Liam Lawson, Sergio Perez, Las Vegas Strip Circuit, 2024

As it happened: 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix

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This session has finished. No further updates will be posted.

The 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix is coming up next.

There’s no shortage of surprises on the grid for today’s race. First among them has to be Pierre Gasly’s remarkable effort which yielded alpines best starting position of the season so far, third place, one spot higher than his team mate managed at the last round in Brazil.

Mercedes’ pace has been the other big surprise of the weekend so far. The W15 clicked immediately with the combination of a low-grip circuit, long straights and short radius corners. George Russell took pole position and Lewis Hamilton should have been much closer to him but made two separate mistakes on his flying laps in Q3. If he just replicated his session-topping time from Q2 that would have been good enough for third place, but as it is he starts mid pack.

Ferrari were widely tipped to be the team to beat and have the best combined starting positions with second and fourth. However that means both of their drivers start off-line where the grip may prove even worse.

Championship contenders Max Verstappen and Lando Norris share the third row of the grid. If they finish in that order Verstappen will clinch his fourth consecutive world title. But even if he doesn’t do it today he’s virtually guaranteed to do so over the remaining races.

Sergio Perez failing to progress beyond Q1 can’t really be called a surprise as yesterday was his sixth disappointment in the first round this year. Astonishingly, he has as many Q1 eliminations as his team mate plus the six drivers from Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes combined.

Franco Colapinto is due to start today’s race despite the huge crash which ended his participation in qualifying. Williams have repaired his FW46, the latest in a series of extensive and expensive rebuilds the team have undertaken this year, and he passed a pre race medical inspection. However the FIA confirmed that he will have to start the race from the pit lane due to some of the parts that were replaced under Parc ferme conditions. Here’s the updated Las Vegas Grand Prix starting grid, with Liam Lawson now in the 14th place Colapinto was due to start from.

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Tyres available for the race Hard Medium Soft
Driver New Used New Used New Used
Max Verstappen 2 0 1 0 0 3
Sergio Perez 2 0 1 0 3 1
Lewis Hamilton 0 2 1 0 0 3
George Russell 0 2 0 1 0 3
Charles Leclerc 2 0 1 0 0 3
Carlos Sainz Jnr 2 0 1 0 0 3
Lando Norris 2 0 1 0 0 3
Oscar Piastri 2 0 1 0 0 3
Lance Stroll 0 2 0 1 3 1
Fernando Alonso 0 2 0 1 2 2
Esteban Ocon 2 0 1 0 1 3
Pierre Gasly 2 0 1 0 0 3
Alexander Albon 2 0 1 0 2 2
Franco Colapinto 2 0 1 0 1 3
Liam Lawson 0 2 1 0 1 3
Yuki Tsunoda 0 2 1 0 0 3
Valtteri Bottas 2 0 1 0 2 2
Zhou Guanyu 1 1 0 1 1 3
Kevin Magnussen 2 0 1 0 1 3
Nico Hulkenberg 2 0 1 0 0 3

Lots of chatter about variable and gusty wind levels on the drivers’ radios as they completed their

All drivers will start the race on the medium tyre compound except for Perez, Bottas and Colapinto on hards – and Alonso on softs.

Russell will start the race on a set of medium tyres he scrubbed at the start of Q1. Those behind him are on new mediums all the way back to Perez, who will start on hards with Alonso immediately behind him on softs. According to Pirelli, Alonso can expect to gain 4.66 metres on Perez on the initial acceleration to 150kph.

The 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix is go! Leclerc moves up to second behind Russell, Verstappen keeps fifth ahead of Norris.

Lawson and Magnussen put on an impressive scrap over 13th place with the soft-shod Alonso behind them having passed Perez.

Lambiase to Verstappen: “Leclerc being told to save in 10 and 11.”

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L3 Piastri has fallen to ninth behind Hulkenberg.

L4 Leclerc said yesterday Ferrari’s pace was very strong after the first few laps, and it certainly looks like that as the two SF-24s prowl close on Russell.

