The race ends in Las Vegas. The one who made it to the in in Sin City is George Russell, who after having taken pole yesterday also takes home the grand prix. Crazy comeback after the qualification of yesterday of Lewis Hamilton, which closes the brace Mercedes under the American lights. Third and fourth positions conquered by Ferrari, XNUMX Sainz ahead of Leclerc. Fifth position is enough for Max Verstappen to graduate World Champion, seen the Lando Norris sixth position. Let's relive the highlights of the race.
Russell and Leclerc take off in a slingshot: Ferrari ahead of Alpine
The start of the race in Las Vegas saw an excellent start from Russell, but above all from Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque immediately passes Gasly and his teammate Carlos Sainz. However, he does not want to stop there, and tries to overtake the Mercedes as well. However, this costs him a lot on pace in the following laps, and a few laps later Sainz passes him againThe #16 loses so much to the drivers behind that it is also passed by Max Verstappen, who had previously also overtaken Gasly.
Lap 9, pit stops begin: white tyre for everyone
On lap 9 we see the first pit stops. The ones stopping are Leclerc e Norris, followed on the next lap by Sainz and Piastri. The theme, even more than with the yellow tyre, is that of the tire management. Put the hard tyres in their working window. On lap 11 Verstappen also stops, and on the next lap it is Russell's turn. The first to stop all drop back into traffic and are forced to overtake. The standings close up a few laps later, with the #63 Mercedes in first place, followed by Verstappen, Sainz and Leclerc. The first of the two McLarens is Lando Norris, with behind him Lewis Hamilton on the freshest tyre of all.
Gasly retires, Mercedes is going very strong in this phase of the race
The Las Vegas race continues with the first twist on lap 14. The engine of Pierre Gasly loses power and turns into white smoke going towards the main straight. What is most surprising is the pace in this phase of the race of Hamilton. First he easily passes Norris, then he gets into a brawl with Charles Leclerc which nevertheless manages to resist thanks to the very light set-up of its Rossa. Looking at the Drivers' World Championship, with the #4 McLaren in P6 and the Red Bull #1 in P2, Max Verstappen is world champion.
Ferrari-Hamilton brawl, second stop for him and Sainz
On lap 28 comes the second pit stop for both Verstappen that for Hamilton. Sainz wants to stop, but the team does not confirm the stop and the Ferrari driver has to cross the pit line. He will stop on the next lap and at the moment there is no investigation for the #55. A few laps later Leclerc also stops, but the 2021 challenge is renewed ahead Hamilton-Verstappen. This time, the silver arrow paints the Milton Keynes bull before even reaching the end of the Strip straight. It is therefore composed of a Mercedes one-two, but Lewis doesn't seem to want to remain a spectator. 1'36 "288, fast lap and, with 15 laps to go, the #44 is at just under 9 seconds from #63. It takes away the fast lap for 5 thousandths Ferrari #16, who together with his teammate try to go and get Max.
Sainz passes Verstappen, then it's Leclerc's turn. Russell triumphs, Max champion
Final moments of the Las Vegas race, with the two Ferraris arriving under Verstappen. Sainz wastes no time and immediately passes the Dutchman, the #1 remains attached to the #55 and keeps the DRS. In front Hamilton drops to just under 5 seconds on Russell, but it is too late by now. On lap 47 Leclerc manages to get rid of the Red Bull in front of him and goes back to hunting for the other Red in front. Russell increases the pace and goes to win the Las Vegas race. Mercedes double in sin city, but the american lights are all on Max Verstappen, world champion 2024 and fourth time in his career. See you in Qatar next week for the penultimate race of the season.
