Unfortunately, we degraded the fronts on the first stint on Mediums; then, we could return to the Hards, which were working better. Big congratulations to Max (Verstappen). He deserves this championship title, he has had a fantastic season and always maximised his results which has paid off for him. It gives us motivation to be even stronger next year and hopefully we can put him under some more pressure then. We will push hard in the last two races to finish the season ahead of McLaren.
Frédéric Vasseur – Team Principal
First of all, congratulations to Max Verstappen on winning the title. As for our race, we struggled a lot in the first stint on the Mediums, losing about two seconds per lap towards the end and again at the end of the second stint, the first one on the Hards. Overall, our pace on the Hards was decent, but we lost too much time in the early stages, and generally, our pace was a bit too inconsistent. In the end, today’s race was a case of damage limitation, but at some point, we have to score more points than everyone else, and we cannot just settle for this damage limitation if we want to keep the fight open. We scored 12 points more than McLaren and 16 more than Red Bull. Let’s see what we can do next week in Qatar, a track that on paper does not suit us best, but in which there is a Sprint and more points on offer. We need to do a better job as a team at the next race.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
George Russell led home a Mercedes 1-2 as the team dominated on Saturday evening in Las Vegas. Lewis Hamilton drove his own incredible race, scything through the field from P10 to take P2.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]Tyre management and delaying any graining in the cold night conditions of the desert was the key to the Grand Prix. Both drivers ran a two-stop race, starting on the Medium compound before switching to the Hard tyre for the remainder of the race. After seeing off initial pressure from Charles Leclerc, George drove a controlled race to take the chequered flag seven seconds ahead of Lewis. Lewis, meanwhile, made early progress before unleashing his superior speed in the middle stint, undercutting both Ferraris and overtaking the Red Bull of Max Verstappen for P2. The result means Mercedes becomes the second marque in F1 history to reach 60 1-2 finishes, following Ferrari. George took his third victory in the sport, following the 2022 São Paulo Grand Prix and the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen meanwhile claimed the 2024 World Drivers’ Championship as he came home P5 – congratulations go to him from the team as he takes his fourth title. The team returns to action next week in Qatar for the season’s penultimate race.
George Russell
To win in Las Vegas feels incredible! I’m so thankful for the team and happy for them that we got this win. We had a great pace throughout and were comfortable in the lead. You always think something like a safety car might happen, but it was clean throughout. It was almost a perfect weekend as we took pole position, led nearly every lap and took the 1-2. It was great to be up on the podium with Lewis; he drove a fantastic race to come through from P10. We couldn’t ask for more.
I was meant to fly out of here tonight, but that won’t happen now! We will enjoy this night as a team, as everyone deserves it. We will then sit down on Monday and review the data to understand why we were so quick this weekend. Hopefully, that can help us as we go into the season’s final two races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Finally, I’d like to congratulate Max on his fourth title. He is a deserving champion, has driven at an incredible level all year, and is the man we will all be chasing in 2025.
Lewis Hamilton
I’m happy for the team. Everyone performed exceptionally this weekend, claiming the 1-2. The car felt strong throughout, and I had a fun and enjoyable race. It felt great to be moving forward, as I had a long way to go! It is slightly bittersweet as if we had qualified where we should have been yesterday. I think I could have won. Nevertheless, I didn’t know I would be able to finish P2 today before the race, so I’m delighted. Congratulations to George on an incredible drive to victory. Congratulations must also go to Max, who claimed the title today. He’s done a fantastic job all year and is a deserving champion.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO
It has been a while since we took a 1-2, so this is a fantastic result for the team. The colder conditions on a low-grip circuit such as this suited us. Nevertheless, everyone did a great job of executing well across the weekend. We have been quick from the start of FP1 on Thursday and continued that into Friday and Saturday. We got the car with a great window, which is pleasing.
George managed the race superbly. He held off the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc early on and, from there, was in complete command of the Grand Prix. Lewis also drove fantastically to cut his way through the field from P10 to P2. He showed how quickly he could secure a brilliant result for the team. Finally, congratulations to Max Verstappen on winning the title; he is a deserving champion, and we hope to take the fight to him next year.
Aston Martin F1 Team
After racing down the iconic Las Vegas Strip, Fernando and Lance finished the Grand Prix in P11 and P15 after qualifying in P17 and P20.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]Fernando Alonso
The car’s pace was much better in the race for us, and it was a pleasant surprise to be fighting at the points until the last few laps. The strategy was good; the pitstops were fast, and I felt slightly happier with the car. But there is no reward for the eleventh position, and I think we deserved to score some points tonight.
I’m looking forward to returning to the car for Qatar as we try to find more performance. Also, I would like to congratulate Max [Verstappen] on winning his fourth Drivers’ Championship; he has deserved to win this title.
Lance Stroll
It was a difficult race as I had no radio from the first lap so that I couldn’t communicate with the team. We’d planned to stay on the medium tyre for slightly longer at the start of the race, but I could feel it dropping off quickly and wanted to get on the hard tyre. I just couldn’t get that message through to the pit wall. It meant that the team wasn’t prepared for the stop when I did come in, so it cost us about 20 seconds.