Verstappen easily passes Gasly with DRS for fourth place. Meanwhile Leclerc is all over the back of Russell for the lead.

Race control have looked at two potential incidents involving Lawson – one with Zhou, Magnussen the other – but are taking them no further. Piastri appears to be in trouble for a false start, however.

L7 Russell has a piece of plastic stuck to the left-hand side of his Mercedes which can’t be helping his aerodynamics, but he is now over two seconds ahead of Leclerc.

Leclerc: “Carlos can overtake this lap.” Sainz gets ahead for second place.

L8 Leclerc doesn’t attempt to keep Verstappen behind as they approach turn 14. Norris also takes fifth place off Gasly. He now has Tsunoda and Hamilton for company, the Mercedes having passed Piastri, who is now under investigation for that false start.

L9 Leclerc pits. He was told “if we stop, we finish behind everyone.” Norris pits too, he told the team the graining on the medium rubber was only going to get worse.

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L10 Sainz and Piastri are heading for the pits, the Ferrari driver having already been passed by Verstappen for second place. Verstappen is up to second but eight seconds behind Russell. Hamilton now third. Meanwhile Piastri has been penalised five seconds for lining up incorrectly at the start.

L11 Verstappen says “I’m also degging now” and heads for the pits. That leaves Mercedes first and second followed by Hulkenberg, all on mediums, and Perez now fourth on his hards.

L12 Russell pits from the lead. “We think safe thing, keep position ahead of Verstappen,” says race engineer Marcus Dudley.

L13 Tsunoda has taken out the board marking the end of the pit lane! A terrible pit stop at Aston Martin as Stroll has to sit while the crew rummage around for tyres.

Hamilton pitted. “We should also box, box. Hard is best tyre. “We’ll lose three positions.” He emerges ninth. “What the hell, man? How many places have a just lost?” He immediately takes one back from Magnussen.

L16 Disaster for Gasly. He reports an engine problem, a puff of smoke issues from the rear of the Alpine and he heads for the pits.

L17 It gets worse for Norris who has been passed by Hamilton now. However the pair of them take Perez, who also got done by Leclerc on the same lap.

L22 Hamilton now closing on Leclerc for fourth place. There’s still more than half the race left to go, so Mercedes could be looking at a one-two here.

Norris: “The front-right looks like it’s about to go any lap.”

L25 Perez cruises past Lawson with DRS for 12th place.

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Hamilton’s efforts to pass Leclerc have just got more difficult as the Ferraris are within a second of each other so the car ahead of him can use its DRS.

More disappointment for Williams as Albon pits to retire from 10th place. That promotes Perez into the points – he hasn’t finished there in either of the last two grands prix.

L27 Piastri pitted the last time by but none of the leaders react. Hamilton appeared to hit a bit of debris coming out of the penultimate corner and is now reporting a possible problem at his front-right.

L28 Verstappen, Sainz and Hamilton head for the pits – but the Ferrari driver bails out at the last second! He appeared to cross the line so he may get a penalty there.

Sainz: “What happened?” Adami: “We were not ready.” Sainz: “Wake up, guys! Come on!”

Hamilton: “Sainz came into the pit lane but then he cut over.”

L30 Russell now leads by 15 seconds, Norris another 11 seconds back. Then Verstappen is the first of the two-stoppers ahead of Hamilton, who leapfrogged Sainz when the Ferrari driver finally made it in.

L31 Hamilton sets the fastest lap as he closes within a second of Verstappen for what is now third place, as Norris pitted.

L32 No fireworks between Verstappen and Hamilton: The Red Bull driver doesn’t even bother coming off the racing line to defend in the DRS zone. Lambiase told him: “Just keep focus on our goal for the race.”

L36 Hamilton is cutting into Russell’s lead at around eight tenths of a second per lap but there’s more than nine seconds between them still.

Russell points out to Mercedes that he’s “still managing in the corners.” Hamilton now eight-and-a-half seconds behind.

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L38 Perez takes advantage of Lawson and Magnussen scrapping ahead to pass both of them in turn 14. A fine move from a driver who’s had a tough weekend otherwise.

