Vegas GP takeaways: Max makes history, McLaren wasn't ready, Leclerc snaps

We offer our takeaways following each race weekend this year and continue the 2024 schedule with the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Moments that decided the race 🏆

Verstappen clinches championship in fitting way

Max Verstappen is the world champion for the fourth straight year. And while the sport has grown accustomed to seeing the Dutch driver dominate the opposition, this title was arguably the sweetest of the bunch as it forced Verstappen to show off his talent in what became one of the most competitive seasons in Formula 1 history.

Verstappen clinched the title not by winning the Las Vegas Grand Prix but by finishing fifth. It was an unspectacular result but one that captures the essence of the championship campaign put forth by the Red Bull driver.

Verstappen maximized results despite being in inferior machinery, exactly what he's done for the majority of the season and the leading reason why he's now a four-time champion.

Red Bull opened the season with its trademark dominance, though it was short-lived. From Miami onward, Verstappen battled Lando Norris in a McLaren that was now class of the field, even occasionally falling behind Ferrari and Mercedes at races.

Verstappen acknowledged after the race that he agreed with team principal Christian Horner saying 2024 was his most impressive season to date.

"I would say for 70% of the season, we didn't have the fastest car, but actually, we still extended our lead," Verstappen said. "So that is definitely something that I'm very proud of."

Verstappen recorded more points and race wins than any other driver from Miami to Las Vegas despite the RB20 falling behind in the pecking order. It was during this span that Verstappen leveraged his talent and experience to stifle the more inexperienced Norris and McLaren, who had never been in a title fight before.

There were many moments where Verstappen's grip on the title appeared to be slipping, too. Yet, he found a way to never be far behind Norris, including at Singapore and Zandvoort. And who could forget his championship-saving win from 17th in Brazil that effectively sealed the title?

A fourth championship puts only Michael Schumacher (seven), Lewis Hamilton (seven), and Juan Manuel Fangio (five) ahead of Verstappen in the record books. Only Schumacher has ripped off more consecutive titles (five).

It won't be talent that stops Verstappen from continuing to soar at an unprecedented pace toward the sport's other legends. He's said numerous times that he's not here to chase records. But if you had to measure the quality rather than the quantity of championships, Verstappen's 2024 title measures up among the finest years in Formula 1 history.

Mercedes comes alive in Las Vegas

The Mercedes W15 has been an unpredictable monster, but there's something about cold temperatures that just seems to bring the car alive. In a chilly Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend, the W15 didn't just find its pulse again - it became an unbeatable juggernaut.

Mercedes was dominant in the three practice sessions, though being a practice-session pacesetter is nothing unusual for the team. But Mercedes carried that momentum all throughout the weekend this time, with George Russell grabbing pole and converting that into a comfortable race win.

Even Lewis Hamilton, who started in 10th, finished second, giving the Brackley-based constructor its first 1-2 finish of the season.

Though the cold temperatures and low-grip street track play into the hand of the W15, even Russell admitted he was stumped at how Mercedes had an advantage reminiscent of its dominant predecessors from the previous regulation set.

"It's been a dream of a weekend," Russell said after the race. "I don't know how we've been so quick, but I'm just riding this wave right now."

Las Vegas will go down as another blip in an otherwise rocky year for Mercedes. But if the Silver Arrows can smooth out those volatile waves into a higher, more consistent baseline, the team could join what's expected to be a packed group of front-running teams next season.

Inner turmoil at Ferrari

Ferrari walked away from Las Vegas with one driver finishing third and the other fourth, plus a net 12-point gain on McLaren in the fight for the constructors' title. Truth be told, it was a productive result masking utter dysfunction and divisiveness between Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc and Sainz swapped positions on multiple occasions during the race, some via team orders and another in defiance of team orders. Sainz switched with Leclerc on their first stint as both Ferraris experienced tire degradation, with the latter's pace significantly affected. The opposite happened on Lap 27, with Leclerc passing Sainz due to Sainz's tires now struggling for life.

The next move was where the controversy began. Upon emerging from the pits, Leclerc was told Sainz wouldn't overtake him, only for the Spaniard to get past him almost immediately after. This prompted the first of many frustrated radio calls from Leclerc.

The Monegasque didn't hide his feelings that he thought the Spaniard had gone against pre-race instructions set by the team.

"Yeah, I did my job, but being nice f--ks me over all the f-----g time, all the f-----g time," Leclerc said on the radio. "It's not even being nice; it's just being respectful. I know I need to shut up, but ... it's always the same."

Sainz's race wasn't perfectly managed, either, with him having to delay his pit stop on Lap 27 due to Ferrari not being ready.

"So, I guess he's not happy, but I'm also not happy with the way things were handled at the time," Sainz told the media later.

Ferrari has repaired most of its image under team principal Fred Vasseur, but old problems reared their ugly head in Las Vegas. What should have been a positive weekend in which ground was made on McLaren ended with fractured pieces littered along the Las Vegas Strip. The driver under contract with the Scuderia in 2025 is left questioning the trust of the team and his teammate.

Driver of the Day 🙌

Lewis Hamilton: The seven-time world champion showed he had a lot of shelf life left after blitzing through the field in Las Vegas. Hamilton reckoned that a victory would have been a "breeze" without his Q3 mishaps in qualifying, and it's hard to argue that based off the pace he showed. Ultimately, his second-place finish gave him his 36th different circuit with a podium, extending his F1 record.

They said what? 🗣️

Verstappen on winning another title: "To stand here as a four-time world champion is something that I never thought was possible. At the moment, I'm feeling relieved in a way but very proud ... If you look to next year, I think it's going to be a proper battle with a lot of cars, but I'm hungry. I'm going to enjoy this."

Horner on Verstappen's season: "It's been a roller coaster of a year, and Max has been truly outstanding. We got off to a flying start, had a very difficult summer, but he just kept nailing results. He won eight grand prix; that's more than double any other driver. I think this has been his best and hardest championship ... There's no one more deserving of this championship than Max."

Lando on losing drivers' title to Verstappen: "Congrats to Max ... I didn't even expect to be in the title fight. I think I was happy with how calm I was and how focused I was. It's definitely more pressure. There's more eyes, more demands on me making sure I go out and (don't make mistakes). You have to drive better when you get to that point, and I feel like I have.

"The first half (of the season), I don't think I was - or we were as a team - mentally ready to be like, 'Oh, now we have to fight against the big boys and execute perfectly.' And we paid the price a little bit."

Lewis Hamilton: "If I would have done my job (Saturday), it would have been a breeze today. But it's OK, I had fun coming from 10th. We don't know why we were so quick this weekend, but that's the best the car's ever felt."

What's next?

Verstappen's celebration will be brief as F1 goes directly from Las Vegas to the Arabian Peninsula for the Qatar GP on Dec. 1 at 11 a.m. ET.

It will mark just the third F1 race at the Lusail International Circuit. Verstappen won the 2023 race, while Hamilton claimed the inaugural race in 2021.

With the drivers' championship now settled, the focus flips to the three-team race for the constructors' title with two races to go. Red Bull, the two-time defending champion, trails both McLaren and Ferrari.

McLaren last won the constructors' title in 1998, while Ferrari's most recent title came in 2008.