Max Verstappen takes his fourth Formula 1 Champion Title in Las Vegas

By Lexus Rae, December 9 2024—

The 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix became the race that settled the battle for the Formula 1 championship between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. 

Starting the race with Mercedes driver George Russell in P1, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz in P2 and Alpine driver Pierre Gasly in P3. Early first first lap action saw Charles Leclerc take P2 and battled for P1 throughout the first seven laps until Sainz overtook him. Meanwhile, Verstappen began the race in P4 where he would hang back in the first seven laps until he overtook Leclerc for P3 and then Sainz for P2 by Lap 10. 

Meanwhile, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton had made his way past Oscar Piastri of McLaren to gain P8. Soon after, Leclerc and Norris pitted, allowing Hamilton to make his way into P4 after starting in P10. This is a very difficult thing to achieve in such a short amount of laps, but Hamilton showcased his veteran determination to make it to the front row. 

Unfortunately for Gasly, after outdoing himself in qualifying and starting the race in P3, he retired in lap 13 due to a mechanical issue that caused him to lose power. This is a huge loss for Gasly as he has only finished on the podium once in this season and had only finished in the points few times throughout the season. 

In the 28th lap, Sainz was instructed by Team Ferrari to delay his pit stop to allow Hamilton to pit — This error by his team would cost him in the later laps of the race. Sainz’s frustration boiled over as he reacted negatively to his team’s demands.

“Wake up guys come on,” Sainz said over the team radio.

This blow-up was just one of the proverbial pieces of straw that broke the camel’s back as this call not only cost Sainz his position in Vegas but comes from Ferrari making wrong calls for Sainz and Leclerc the entire season. This is also Sainz’s last season with Ferrari until he makes his move to Williams. For Sainz, he wants to get as many great race results as he can, ending on a high note, before he moves to a team that has sat at the bottom of the Formula 1 rankings for the past few seasons. 

This mistake by Ferrari put Hamilton into P4 and Sainz behind in P5, setting Hamilton up for the front row.

With 10 laps left in the race, it was a Mercedes 1, 2 with Russell in P1 and Hamilton in P2, Hamilton outdid himself after making his way from P10 to P2 in 40 laps.

In the 47th lap, the drivers fought for their finishing places as Leclerc battled Verstappen to claim P4, leaving Verstappen in P5, which is where they finished the race.

In the 50th lap with the checkered flags waving, Russell converted his pole position into a victory. He punched the air as he took his 3rd win in his Formula 1 career. Behind him was Hamilton in P2 and Sainz in P3. 

Further back in P4, Max Verstappen takes his fourth Formula 1 World Championship title.  To win the Formula 1 Championship, the driver must have the most points out of every driver by the end of the season. A driver gains points if they finish in the top 10 in any race. In this case, even though it was not the final race of the season Verstappen took a 63-point lead over Lando Norris who finished in P5, making it no longer possible for Norris to surpass him in points throughout the remainder of the season. Norris and Verstappen sat close in points for the entire season, so this came as a great loss to Norris who could have won his first Formula 1 Championship. 

Max was overjoyed and shared his thanks to the RedBull team as he took his victory lap. 

“Thank you to everyone, I mean it was a little more difficult than last year but we pulled through and we gave it all, thank you so much guys,” Verstappen said over his team radio.

Hamilton was given the fan-voted award, Driver of the Day, for the fans were impressed by his phenomenal recovery from P10 to P2 where he joined his teammate Russell in P1 to cross the chequered flag together. 

The final two races of the Formula 1 2024 season will determine the winner of the Constructors Championship as Ferrari and McLaren battle for first place. Although a RedBull driver won the Drivers Championship, RedBull has no chance of winning the Constructors Championship because their second driver Sergio Perez has not been bringing in as many points as Verstappen has. This gives room for McLaren and Ferrari to battle for the victory as they sit very close in points.