L41 Verstappen now has his mirrors full of two Ferraris. Leclerc, behind Sainz, asks: “Are we fighting?” He is told they are not.

L42 Sainz passes Verstappen for third place, Leclerc immediately gets onto the tail of the Red Bull.

L43 Hamilton has Russell’s lead down to just over five seconds. Leclerc is unable to attack Verstappen who now has DRS from the other Ferrari.

L47 Leclerc surprises Verstappen with a late move to the inside of turn 14 and he’s through into fourth place. Verstappen, fifth, is still on course to win the world championship.

L48 No fight for the lead has materialised. Hamilton’s been off at the chicane and the gap is five seconds with two laps to go.

L48 McLaren pit Norris for a crack at the fastest lap. He had been given a “critical” warning about oversteer.

L50 George Russell wins the Las Vegas Grand Prix! It’s a one-two for Mercedes. And Max Verstappen crosses the line in fifth place to clinch his fourth consecutive drivers’ championship

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2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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7 comments on “As it happened: 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix”

  1. Lewis: ‘how am I meant to overtake, the Ferraris are so fast on the straight’

    TV feed: ‘Lewis is 13kph faster on the straights than any other driver

    1. if you are slower out of the corner, you spend half the time just trying to catch up to the other car’s top speed (rough estimate), this is Hamilton’s main problem going back more than a season. Even if your car’s gearing or drag + DRS allows you to over shoot by 13kph, that doesn’t mean you will reach the other car by a reasonable amount of time making up for a poor corner exit. Many races before Lewis is just catching the car in to the braking zone.

      Will have to watch the rerun, if he overtook them in the pits, the Merc clearly had the car for the conditions. If Hamilton managed the straightline overtake, that would be a pretty positive sign for him.

      The colder temperatures will help with more extreme loading conditions on either corner (too much weight transference most likely). Despite what commentators say about the ‘ground effects cars’ needing to be driven at 90%, it’s the tires that are driving this, however, the increased downforce, could contribute to irregular [load] regulation of the tire during it’s phase transitions between a loaded state and (relatively) unloaded, down the straight.

      would love to see how all the teams deduce/quantify the thermodynamic value of their wheels/tires. What kind of unit they use, and how it moves on their plots/hysteresis.

    2. See offficial stats but not your fantasy
      Race Maximum Speeds km/h
      FINISH LINE – INTERMEDIATE 1 – INTERMEDIATE 2
      16 C. LECLERC 334.1 – 27 N. HULKENBERG 186.8 – 27 N. HULKENBERG 215.5
      31 E. OCON 330.0 – 4 L. NORRIS 186.7 – 16 C. LECLERC 214.6
      10 P. GASLY 329.2 – 77 V. BOTTAS 186.3 – 4 L. NORRIS 214.5
      14 F. ALONSO 328.8 – 31 E. OCON 186.0 – 24 G. ZHOU 214.3
      55 C. SAINZ 328.5 – 44 L. HAMILTON 185.8 – 44 L. HAMILTON 213.6
      1 M. VERSTAPPEN 328.4 – 24 G. ZHOU 185.5 – 55 C. SAINZ 213.1
      11 S. PEREZ 328.2 – 63 G. RUSSELL 185.2 – 11 S. PEREZ 212.8
      43 F. COLAPINTO 327.9 – 81 O. PIASTRI 184.9 – 1 M. VERSTAPPEN 212.7
      4 L. NORRIS 327.4 – 1 M. VERSTAPPEN 184.7 – 77 V. BOTTAS 212.6
      44 L. HAMILTON 327.3 – 55 C. SAINZ 184.7 – 18 L. STROLL 212.5

  2. Odd these days to see two mechanical retirements. Generally I’d think the lower temperatures would help them. Perhaps there are issues with lower pressure… or rubbish on the track?

  3. This race was interesting

  4. It’s sorrow that Mercedes didn’t trying different strategy with 2 pits for Hamilton.
    It would was possibility more interesting fight for win

  5. 66 overtakings was in this race

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