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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Sport
Joey Lynch

Las Vegas Grand Prix: Max Verstappen wins fourth F1 title in a row – as it happened

Max Verstappen Franco Colapinto Lando Norris Carlos Sainz Ferrari Vegas Las Vegas Lewis Hamilton Fernando Alonso Mercedes Red Bull
Max Verstappen celebrates his fourth consecutive F1 title after the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen celebrates his fourth consecutive F1 title after the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Photograph: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

And with that, we’ll sign off on a historic night in Las Vegas. George Russell has taken the chequered flag for his second win of the season but it’s Max Verstappen that is the biggest winner: claiming his fourth-straight world title and putting him into rarefied air.

The tour will now head to the Middle East for its final two races, landing in Qatar next week – that one a sprint weekend – before ending the season in Abu Dhabi.

While Verstappen has taken out the Driver’s Championship, the Constructor’s one will remain very much up for grab in these coming two races, with McLaren’s lead over Ferrari cut to 24 points this evening thanks to Sainz and Leclerc’s third- and fourth-placed finish. McLaren sit on 608 points, Ferrari on 584 and Red Bull then land in third on 55.

There’s interest further down the rankings, too, as Haas has just a one-point lead over Alpine for seventh-place -- 50 points to 49 -- while RB come in on their heels on 46 points.

But that’s for future live coverage. For now, the story is Verstappen’s fourth title. My name’s been Joey Lynch and it’s been a great pleasure to have your company following along as it was sealed in the neon-soaked streets of Las Vegas.

Updated

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is speaking on the Sky Sports coverage.

“It’s been a rollercoaster of a year, but Max has been truly outstanding,” says Horner. “Max got off to a flying start, we had a difficult summer but he has just been outstanding. I think it’s been his best and hardest world championship, he’s delivered on days where the car wasn’t quite there.

“This one has been hard won. All credit to the men and women in Milton Keynes. The others have pushed us really hard this year. Max joins an elite group of champions now, it puts him in amongst the all-time greats.”

Verstappen now joins Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel as a four-time champion of F1. The only three names now ahead of him, five-time Juan Manuel Fangio and seven-time champions Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher.

Fireworks explode and the champagne flows as Russell celebrates his win.

Meanwhile, in the Red Bull garage, the celebrations of Verstappen’s win have already begun.

Updated

How it Finished in Las Vegas

1. George Russell (25 Pts)

2. Lewis Hamilton (18)

3. Carlos Sainz (15)

4. Charles Leclerc (12)

5. Max Verstappen (10)

6. Lando Norris (9)

7. Oscar Piastri (6)

8. Nico Hulkenberg (4)

9. Yuki Tsunoda (2)

10. Sergio Perez (1)

11. Fernando Alonso

12. Kevin Magnussen

13. Zhou Guanyu

14. Franco Colapinto

15. Lance Stroll

16. Liam Lawson

17. Esteban Ocon

18. Valtteri Bottas

DNF. Alexander Albon, Pierre Gasly

For the second time this season, Russell takes the win. There’s been complications and controversy around his other race wins and non-wins this year, but this one is all his own.

The sounds of ‘God Save The King’ ring out across Las Vegas to mark the occasion. Pretty sure the Americans fought a revolution about that.

Updated

The newly crowned four-time champion takes the stage with Button and Crews.

“It’s been a long season,” Verstappen says. “We started off cruising, and we have to be proud of everyone. To stand here as a four-time world champion, I never thought it was possible. I’m relieved in a way, and very proud.

“We hit the ground running with the new concept, and to be a four-time champion is just incredible. It was a very challenging season, I had to be calm and in a way - I still prefer last season, but this season taught me a lot of lessons and I’m very proud how we handled it as a team.”

Crews has declared Verstappen’s run of title a dynasty. It’s a very American phrase but it we’re in Vegas, after all, and it seems an apt descriptor of his consistent dominance. Thoughts, inevitably, will already begin to turn to a fifth title and who could stand in his way in 2025.

“All these highs we are achieving right now, it’s very special to achieve with all the people here and back at the factory, it’s very special.

“Of course, if you look at next year right now, it will be a proper battle between lots of cars. But I need to enjoy this, there are still two races to come and then we have a little break before we go back at it next year.”

Button and Crews are now chatting with Hamilton and Sainz.

“Firstly I have to say a big congratulations to Max, winning the championship,” says second-place finisher Hamilton. “If I’d done my job yesterday, it would have been a breeze today. But I had fun coming from tenth, we don’t know why the car was so quick but that’s the best the car has felt. If the car drivers like that in the next couple of races, we’ll be able to challenge the guys in front.”

