Russell’s Flawless Win
Vegas Crowns Verstappen
It was only our second time in Las Vegas, but the circuit does have something interesting. Not the glitz and bright lights or endless puns and bad jokes from commentary and pundits, but the fact it’s cold. Low grip due to cold temperature is a rare thing in F1 and this can change the pecking order substantially. It also saw Vegas produce an entertaining race, and crown the 2024 champion.
Mercedes’ Dominant 1–2
Mercedes have made a bizarre car this year. Sometimes it’s slowest of the big teams by a wide margin, and sometimes it’s utterly dominant. Vegas saw the latter, with Russell driving perfectly to cruise to victory. While Hamilton messed up his qualifying and ended up just 10th on the grid, he cut through the field like a hot knife through butter and, for a time, seemed like he might challenge his team mate. In the end, a very solid 1–2 finish produced a bundle of points for Mercedes.
I suspect Russell was slightly managing his pace for much of the race. He was barely shown in the coverage due to more action elsewhere and, excepting an early Leclerc challenge, not really being under threat. Mercedes doing so well did push down Ferrari, which has implications for their title fight with McLaren.
Ferrari Bicker; McLaren Anonymous
Ferrari had a pretty good result, although after last year they may have entered this race weekend hoping for a double podium finish. In the end, 3–4 might not be enough to beat McLaren in the title fight as the next race (Qatar) is a sprint weekend and the circuit was great for McLaren last year. (In 2023, McLaren were 2–3 in the race and 1–3 in the sprint).
So, what went wrong for the Prancing Horse? Leclerc had a go at Russell early on and very nearly passed the Briton, but ended up graining his tyres. The drop-off in performance was dramatic, higher than anyone else suffered at any point and reminiscent of Pirelli a few years ago when tyres would occasionally explode.
Sainz, meanwhile, passed the suddenly slower Leclerc. Down the line the Spaniard begged his team for a pit stop. Unfortunately, slick efficient 2024 Ferrari was absent and prevaricating old Ferrari was running the show. They kept him out too long. Then, they called him in. And as he was just heading in they told him to stay out. Why? The tyres weren’t ready.
The Spaniard calling on the radio for the team to wake up struck a chord with viewers, I imagine. Then when he emerged right behind Leclerc and was ordered not to pass, Sainz ignored it, got past his team mate, and ended up on the podium.
Both Ferraris managed to pass Verstappen on the way to their 3rd and 4th, which is something, but they were behind the Mercedes on pace. And team strategy this time was bumbling at best.
Leclerc was fuming after the race, and it may be that Sainz’s relationship, hitherto very good, with his team and fellow driver may suffer. However, the Spaniard’s frustration is eminently understandable (it’s similar, writ small, to how McLaren bungled Piastri’s first race win by accidentally undercutting him with Norris then begging the Briton to let the Aussie past).
Right now, McLaren stand on 608 points, Ferrari 584. This comes after a pretty anonymous weekend for the papaya team. Neither driver could challenge for pole or even a podium, let alone the win, come race day. A 6–7 result is pretty poor for them this season and marks their lowest points haul for a weekend since Japan in April.
A 24 point lead can be overcome but if McLaren are as competitive as they were last year in Qatar that race may well seal the title for them.
Alpine Catastrophe as Midfield Battle Hots Up
Hulkenberg had a strong race, managing to pass Tsunoda to claim 8th, with the Japanese driver in 9th. Both their teams are locked inbattle in the Constructors’, as are Alpine. After Gasly’s phenomenal qualifying lap (he started 3rd on the grid) the latter team must have been hopeful of increasing their sudden advantage over Haas and RB. But their race was a nightmare.
Gasly started drifting backwards. Given where he started, that was not entirely unexpected. However, his engine then decided to stop working and he had to box and retire. Ocon, meanwhile, was making good progress (as he did last year) so points were still on the table. Then a weird thing happened. He gave himself a drive-through penalty. Called to box, he went into the pit lane, and out again, all without troubling his pit crew. He boxed the next lap for tyres and remembered he had to stop at his garage along the way. Ocon ended up 17th.
Updated Correction: Ocon was called into the pits but the pit crew were not ready. So he still had a drive-through penalty but it was the team’s fault, not his.
Haas are currently on 50 points, with Alpine on 49, and RB 46. Still close enough that any of the three could finish in the lead, but based on general performance this season I’d expect Haas to be 6th. Alpine might be able to hold off RB.
Verstappen’s Best Title?
Verstappen’s had some interesting title fights. This season has been highly impressive, as he hasn’t had the best car for most of it but has consistently dragged out strong enough performances to more or less maintain his 50–60 point advantage over Norris. In the Constructors’, Red Bull are behind both McLaren and Ferrari, and unlikely to pass either.
The win in Brazil, in atrocious conditions and starting 17th, is one of the great performances in F1 history and all but guaranteed Verstappen’s title.
Other seasons have seen either far more dominance or controversy, but I don’t think anyone can reasonably question that Verstappen has performed very well in 2024. Yes, there have been some occasions when his defensive driving has crossed the line, but his speed and race results have exceeded what should have been possible in the third best car on the grid.
Richard
