LAS VEGAS — Polesitter George Russell drove a flawless race during Saturday night’s Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix en route to victory over teammate Lewis Hamilton.
For Mercedes, it was the team’s fourth victory on the season with its last coming in July at the Belgium Grand Prix with Hamilton.Â
Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen clinched his fourth straight F-1 title after finishing fifth. Verstappen’s title rival, Lando Norris, finished sixth which derailed his championship hopes as he needed to finish ahead of Verstappen to stay alive in the hunt.Â
Verstappen snagged the position ahead of Norris in the first corner on the initial start. Norris was unable to track down the Red Bull driver for the rest of the 50-lap event.Â
“It feels incredible to win here today and I am so proud to win the championship,” Verstappen said. “It has been quite a year and I’m proud of how we handled everything as a team. We started off the season really strong and then it became quite 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 and we pushed back really hard and came back stronger. I’m super proud of everyone of what we achieved and also of myself with 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 own race and we pulled it off,” Verstappen continued.Â
“Ultimately every championship win is different, so that also makes it really special and it really 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.”
Notable Moments
• At the flick of the green lights, Russell stayed ahead of a hard-charging Charles Leclerc to maintain the top spot. Verstappen, meanwhile, had climbed into the top three shortly after.
However, after the second pit stop, Verstappen didn’t fight the Ferrari teammates of Leclerc or Carlos Sainz as he conceded both spots.Â
• Hamilton bullied his way through the field from his 10th starting position to eventually claim the runner-up position to assert Mercedes’ dominance throughout the weekend.Â
• Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri ran behind his fellow McLaren driver in seventh place. It was a strong race for Haas F-1 as Nico Hulkenberg snagged eighth away from Yuki Tsunoada late in the race.Â
• Pierre Gasly, who started third, endured technical issues on his Alpine race car. He’d retire early from the event.
• The final point on the day went to Red Bull’s Sergio Perez after he started 15th.Â