We knew it would be a tough race, but I think P12 could have been possible without the radio issues causing a slow stop. As a team, we know where to improve the car, but there’s still a lot of work to do to get there.
Finally, congratulations to Max [Verstappen] on his fourth Championship title – it’s well deserved.
Mike Krack, Team Principal:
We performed a bit better than we expected this evening in Las Vegas, but there was no reward for our efforts, as Fernando just missed out on the final point after a strong performance. Almost everyone pitted twice, but we went quite aggressive with Fernando’s strategy [starting on the Soft], and in the end, he ran out of tyre life [on the Hard tyres]. This left him defenceless against [Sergio] Perez in the closing laps.
Lance’s race was more complicated because we had no radio communications with him for the entire race. It resulted in a big loss of time when he pitted on lap nine because there was no way for Lance to give prior warning that he was coming in. We had to manage the race via the pit board and couldn’t recover the lost time. Even without the radio, Lance did a good job with tyre management and drove a strong race.
We congratulate Max [Verstappen] for his success this year and securing his fourth world title this evening. Our attention now turns to Qatar next weekend – a different challenge regarding layout and temperatures. We will keep positive, use this week’s learning, and try to come back stronger.
Visa Cash App F1 Team
In a strong showing for Visa Cash App RB at the 2024 Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda impressed with a ninth-place finish, securing vital points for the team, with Liam Lawson finishing 16th.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]Liam Lawson
It was a challenging race today. The first stint wasn’t too bad; we were in and amongst the group around us, but it was hard to overtake, or at least it was for us. We tried to one stop and stretch it, but I think we tried to stretch that second stint a little too long and ended up boxing, coming out nowhere, it just didn’t work. We had similar issues today as yesterday, costing us quite a lot, but we’ll look into it and solve it for next week. Yuki’s done well in scoring points today. We must make the most of the next two races and try to end strong. Congratulations to Max for four World Titles, what an achievement, he fully deserves it after all the tough fights this year. Very well deserved by him and the whole team.
Yuki Tsunoda
It wasn’t an easy race today, but we maximized all that we could, and I think, as a team, we made such a good step forward throughout the weekend. I’m happy with finishing in the points today, but at the same time, it is pretty annoying as we lost a few points for the Constructors’ championship. I was feeling good and confident in the car, which is important, especially in a circuit like this, so I’m definitely happy with that and with the strong race pace we showed. There are two races left, we’ll be fighting hard until the end of the season and I’m already looking forward to racing in Qatar next week. Finally, big congratulations to Max for the win of his fourth World Championship. He has had an impressive year so far and deserves to be again crowned World Champion.
Laurent Mekies – Team Principal
First, congratulations to Max Verstappen and our friends at Oracle Red Bull Racing on an incredible achievement in winning yet another Drivers’ championship. Overall, the team and the drivers executed another strong weekend here in Las Vegas. After a very solid qualifying performance to start P7, Yuki had a busy race, with some great overtaking moves, battling with our rivals all race long. Of course, it is frustrating to lose a place with just five laps to go, but overall, he showed a good race pace and brought home two very important championship points. It was a more difficult weekend for Liam and his car was certainly very tricky to drive around here, something which we still need to understand fully. He showed good pace at some stages of the race today, but having qualified further back, he spent a lot of time in traffic. It is incredibly tight in the Constructors championship battle, and the fight will only ramp up even more over the last two rounds of the season in the Middle East, starting in Qatar in a few days. Finally, well done to the promoter for a very special Grand Prix week here in Vegas, with an incredible atmosphere on and off the track at an event that epitomises the new style of Formula One.
Haas F1 Team
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team finished with Nico Hulkenberg eighth and Kevin Magnussen 12th at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Round 22 of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, held Saturday night at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.
Hulkenberg started from ninth place on the grid on Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires, and gained a spot early on to hold eighth, before being overhauled by the recovering Oscar Piastri and fast-charging Lewis Hamilton. Hulkenberg came in for White hard tires on lap 14 and gradually cycled through the traffic, before making a second stop on lap 33, also for hard rubber. The German re-emerged in 12th position but slotted into the top 10, before chasing down RB’s Yuki Tsunoda in the closing stages. Hulkenberg carved his way past Tsunoda on lap 44 to move into eighth spot, a position he retained to the checkered flag.
Magnussen started from 12th place, also on medium tyres, but dropped down to 15th amid the jostling in the midfield. The Dane ran slightly longer than most rivals, coming in for hard tyres on lap 17, and ran a one-stop strategy, the only driver in the field to do so. Magnussen then retained 12th through to the finish.
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team moves back to sixth position in the Constructors’ Championship, on 50 points – one point ahead of seventh-placed Alpine (49) and four ahead of RB in eighth (46).