“It was a bit of a shock - the mediums, it lasted eight, nine laps for me and from there it was a damage limitation,” said Sainz. “We just didn’t have it today. This race has delivered a good show and I’m looking forward to coming back here in the future.”

Jenson Button has been joined by Terry Crews for the post-race interviews. Terry loves the F1.

Russell confirms that the initial plan was for him to be on a flight out of the States later that evening – the Doha GP is next week – but that this isn’t happening anymore; he’s headed wherever Crews is headed to celebrate.

“I was planning on flying in a couple of hours, but I am definitely not getting on that flight - I’m going to enjoy this with all my team,” he said. “Vegas is just a crazy, crazy place. To get pole, a dominant weekend, a 1-2 with Lewis as well - I was just waiting for something to happen, the last two I’ve had on pole have been crazy races with rain, red flags. But I’m so, so happy right now.”

Updated

The podium finishers have packed into a very expensive looking Rolls Royce as they make their way to the Bellagio for the post-race festivities, as has the newly crowned World Champion, Verstappen, alongside race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.

Queen’s ‘We are the Champions’ can be heard blaring out across the circuit.

Updated

Somebody already has a special M4x signs and merch ready for this moment.

That’s preparation, right there.

Updated

We’ll bring you the full standings soon, but the top ten in Vegas were as follows: Russell, Hamilton, Sainz, Leclerc, Verstappen, Norris, Piastri, Hulkenberg, Tsunoda and then Perez.

Updated

Lando Norris has crossed the line and he did end up setting the fastest lap of the race, earning himself a few extra points.

Max Verstappen wins the world championship!

Verstappen crosses the line in fifth position, finishing ahead of Norris and, in doing so, writes his name into history: claiming a fourth-straight title.

“What a season,” he says over the radio, emotion clearly beginning to seep into the voice of a driver who at 27-years-old has already put together a career that will mark him as one of the greatest ever.

It was probably the most difficult of his four titles, the early season dominance of the Red Bull giving way as the season wore on to a car that was challenged by its rivals. But Verstappen found a way.

Updated

George Russell wins the Las Vegas Grand Prix!

For the first time in his F1 career, Russell has won from pole position; his Mercedes never looking like being challenged as he takes the chequered flag in front of his teammate Hamilton. Carlos Sainz takes third in his Ferrari.

Updated

Lap 49/50: Russel with a comfortable lead as he takes the turn for the final lap. Perez, meanwhile, has moved into the top ten and is Tsunoda for ninth.

Lap 48/50: Russell leads from Hamilton and Sainz. Leclerc follows and then Verstappen.

Norris has gone into the pits, getting himself set to try to pick up a few extra points by setting a fastest lap of the race.

Lap 47/50: Hamilton briefly runs off the track as his tyres begin to go, costing himself nearly a second, and it looks like Russell has well and seen off the danger, it would appear.

Russell is going to win this race but Verstappen is going to win the title – sitting comfortably in fifth place ahead of sixth-placed Norris.

Lap 46/50: Russell still leads from Hamilton and Sainz but behind them, Leclerc has now moved ahead of Verstappen. It’s a one-two for Mercedes and a three-four for Ferrari – the two class teams of the Vegas GP taking the top positions.

Norris is now behind Verstappen but is nearly ten seconds back with only four to go.

Lap 45/50: Verstappen is keeping Leclerc at bay, with Sainz very slowly opening up a gap in third.

Russell gets some instructions over the radio to pick up the pace, suggesting we might begin to see him re-open something of a gap over Hamilton.

Lap 44/50: Russell’s lead over Hamilton is now less than five seconds, with the broadcast confirming the soon-to-be Ferrari driver is under no special instruction should he come up behind his teammate.

However, Russell’s tyres are six laps younger than Hamilton’s, so he should have some pace in the bank.

Further back, Hulkenberg has moved ahead of Tsunoda.

Updated

Lap 43/50: As it stands, Tsunoda and Hulkenberg’s battle for eighth has RB and Haas level on points in the Constructors’ Title, just a point back of Alpine.

Lap 42/50: Sainz has now begun to motor away from Verstappen but there’s a long way to go to catch up to Hamilton, who is now less than six seconds back of Russell.

Leclerc is now looking to get ahead of Verstappen but the Red Bull is now getting a slipstream and even some DRS opportunities from Sainz.

Norris is now more than 11 seconds back of Leclerc – his hopes of keeping the title race alive now resting on Verstappen making a mistake.

Lap 41/50: Leclerc is also putting together some lightning laps as he and teammate Sainz increasingly overhaul Verstappen – the Red Bull just doesn’t have the pace of the Mercedes’ or the Ferraris’ tonight.

