Martin Brundle on Las Vegas GP: Max Verstappen's fourth world F1 title assessed, George Russell's statement race win

25 November 2024, 09:54 | Updated: 25 November 2024, 16:02

Congratulations to Max Verstappen on his fourth straight Formula 1 world championship.

The mental and physical commitment for that consistent level of performance and achievement, through good times and bad, while risking your life for a prolonged time, is superhuman.

A few racing drivers achieve F1 status, some of us scored points, others stood on the podium, some won races, and a few won championships. Only six have won four or more titles and the list of Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen is quite something.

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Other greats like Jim Clark and Ayrton Senna could well have joined them if they'd survived longer.

The Red Bull was the car to beat early in the season and by winning seven of the first 10 races Max created a great springboard for this title.

During that phase he also somehow mind-managed the very public potential crisis which hit team boss Christian Horner, the spat between his dad Jos and Christian, endless rumours of who might be leaving the team, and then Adrian Newey actually leaving. That took some navigating while still delivering on track.

In the second half of the season, he had the third-best car but outperformed that with important damage limitation, racking up eight race victories but crucially 13 podiums so far this season. He has been extremely strong in the point-scoring Sprints too.

The killer blow for Lando Norris' hopes was in Brazil when Verstappen delivered his masterclass from 17th to first. And Max has outscored team-mate Sergio Perez 403 to 152 points which sums up several things.

Russell underlines 'real deal' status for Mercedes future, Hamilton's standout recovery

In all the championship noise you must feel sorry for George Russell, who qualified impressively on pole position and simply dominated the race.

He was so far out front for most of the 50 laps we hardly saw him given the battles raging behind. It was George's third Grand Prix victory.

Mercedes looked very fast from the opening laps of first practice, and indeed they would lead every session throughout the event. Their car simply worked on the cold slick surface, and the team had the good grace to admit they weren't entirely sure why, which is consistent with the unpredictability of that car this year.

It was an assured performance from George who is looking very much the real deal in terms of leading that team into the future.

Hamilton in the sister Mercedes had looked equally fast, albeit with a few trips up the escape road here and there. Sadly for him he had two poor laps in final qualifying when the back end stepped out and he would start a lowly 10th.

He said post-race that had he started at the front he would have breezed the race, which surprised Russell a little. There's no doubt Russell had more pace if he'd needed it.

However, it was a standout drive from Lewis, picking his way through serious contenders up into second place and finishing just seven seconds behind at the flag. The fans rightly voted him driver of the day, and he answered some questions a few have been throwing at him lately about being over the hill.

Why Mercedes' one-two was also good news for McLaren

Mercedes taking the big haul of points in first and second places was a huge relief for McLaren regarding the Constructors' Championship, because that confined Ferrari to third and fourth, while McLaren could only muster sixth and seventh behind Verstappen.

Ferrari were pre-race favourites for many, but on the night they chewed up their tyres more than Mercedes despite temperatures being warmer than the two previous evenings.

As Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc swapped positions here and there with different tyre performances, seemingly constantly in each other's way, they couldn't catch Russell or defend from Hamilton.

They both passed a compliant Verstappen, who was mostly watching Lando Norris behind him, with a little bit of effort and time.

Sainz was lucky not to receive a penalty for taking to the pit entry lane and then being told to stay on track because the team weren't ready. Rejoining the track in likely the fastest final corner in F1 would normally have attracted the attention of race control, and the relevant International Sporting Code regulation seems clear on that. But nothing more was heard.

Leclerc was a very unhappy man in fourth, scolding himself on the radio for being so compliant in letting team-mate Sainz through.

Norris' McLaren was no kinder on its tyres than the Ferraris. He'd finish 43 seconds off the lead but that included a late pit stop for a successful run at the fastest lap world championship point on the final tour.

Oscar Piastri had another disappointing race of late after what looked like a marginal call for being out front of his starting grid box and receiving a five-second penalty.

His seventh place means that Ferrari are now only 24 points behind McLaren in the team championship with two races and a Sprint to go. McLaren expect to be stronger next time out on the Qatar layout and they'll need to be.

Nico Hulkenberg scored an important eighth for Haas which moved them back into sixth in the constructors', just one point ahead of Alpine, who lost a great chance of points when third-place starter Pierre Gasly sadly had to retire with power unit issues.

In a race with no safety car or yellow flags, another retiree was Alex Albon with overheating issues in his Williams. Impressively the team had managed to assemble two late specification cars after the carnage of Brazil and earlier in the season, but new boy Franco Colapinto violently dismantled one of those in qualifying.

Colapinto would finish 14th, but the hype and support he's immediately gathered will take some mind management for him. Finishing the race in one piece was exactly what the 21-year-old needed to do.

Yuki Tsunoda finished ninth for two points after a very solid weekend for him. Just behind him in 10th was Perez in the second Red Bull who somehow was out of phase on tyres all evening despite a spectacular double overtake into turn 14.

Final Vegas thoughts as anticipation builds for F1 2025

Las Vegas is a curious event, feeling endlessly late, dark and cold given the schedule and time of year. It's difficult to get around, but on the other hand it's incredible to witness the endless sea of people, and fans with all the right merch, both trackside and in the casinos which have hotels bolted on.

I regularly scolded myself for thinking that F1 in Vegas was anything other than brilliant, but when you're in the shower at 3am desperately trying to warm your bones before finding something to eat, the schedule seems a bit unnecessary for all.

But once again it was an enjoyable race on the slippery surface under the lights and with the incredible backdrop of the Strip and the Sphere. And what a season this continues to be, the first in history where four teams have had a one-two and won at least four Grands Prix each. And the first where seven drivers have won multiple races. So far.

Next year promises to be closer still given the static technical regulations, and if Verstappen wins that one too then it's going to be very impressive indeed. Before even considering that we have two races in the next two weekends to finish off this season.

Formula 1's season-ending triple-header continues this weekend with the Qatar Grand Prix, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream the final two F1 races and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership - No contract, cancel anytime

(c) Sky Sports 2024: Martin Brundle on Las Vegas GP: Max Verstappen's fourth world F1 title assessed, George Russell's statement race win