George Russell drove a commanding race from pole position to win Saturday’s (Nov. 23) Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, his second win of 2024 and the third of his career. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen finished fifth to secure his fourth consecutive World Championship.
Lewis Hamilton finished second with Carlos Sainz completing the podium in third place. Verstappen’s title rival, Lando Norris, finished sixth.
“It’s been a dream of a weekend,” Russell told Terry Crews and Jenson Button after the race. “I don’t know how we’ve been so quick but I’m just riding this wave right now.
“I was just waiting for something to happen. The two races I’ve been on pole before it’s always been chaos; rain, dry and always something happening. Last race in Brazil with the red flag. So I’m like ‘I feel confident here, I’ve got a good gap’ but I’m just waiting for something to happen and it didn’t. I’m just so, so happy right now.”
#F1 – LAS VEGAS BELONGS TO GEORGE! 💪
— Mercedes-AMG Motorsport (@amgmotorsport) November 24, 2024
A brilliant lights-to-flag triumph for @georgerussell63 under the Las Vegas lights. ✨#LasVegasGP #WeLivePerformance #WorldsFastestFamily pic.twitter.com/aY7sVH6qd6
Charles Leclerc finished fourth after battling with teammate Sainz throughout the race. Oscar Piastri crossed the finish line in seventh with Nico Hulkenberg, Yuki Tsunoda and Sergio Perez rounding out the points-paying positions.
Hamilton made a late charge for the lead after the final round of pit stops and, for some time, ran a pace that would have allowed him to catch and challenge Russell for the win, his third of 2024 if he had passed his teammate. However, Hamilton’s pace eventually fell below the threshold to catch Russell and the seven-time champion had to settle for second.
Pierre Gasly was first to retire from the race with engine issues on lap 16, bringing a disappointing and premature conclusion to the race he qualified third for in impressive fashion. Alexander Albon likewise retired with power unit issues that were causing his Williams to overheat.
LAP 16/50
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 24, 2024
Heartbreak for Gasly 💔
The Frenchman has smoke billowing from his car and he returns to the pits. He's not coming out again ❌#F1 #LasVegasGP pic.twitter.com/yrR0TX0G0l
Piastri was noted for making a false start when the lights went out and was later assessed a five-second time penalty en route to his seventh-place finish.
The Ferrari teammates were embroiled in a bit of confusion regarding team orders, with Sainz apparently ignoring instructions to refrain from overtaking Leclerc, leading to Leclerc finishing fourth.
Bryan: “Carlos has been told to not overtake, so just look after your tyres. He has been told to not put you under pressure.”
— Ferrari News 🐎 (@FanaticsFerrari) November 24, 2024
* Carlos overtakes Charles, ignoring team orders *
Charles: “Maybe try in Spanish!”
pic.twitter.com/OmOPK3hfyh
Leclerc was livid after the race and made his frustrations clear to his team over the radio.
— CL16media 🇲🇨 (@CL16media) November 24, 2024
2024 F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix Results
The penultimate round of the 2024 season will be held at the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar. The Qatar Grand Prix Sprint will kick off at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 29 with the Grand Prix taking place Nov. 30 at 1 p.m. ET.
About the author
Alex is the IndyCar Content Director at Frontstretch, having initially joined as an entry-level contributor in 2021. He also serves as Managing Director of The Asia Cable, a publication focused on the international affairs and politics of the Asia-Pacific region which he co-founded in 2023. With previous experience in China, Japan and Poland, Alex is particularly passionate about the international realm of motorsport and the politics that make the wheels turn - literally - behind the scenes.
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.
Max won with two races still to come. F1 better change the points system to ensure the title chase goes down to the final lap of the last GP or some fans will complain.
Maybe they could come up with a Playoffs system. 🤔
Maybe Brian has some brilliant ideas he could suggest?