George Russell cruised to victory in the 2024 Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix. Mercedes had been quick all weekend, topping the timesheets in every session with George Russell claiming pole from Lando Norris.

A flawless drive from the Brit meant this year saw a historic moment in the sport as seven different drivers have won more than one race across the twenty two events.

Max Verstappen entered the weekend knowing if his rival in the title race failed to claim three more points than the world champion, the championship was his for the taking and as the chequered flag fell on the night race along the Strip it was Verstappen in just P5 who became the champion driver of the year.

 

 

 

Jos Verstappen misses out on Las Vegas

The bedlam which followed clearly revealed the pressure Red Bull have faced this year, with Max failing to win in the ten race weekends between Barcelona and Sao Paulo. Despite not having the fastest car for more than half the season, Max navigated each challenge with a sense of assurance and joins an exclusive club of drivers who have won four consecutive world titles.

The Red Bull pit crew flooded the circuit where the cars came to rest, hoisting their hero above their heads in the freezing nighttime sky in Nevada. Yet one person was significant by his absence, Jos Verstappen, which was strange given the once almost omni-present nature of the Dutch drivers’ dad.

“I wasn’t feeling so well,” Verstappen-senior explained to viaplay. ”I have a little flu and then I don’t want to be around Max either, for fear that I will pass it to him. Besides that, of course, you also have the time difference. I also have another race myself this weekend, so I have to prepare a bit for that,” said Jos.

Jos Verstappen’s presence in the Red Bull garage has been less frequent this season following his involvement in the row over Christian Horner’s alleged misconduct. Horner was cleared of any wrong doing by an independent King’s Counsel but it appeared the female employee at the centre of the allegations, may have been at the centre of a love triangle involving Jos and the Red Bull team boss.

Verstappen 4th title, he explains plans for 2025

 

 

 

2024 F1 title not a certainty

An angry Jos Verstappen called for Horner to leave his role as team principal, claiming in Bahrain the team was being “torn apart” under his leadership. When Horner was exonerated of all wrongdoing Jos accused him of playing the victim and stating his support for the suspended Red Bull female employee.

Jos revealed he was uncertain at times that Max would win this years F1 drivers’ title. “Of course he had a certain lead (in the drivers’ championship). Whether he would keep that up of course depended on the development of his car. I wasn’t always sure about that myself. But what Max eventually showed and the races he drove, especially Brazil… that is really unprecedented and that did ensure that he managed to pull it over the line,” said the ex-Benetton driver.

McLaren’s Lando Norris had been closing down Verstappen’s early season lead since his maiden F1 victory at the Miami Grand Prix but it all came to an end in Las Vegas as McLaren failed to find a setup to match the might of Mercedes. 

For Jos, the victory was something of of a dream: “In the end, it worked out. Not in the way you would like, I guess. But the important thing is that it works out then. When you are in karting, it is so difficult to make that step to Formula 1. You then hope that one day you can win a race. Then when you now consider that you end up winning four championships… we never dared to dream about that.”

Report: Shocking Ferrari strategy calls return in Vegas

 

 

 

Jos calls for improvements from Red Bull

Given Red Bull’s lack of superiority over their rivals, Jos is unsure as to whether his son can win a historic five consecutive titles next season. “I mean, they’re not driving the fastest car at the moment. Otherwise he would be winning races. So things have to happen for them to be competitive again. And it does show again how well Max deals with that. And how strong he is,” concluded Verstappen Snr.

Max has smashed a host of records during his career, the most impressive last season being the run of ten consecutive victories. He also matched Ayrton Senna’s eight consecutive pole positions and has led the world championship for longer than any driver in history.

For someone aged just 27, the achievements already place Max in the pantheon of Formula One greats and being the driver who prevented Lewis Hamilton’s record breaking eight championships, Max has a cheeky ambition should he remain long enough in the sport.

When asked about the future, Max told assembled media in Vegas: “The ultimate goal? Can you win eight titles? That would be amazing, but it’s not really necessary. There are so many more things I want to do in life and also just have a bit of fun, catch up with my family,” said Verstappen.

Las Vegas Mercedes cryptic team orders deny Hamilton win 

 

 

 

Max cheekily suggests he’ll stop at 8

“Because I know, nowadays my Mum and Dad will call and I say ‘I’m busy’ and call back later, but there will be a day where they will not be there any more. And in these moments it makes me realise that it’s not all about racing and F1.”

Lewis Hamilton was driver of the day in Sin City having carved through the field from starting in tenth to come home behind his team mate George Russell given Mercedes a are 1-2 these days.

Hamilton will be hoping his new team for 2025 will find their form again as he enters what is probably his final two seasons in Formula One. Lewis will be quietly hoping that Ferrari build the best car for 2025 which could give him one last shot at beating Michael Schumacher’s record of seven world championships.

Vettel returns

 

 

 

 

Marko calls for Red Bull ‘sit down’ over Perez

Red Bull Racing could be considered the most ruthless of Formula One teams given their history of ditching drivers mid-season. Pierre Gasly is testament to this following his contract to drive for the team in the 2019 season.

The Frenchman was afforded the opportunity following Daniel Ricciardo’s decision to leave the team, made in part because the Aussie believed they were favouring his team mate Max Verstappen. Gasly qualified seventeenth in his first race with the the team in Australia and failed to score in the Grand Prix.

Over his thirteen races with Red Bull, Gasly only failed to score on three occasions but at the Hungarian Grand Prix his fate was sealed as he was lapped by Max Verstappen. Pierre had scored 63 points at the time and was sixth in the drivers’ championship, yet his team mate meantime had racked up 181 points… READ MORE