Race Recap | 2024 Las Vegas GP
- Tarasekhar Padhy
- Nov 25, 2024
- 7 min read
(If you prefer, you can watch this video instead: Race Recap | 2024 Las Vegas GP)
The 2024 F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix just took place.
Let’s look at the key moments and break down the performance of each team while briefly analyzing the performance of each driver.
Key Moments in Las Vegas 2024
Max Verstappen took his fourth world title. He finished P5 with ten points which was the same as Lando Norris, his rival for this season — enough to seal the deal. Not to gloat or anything, but I predicted this. To be honest, a lot of my predictions were crap.
Mercedes finished a solid 1-2. They were fast throughout the weekend. Both Russell and Hamilton were on it since the beginning of the practice sessions and were able to capitalize on their car’s strengths at this circuit.
Ferrari inched closer to McLaren in the constructor’s title battle by 12 points. Currently, the difference between the top two teams is 24 points. With only two races to go, it seems that this fight will go till the final race of the season.
Haas regained their P6 spot in the constructor’s battle against Alpine and VCarb. Alpine screwed up massively, despite having the pace while the VCarb were a bit unlucky with how the race panned out. However, the fight is not over considering the three teams are separated by only four points.
The Williams Curse remains strong. Colapinto destroyed the car in the qualifying session and finished way outside of the points in the race. Albon was looking good in the race but had to retire the car due to mechanical failure.
How Each Team Performed in Las Vegas 2024
Let’s start with the worst-performing team and end with the highest scorers of the Grand Prix.
1. Alpine Renault: 0 points
Esteban Ocon: Started 11th and finished at 17th place
Pierre Gasly: Started 3rd but Did Not Finish (DNF)
There is something wrong with these guys. Since Austin, their qualifying performance has jumped quite up but they consistently struggle to finish within the points.
After the double podium finish in Brazil, which was an outlier, the French outfit was looking like a genuine contender for P6 in the constructor’s standings. The Las Vegas Grand Prix changed that as it reminded me how terrible these guys are at executing their races.
Gasly retired with an engine issue, so there is nothing that he could have done. However, they missed the mark spectacularly with Ocon. Once in the race, they called him to pit but no one was ready or something and Esteban had to drive to the pitlane pointlessly, complete another lap, and then get his tires changed.
Their pace was impressive but serving a drive-through penalty on their own screwed them up pretty bad. Ocon tried to make the one-stop work, which didn’t work and resulted in a horrible result.
Currently, they trail from Haas by one point on P7 in the constructor’s standings. They aren’t getting that position back.
2. Williams Mercedes: 0 points
Franco Colapinto: Started from the pitlane after breaking the car into a thousand pieces in quali and finished 14th
Alexander Albon: Started P17 and Did Not Finish (DNF) due to an engine issue
It appears that at least one Williams driver will shatter the car in a particular race weekend.
First, it was Nicholas Latifi, then the baton was passed to Logan Sargeant, and now it’s Franco Colapinto. Moreover, Alex Albon also drives through the barriers occasionally. If you recall, Russell had a few spectacular crashes of his own too!
At this point, these dudes need to call in the Shamans from the Brazilian rainforests and purify the garage to get rid of the evil spirits.
Speaking of the race, they showed a promising pace, at least Albon did. Then it all evaporated after his engine issue and the quest to run with the tires a bit longer for the Argentinian.
3. Kick Sauber Ferrari: 0 points
Zhou Guanyu: Started and finished in 13th place
Valtteri Bottas: Started 19th and finished in 18th place (dead last)
For a moment, it appeared that Zhou could score a point as he was running strong in P10. But defending against Sergio Perez’s Red Bull in a wheelie bin is impossible.
Bottas attempted to make the one-stop work but ended up pitting toward the end as the grip got worse.
4. Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes: 0 points
Fernando Alonso: Started 16th and finished 11th
Lance Stroll: 15th place finish after a start from P18
Simply put, they just lacked pace. It often is the story with the Lawrence Stroll-owned outfit because their strategy in F1, the pinnacle of motorsport, is to copy other cars. Consequently, they start the season well and their performance deteriorates with each passing weekend.
Maybe Fernando could have finished a bit better if they executed the strategy perfectly with respect to Perez, but they were just slower. He also took a risk starting with the soft tires as he expected a safety car in the early stages of the race like the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Lance, on the other hand, had radio problems, so it’s just amazing that he didn’t crash the car.
5. RB Honda RBPT: 2 points
Yuki Tsunoda: 2 points (Started 7th, 9th place finish)
Liam Lawson: 0 points (Started 14th, finished 16th)
To be honest, the results don’t do justice to how well both of them drove.
