| SESSIONS | RESULT | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| Free Practice 1 | HAM | 1:35.001 |
| Free Practice 2 | HAM | 1:33.825 |
| Free Practice 3 | RUS | 1:33.570 |
| Qualifying | RUS | 1:32.312 |
| Race | RUS | 1:22:05.969 |
Max Verstappen claims F1 title as George Russell wins Las Vegas GP
LAS VEGAS -- Max Verstappen was crowned a four-time Formula 1 world champion on the streets of Las Vegas on Saturday night as George Russell led a one-two victory for Mercedes.
Verstappen arrived in the United States on the brink of clinching the drivers' championship, knowing he could secure the title by simply finishing ahead of his sole remaining rival Lando Norris.
Verstappen ran as high as second in the race, but dropped to fifth by the finish -- one place ahead of Norris who also took the point for the fastest lap.
Although there had been a sense of inevitability about the title outcome since Verstappen's victory at the previous round in Brazil, the 2024 champion had gone 10 races without a grand prix win prior to that and struggled for performance throughout the second-half of the season.
"Oh my god what a season! Four times, four times!" Verstappen said on team radio after the race. "We pulled through and gave it all.
"I never thought this was possible, but thanks to you guys it was. So thanks again."
The Las Vegas result leaves Verstappen's gap in the standings at 63 points over Norris, with 60 remaining at the final two races of the season.
Russell, who started on pole position, controlled the race from the front while teammate Lewis Hamilton charged through the field from 10th place on the grid to second at the finish -- 7.3 seconds behind his teammate.
The win in Las Vegas marked Russell's third career victory after he was disqualified from a first-place finish at the Belgian Grand Prix earlier this year.
Russell said afterwards: "I was planning on flying in a couple of hours but I'm definitely not getting on that flight and going to enjoy this evening with all my team, it's been a dream of a weekend, I don't know how we've been this quick but I'm riding the wave right now.
"Vegas is just a crazy, crazy place and when you're driving with all of this in the background, it's such a ... I can't even describe this place, so to get victory here, pole position and dominant weekend - a one-two with Lewis as well, we couldn't have chosen a better place to make this happen."
Second position swapped hands ten times between five drivers across the 50-lap, two-stop race, with tyre graining - a phenomenon brought about by the cool temperatures in the Nevada desert - a key factor in the final result.
Teammate Hamilton said: "A big congratulations to Max, winning the championship with two races to go. If I had done my job yesterday [in qualifying], it would've been a breeze today, but it's OK, I had fun coming from the back from 10th."
The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz initially looked faster than Russell, but their tyre performance soon dropped off with graining while the Mercedes' performance remained strong.
When the Ferraris pitted, Verstappen moved up to second place, although when he made his own stop he briefly dropped to fourth behind Norris, who stopped a handful of laps later.
Once a second round of pit stops were made, the order saw Russell ahead of Hamilton, with Verstappen third and the Ferraris in fourth and fifth.
With Sainz and Leclerc rediscovering their early-race form, Verstappen was reminded by his engineer to prioritise his title success over track position, and despite defending he was unable to hold off the two Ferraris and dropped back to fifth.
Meanwhile, Hamilton was closing on teammate Russell in the closing stages but didn't quite have the performance to seriously worry his teammate.
The win marked Mercedes' first one-two victory since the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix and the team's fourth grand prix win of a roller-coaster season.
Ferrari's third and fourth place finish ahead of the McLarens of Norris in sixth and Oscar Piastri in seventh means McLaren's lead in the constructors' championship has dropped to 24 points with two rounds remaining.
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