The Red Bull driver did enough to emerge from the final American race of the season with his fourth straight title. Plus, a dream weekend for Mercedes, and the team battle thickens.
Max Verstappen is a Formula One world champion for the fourth straight season.
The Red Bull driver didn’t need to do much, but he did more than enough to win his fourth consecutive title, finishing fifth in the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Saturday. The result puts Verstappen into the annals of F1 history as he becomes just the fifth driver in the sport to win four championships in a row.
As Verstappen added to his legacy by clinching the title with two races remaining, George Russell coasted his way to his second win of the season. The Mercedes driver converted from pole position to helm an impressive weekend for the team that also featured a second-place finish by teammate Lewis Hamilton. Carlos Sainz rounded out the podium for the race, coming home in third.
Here’s what to know from a historic night on the Las Vegas Strip:
Verstappen Captures Another ChampionshipÂ
The Red Bull driver seemed all but assured of winning his fourth title in four years after his last outing in Brazil, but he still arrived in Vegas needing to finish the job. He did that comfortably Saturday, sticking to himself for much of the race and avoiding any major conflicts with the opposing drivers—an approach rather uncharacteristic of the 27-year-old. However, Verstappen’s maturity was on display as he drove his way to a legacy-affirming championship.
It’s easy to say that a three-time defending champion had already etched his way into an elite F1 club. But there’s no denying that Verstappen captained a superior piece of machinery in his last two seasons with Red Bull. Though that looked to be the case again when the team went 1–2 in the opening two rounds in 2024, the car’s advantage had all but evaporated by the summer. Verstappen even went without a win from the Spanish Grand Prix in late June until Brazil in early November, but his ability to never dip too deep proved to be his biggest asset. Apart from a DNF in Australia in the third race of the season, Verstappen never finished below sixth in a race in 2024.
That sort of consistency coupled with Verstappen’s sheer talent behind the wheel is a lethal combination and puts him into elite company. Only Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Juan Manuel Fangio and Sebastian Vettel had ever won four championships in a row before Verstappen sealed the deal this season. The Red Bull driver is also tied for the fourth-most championships in the sport’s history, safely securing his legacy—even if it was never in doubt.
There are still two races left to go—and a pivotal team fight shaping up—but more will be on the line next season for Verstappen. Schumacher is the only driver to win five championships in a row, a mark that previously seemed untouchable. The competition will be fierce, as evidenced by the challenge given in the latter half of 2024, but Verstappen will surely remain unfazed, as he has repeatedly over the last four seasons.
Russell Leads Complete Weekend for MercedesÂ
While much of the race’s focus was rightfully on Verstappen’s championship moment, Russell helmed the best performance of the year for Mercedes. The team’s pace from earlier in the weekend was no fluke as the 26-year-old led from start to finish to capture his second win of the year.
As soon as the teams got out on the Las Vegas Circuit on Thursday night, something had clearly clicked at Mercedes. In the first two practice sessions, Hamilton and Russell finished in the top three and looked ready for a signature weekend. Still, it wouldn’t have been the first time this season that Toto Wolff’s outfit came out the gate hot only to watch the rest of the contenders fly past them in qualifying.
Russell ensured that didn’t happen, beating out the rest of the field to claim the top spot on the grid. Hamilton didn’t fare as well as he had the night prior, sliding out twice in Q3 and failing to post a competitive lap time, but he recovered brilliantly in the race. Starting in 10th, he picked off the field one-by-one and almost posed a threat to Russell before settling for second.
It’s too late for Mercedes to scrap its way into the constructors’ title fight. However, this weekend’s outing bodes well for the early part of next season when phenom Kimi Antonelli will replace Lewis Hamilton and join Russell on the grid.
Constructors’ Race Thickens As McLaren Labors
Verstappen leaves Vegas with another individual championship, but Red Bull’s hopes for a third straight constructors’ title took a small hit with just two races to go. That was largely due to another steady performance from Sainz and Charles Leclerc at Ferrari.
The Prancing Horse has come on like a freight train since Leclerc’s victory at Monza over the summer and picked up a significant number of points on leader McLaren on Saturday. The gap is now just 24 points, while Red Bull has faded further behind and now trails McLaren by 53 points.
That makes McLaren’s hold on the lead tenuous at best as the Papaya’s performance in Vegas left much to be desired. Lando Norris, who qualified on pole in five of the past seven outings before the Las Vegas Grand Prix, was a step off the pace throughout the weekend, as was teammate Oscar Piastri. The team expressed its hope that the performance was more of an outlier than an indication of what will happen at the final two races, but there won’t be much time to make adjustments before racing for points twice in Qatar.
Though McLaren may hold the advantage, it’s difficult not to consider 2024 a what-if season for Norris. The 25-year-old had several opportunities to give Verstappen a real scare and dominated Saturdays for much of the second half of the season. His inability to convert on qualifying proved to be the main drawback, giving the promising young driver a clear goal to focus on ahead of next season.
Alpine’s Rotten Day Allows Haas, RB to Keep Close
As the trio of contenders duke it out at the top of the standings, the sixth-place battle got its own shakeup Saturday. Nico Hülkenberg nabbed a pivotal eighth place for Haas, vaulting the American team back above Alpine and into sixth in the standings. Yuki Tsunoda finished ninth, adding two points for RB as well. Now just four points separate the three teams heading into Qatar.
When the weekend began it seemed like Alpine may be able to sustain some of its success from a double podium finish in Brazil. Pierre Gasly qualified for the Grand Prix in third, while Ocon was 11th but with the clear potential to move up. However, once the lights went out Saturday, everything came crashing down.
Gasly, who put up a decent fight against the likes of Verstappen and Norris, eventually came on the radio and complained about a loss of power. He was forced to retire the car shortly after with clear engine trouble—but the misery for Alpine didn’t stop there. Ocon, who finished 17th out of the 18 cars still on the track at the end of the race, had to pit on consecutive laps early in the race after he arrived in the pit lane only to find out his crew wasn’t ready to swap tires. The move cost crucial time and epitomized the poor weekend for the team.
Most of the battles between these three teams will play out in the final few points positions over the next two weekends, making the margins extremely tight and the difference between sixth and eighth minuscule.
The Season of Parity Reaches New Heights
Following the Verstappen–Red Bull dominance of the past two seasons, 2024 has been a welcome change of pace. With Russell’s win Saturday, it became one of the most competitive seasons across the board in F1 history.
Among the notable stats that demonstrate how equally distributed the success of the top four teams has been in 2024:
- The first season ever where four different teams (Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes) have finished one-two in a single Grand Prix.
- The first season where four different constructors (the same as the above) have won at least four different Grands Prix each.
- The first season in history where seven different drivers have won multiple Grands Prix throughout the year.
And it isn’t over yet. Teams won’t have long to recover and pack up after Las Vegas. The paddock will now make way for Qatar where a sprint race and Grand Prix await before heading to Abu Dhabi for the season finale the following weekend.