Tsunoda lost two positions to Piastri, Hulkenberg, and Hamilton, and gained one after Gasly retired. Piastri and Hamilton were on faster cars and the Hulkenberg was a tad bit unlucky as the Haas guys beautifully executed their race strategy.
Lawson was a bit unlucky due to a terrible qualifying session but tried his best to bring the car home in the points. He attempted to stretch his second stint, a gamble that backfired in the streets of Las Vegas.
They are currently three points behind Alpine and four behind Haas in the constructor’s battle for P6. Both drivers need to get it all together and execute perfect weekends for the last two events of the 2024 F1 season.
6. Haas Ferrari: 4 points
Nico Hulkenberg: 4 points (8th place)
Kevin Magnussen: 0 points (12th place)
Nico did everything right and so did Kevin, at least on track. The ambitious one-stop or elongated second stint in a two-stop didn’t work out for the departing Dane in the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
For me, these lads are the favorites for P6 in the constructor's standings considering their level-headedness and consistency.
7. Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT: 11 points
Max Verstappen: 10 points (Started and finished in 5th)
Sergio Perez: 1 point (Started 16th and finished in 10th)
Verstappen wrapped up his 4th consecutive F1 world title in the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
He was consistent throughout the season and outdrove the car on numerous occasions. In my opinion, Brazil was the real title decider but things became official, mathematically speaking, in the Sin City.
Checo screwed up in the qualifying sessions, as usual. Throughout the race, he was a bit competitive but the strategy was horrible. Starting on the hards and running long on the mediums is terrible on a track where degradation is considerably high. Then, of course, the talent issues.
8. McLaren Mercedes: 15 points
Lando Norris: 8 points (Started and finished 6th) + 1 point for fastest lap
Oscar Piastri: 5 points (Started 8th and finished 7th)
As much as I love to trash these guys for failing to maximize their race weekends, this one wasn’t their fault. One might argue that they could have outperformed the car, but not everyone is Max Verstappen.
The McLarens lacked pace throughout the weekend and were definitely behind Ferrari and Mercedes. The best thing in this race for them is that Mercedes finished 1-2, taking away most of the points available for the Vegas Grand Prix, which pushed their rivals for the constructor’s championship, Ferrari, to P3 and P4, thereby conceding fewer points in the process.
However, at the beginning of this triple header, they led the Scuderia by 36 points, and in the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Prancing Horses cut that down to 24. It is clear that the Papaya outfit can’t afford to put a foot wrong in the final two races of this season.
9. Ferrari: 27 points
Carlos Sainz Jr.: 15 points (3rd place)
Charles Leclerc: 12 points (4th place)
They maximized the results of the day as they were the second fastest out there on the track.
Ferrari tried to botch Sainz’s strategy by calling him to pit and aborting the call at the final moment, causing him to drive back onto the track from the pitlane entry. My guess was that they wanted to give an advantage to Charles as the Spaniard is leaving the team at the end of the season. Or, it could be just how these Maranello morons operate.
Charles was noticeably upset because he had more pace toward the end than Carlos and could have overtaken him for P3. However, he was stuck behind Verstappen who got DRS from Sainz for a few laps too long. Maybe the Smooth Operator did it deliberately to protect his position.
10. Mercedes: 43 points
George Russell: 25 points (Started and finished 1st)
Lewis Hamilton: 18 points (Started 10th and finished 2nd)
Russell managed the race very well. Right from the beginning, all the way to the end, he was in complete control. The pace and strategy were beautifully executed. George was really on top of everything right from the start of the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend, making this performance even more impressive.
Lewis, on the other hand, was on a recovery drive after bottling both of his attempts to set a decent time in Q3. Perhaps on a different track, he could have attacked for the win as the tire degradation was too much on this particular race. Anyway, this amazing drive earned him the Driver of The Day award, which is something.
Conclusion: Exciting results in a mundane race
Yeah, a lot of interesting things happened but overall the race was boring.
The fastest cars got 1-2 and the second fastest cars got 3-4. Verstappen finished ahead of the third fastest cars and the rest of the pack followed.
The midfielders finished based on how well they managed their tires throughout the race and how well they executed their pitstops. If there were a few safety cars like last year, the Las Vegas Grand Prix of the 2024 F1 season would have been a bit more interesting.
I was also hoping that Lawson and Perez would tangle again, considering they started 15th and 16th respectively on the grid. But, as Thanos would have said, reality is often disappointing.
Waiting for Qatar now.
