No surprise, but a surprising double success and the crowning of the world champion was nevertheless born at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
George Russell got off to a perfect start, unlike Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly, who got behind Charles Leclerc in two corners. Max Verstappen also got off to a great start, but he got caught in traffic, so he only managed to get to fourth place. We quickly made the first stop, Fernando Alonso's start on the soft compound didn't go too well, so the Spaniard had to change on lap four. Meanwhile, Sainz took second place back from Leclerc and wanted to go after Russell. However, by then the Brit had built up such a lead that it was clear that it would be more than enough for him at the end of the race. Leclerc was struggling, Verstappen easily overtook him, while of course he was fighting not only for the best possible position, but also for his crowning as world champion. However, Gasly had nothing left to fight for, his Alpine fell apart...
By this time, the entire field had made stops and the positions had stabilized, and it was also clear that two changes would be a working tactic. Only Mercedes could talk about relevant tire handling, the others constantly struggling with grip and getting the tires up to operating temperature. In the end, Mercedes won the Las Vegas Grand Prix with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in the order, easily overtaking the Scuderia Ferrari duo of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
Perhaps more importantly, Max Verstappen became a four-time world champion behind the wheel of Red Bull Racing, defending his title and making sporting history.