Kevin Magnussen
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal
I think that’s the best P8 we’ve ever achieved. It wasn’t an easy race to manage, but I’m so happy nobody panicked, and everyone stayed calm. Everyone, including the team back at the factory, did their bit, and to have that solid two-stop race with Nico to get P8 is great. With Kevin, after the first lap was losing position, etc., the only way we could get him back into the game was one-stop. His team did as well as possible in that scenario, nearly returning to P10. It was a huge team effort and backed up into P6 in the Constructors’. After that terrible result in Brazil, it’s been a fantastic reaction, and it gives people confidence so that I couldn’t be happier.
Williams Racing
The 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix failed to yield points for the team on Saturday evening after Alex Albon was forced to retire with a radiator issue, while Franco Colapinto battled hard for a P14 finish.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]Focus now will turn to Qatar and the beginning of an all-Middle Eastern double header to bring the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship to a close, and the team will be working extra hard to secure points to see out the season.
Alex Albon
We had a good car today and could’ve scored some good points, so retiring with a suspected PU issue is frustrating. We need to understand whether it was a similar problem to FP2 or the same issue we had in Singapore, but we’ll go away and try to get to the bottom of it. We’ve experienced some hard times this year, so we have to stay strong. From my side, these things happen, but I wanted a good result for the team to try to repay everyone for the hard work they’ve put in during these really tough times. It wasn’t meant to be, so we’ll try to focus on the last two races of the season, and hopefully, we can turn things around.
Franco Colapinto
Sven Smeets, Sporting Director:
Alpine Racing
Esteban Ocon started from P11 on New Mediums and finished P17: Pit-Stops on Lap 12 for New Hards and Lap 45 for New Softs. Fastest Lap: 1min 36.511secs. Pierre Gasly started from P3 on New Mediums, DNF: Pit-Stop on Lap 10 for New Hards. Fastest Lap: 1min 38.314secs.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]Esteban Ocon
It was not our race today, and we finished outside the points. We need to review what happened at our first pit stop, as it meant we effectively did a drive through the pit lane. It is a pity, and we need to get back from this. We did not take the opportunity today where I was confident of at least being in the fight for points. We will review everything and aim to improve in Qatar next time. Finally, congratulations to Max [Verstappen] on winning his fourth world title. I’m very happy for him, he deserves it as he’s done an amazing job all season.
Pierre Gasly
It’s a very disappointing feeling today for everyone in the team. After yesterday’s high with our Qualifying performance and strong grid position, today is tough. We knew the race would be challenging, but ultimately, we couldn’t truly show our potential after an issue with the car forced us to retire. We will learn from this and aim to advance into Qatar next weekend. There is a lot to play for, and we will do our best to strengthen our return. Congratulations to Max [Verstappen] on winning the title. He has been driving at an incredible level all season and thoroughly deserves this achievement.
Oliver Oakes – Team Principal
It’s not the outcome we were hoping for today. A Power Unit issue brought an early end to Pierre’s race. With Esteban, a mistake with his first stop meant he had to stop twice. We need to put this weekend behind us. The pace we showed yesterday and in the race underlines the positive improvements we have made recently and gives us reason to be optimistic heading into the final two races. Also, well done to Max [Verstappen] for winning the Championship for a fourth time – a fantastic achievement.
Kick Sauber F1 Team
Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber fought well within the midfield at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, with Zhou Guanyu running in the top ten for long parts of the race before finishing in 13th position. Team-mate Valtteri Bottas started from the back due to a penalty and played the team game on his way to 18th place at the chequered flag.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]The team will aim to build on the progress of the last couple of rounds to finish the season strongly in the remaining races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
Valtteri Bottas
First of all, congratulations to Max for clinching the title tonight – it’s quite the place to do it! It was a very tough race for me as the tyres didn’t last as long as we were hoping for. We had planned one stop, but it became clear that we could only make it to the end with a two-stopper. Starting on hards, only a one-stop strategy could have given me an advantage, but it didn’t work out today. It caught us by surprise. Pace-wise, I couldn’t make enough progress, and I focused also on playing the team game to support Zhou. It was just a tough day out there, but the car seems to be making some progress, so hopefully, we can have two better weekends to end the season.
Zhou Guanyu
Today was a good race for me. It’s been a while since we fought in the mid-pack near the top ten, and today, I feel we finally had a real chance. I believe we maximised the result we could have had with our pace, especially considering there was not much drama happening ahead. Still, it’s encouraging to be back where we were this weekend. It’s a step forward and gives us confidence: things are looking more promising as we head to Qatar for the next round.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative
We can be reasonably satisfied with today’s race pace. Zhou battled in the midfield with our direct competitors throughout the evening, fighting until the last lap to secure P13. We switched both cars to a two-stop strategy to limit tyre graining and maintain performance. Valtteri’s race was much more complex: starting last on the grid, we knew he’d be up against it without any Safety Car. He went through the first part of the race on hard tyres and then had a very good last stint, but, unfortunately, as soon as he got lapped by the leading cars, there was no more chance for him to recover positions. Overall, this weekend showed qualifying improvements, and we saw Zhou’s return to solid racing form. We have two races ahead of us to build on these improvements, and we will need to give everything – we won’t be giving up.