As I said in my last post, I was up this morning (Eastern Standard Time) with a ton of caffeine to watch the Las Vegas Grand Prix and take notes for this race recap. I’m not even going to dilly-dally here. Let’s cut straight to the chase.
MERCEDES SEIZES THE NIGHT
As the race was only fifty laps, a one-pit stop was ideal. Unfortunately, the unideal track conditions degraded the tires faster than anticipated… and two-stoppers became the name of the game. It was simply a matter of getting the timing right. Of all teams, Mercedes thrived under unpredictable conditions with little struggle.
George Russell, the pole-holder of the weekend, won the Las Vegas Grand Prix. He was zipping through the laps, enjoying a smooth-sailing pace while the nineteen drivers behind him were racing each other. The show-stealer of the night, though, was Lewis Hamilton, who started the race at P10 and finished at P2. The only reason why he didn’t win is simply because of his shaky Qualifying. Didn’t I say he would climb up the leaderboard and land a podium finish in a best-case scenario? I did. Told you.
FERRARI’S KERFUFFLE
I also called it with Carlos Sainz, who finished in third place. Charles Leclerc did overtake Pierre Gasly (who unfortunately had to retire his car) but had to settle for a fourth-place finish. Neither driver, though, was pleased with Ferrari.
An odd moment in the race around Lap 26 was Sainz (who had just dropped into P3) insisting that Ferrari pulled him into a second pitstop to gain an advantage against Hamilton, putting both the Spanish driver and Leclerc under pressure. Sainz complied with an instruction to let his teammate through on Lap 27 and headed to the pitstop lane, only to have the order called off at the last minute. The driver naturally asked, “What happened?! "
His engineer’s response? “We were not ready.” “Wake up guys, come on!” exclaimed an exasperated Sainz. Unfortunately, the kerfuffle didn’t stop there.
Leclerc pitted three laps later and was stuck behind Sainz, who appeared to have ignored an order not to overtake his teammate. “Maybe try in Spanish,” sarcastically suggested Leclerc after his radio engineer, Bryan Bozzi, explained that Sainz did receive the team order. The positions were held, and the team didn’t try to enforce or manage the strategy as both drivers passed Verstappen and cemented a 3-4 finish. The Monagesque driver’s lingering frustration bubbled to the surface, resulting in the following exchange in the cooldown lap en route to the garage:
BB: “Pickup, please.”
CL: “Yes, whatever you want, as always.”
BB: “Charles, you did your job. Okay, thank you.”
CL: "Yeah, I did my job, but being nice fucks me over all the fucking time, all the fucking time. It's not even being nice; it's just being respectful.”
BB: “Charles! Charles!”
CL: “I know I need to shut up, but at one point, it's always the same, so...oh my fucking god.”
BB: “Okay. But anyway, you did the right thing for the team.”
BB: “And pick up, please.”
CL: "Yeah, yeah, fucking pick up. Whatever you want. The radio is on, I’m sorry…”
Sainz's moment was caught live, whereas Leclerc's post-race rant was not aired on TV but caught in onboard footage that has been the rounds ever since. I won't bash either driver - they are both understandably frustrated with Ferrari for valid reasons. Perhaps if the team had managed the stops better, we might have seen both drivers on the podium. Let's leave it at that.
MAX VERSTAPPEN IS THE 2024 DRIVERS’ WORLD CHAMPION
I’ll let the heading and picture speak for themselves. All Verstappen had to do in this race was finish ahead of Lando Norris, and that he did - the Red Bull driver finished in fifth place while the McLaren driver finished in sixth. I’m not all surprised - I, after all, predicted this. Verstappen became the sixth driver to win four or more championship titles. Other drivers include Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost, Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher, and Lewis Hamilton. Here’s another fun fact - Nelson Picquet won the Drivers’ Champion in 1981 in Las Vegas after finishing in fifth place. Picquet is the father of Verstappen’s partner, Kelly Picquet.
However, Max Verstappen securing his title does not mean the season is practically over - we have two more races to go. The focus will exclusively shift over to the Constructors’ Championship, where the ranking relies on points per race earned by both drivers in a team. The higher a team finishes in the Championship, the more money is awarded, which impacts the make and feel of next season’s cars. DNFing or finishing below P10 won’t be an option - the teams, particularly the midfield teams, will have to be scrappy and snatch whatever points they can get.
Come back next weekend for the Qatar Grand Prix weekend coverage on Vintage & Coupe.
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