And there it is! Sainz moves in front of Verstappen, with Leclerc now looking to do the same.

Down in the battle for eighth, Hulkenberg is all over the back of Tsunoda.

Lap 40/50: Another fastest lap for Hamilton – nearly half a second quicker than Russell – and the gap between he and his teammate in first is down to less than seven seconds.

Verstappen has now been informed that he’s 16 seconds in front of Norris with ten laps to go.

Lap 39/50: Verstappen is comfortably in front of Norris but he looks to be labouring a bit and now coming under some pressure from Sainz, with Leclerc not too far behind.

With little to gain from doing so, however, one imagines he won’t work too hard to keep those two at bay – even if his team suggests on the radio he should try and do so.

Lap 38/50: Russell leads Hamilton – that gap now down to less than eight seconds – with Verstappen rounding out the podium. The Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc come next, followed by the McLarens of Norris and Piastri. Then comes Tsunoda and Hulkenberg as RB and Haas battle for positioning in the Constructors’ Title and Alonso to round out the top ten.

Lap 37/50: Verstappen looks like he’s going to cruise to a fourth-straight title with ease. He’s sitting comfortably in third, while Norris is more than twelve seconds back of fifth-placed Leclerc.

Lap 36/50: In the Constructors’ Championship, eighth-placed Tsunoda has helped RB move ahead of Haas on the live rankings.

Lap 35/50: Hamilton is going like absolute lightning in second, setting another fastest lap. Surely he couldn’t hunt down Russell for the lead, could he?

Updated

Lap 34/50: The RB’s of Lawson and Tsunoda are putting a lot of pressure on Ocon, with all moving upwards into ninth, tenth, and eleventh as Hulkenberg pits.

Lap 33/50: Russell comes into pit lane but as he did so with a 30 second lead over second-placed Hamilton, he maintains the lead and a 12 second buffer when he emerges.

Verstappen follows Hamilton, then come the Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc. Hulkenberg comes next, then the McLarens of Norris and Piastri, Guanyu, and then Ocon.

Lap 32/50: Both Mercedes are flying this evening as Hamilton moves past Verstappen – his battle not with the Brit tonight – for third and then finds himself in second when Leclerc heads into the pit lane.

Lap 31/50: Norris moves into the pits and emerges in seventh position behind Hulkenberg.

If these positions hold (they won’t), Verstappen will end today 71 points clear and a world champion.

Lap 30/50: So, the top ten: Russell leads from Leclerc, Norris, Verstappen and Hamilton. Sainz sits in sixth, followed by Hulkenberg, Perez, Guanyu, and Ocon.

Lap 29/50: Sainz now pits asking what happened, with the response being that “we weren’t ready”. He emerges in sixth position, just in front of Tsunoda.

Russell looks very comfortable out in front, 15 seconds in front of Leclerc. Norris then sits in third in front of the two-stopped Verstappen and Hamilton.

Lap 28/50: Verstappen moves into the pit lane, the first of this leading pack of six to come in for a second time, immediately followed by Hamilton.

It looked like Sainz was about to come in as well but pulled out at the last second. However, it appeared the Ferrari aborted after crossing into the demarcation of pit lane, meaning he’s likely to come in for a penalty.

Lap 27/50: It’s a suspected power unit issue for Albon, with the coverage suggesting some debris may have gotten caught in his car.

Lap 26/50: Albon has been called into the pits and is going to be forced to retire. Another blow to the Williams.

Sainz, meanwhile, wants to get a new set of tyres in a two-stopper but he’s staying out there for now.

Lap 25/50: Perez gets past Lawson into 13th place, looking to get some important points in the context of the Constructor’s Title.

Norris is now seven seconds back of Hamilton, with Verstappen sitting pretty comfortably in second-place.

Lap 24/50: Further down the grid, Guanyu has moved up into eleventh place past Alonso.

Norris, meanwhile, wants to pit again and get rid of his tyres but his team are telling him that the traffic he’d emerge back into makes that unwise, asking him to stay out there a bit longer.

Lap 23/50: Norris is starting to drop back of Hamilton and Leclerc’s battle for fourth, getting on the radio complaining about some trouble with his right front tyre.

Russell maintains his healthy lead at the front of the grid.

Lap 22/50: Hamilton continues to absolutely monster Leclerc in the hunt for fourth in this narrow circuit but the Ferrari, for now, is keeping him at bay thanks to his pace on the straights.

Updated

Lap 21/50: Russell holds a ten second lead to Verstappen, followed by Sainz, Leclerc, Hamilton, and Norris. There’s then a big gap to Tsunoda, Piastri, Albon, and Hulkenberg to round out the top ten.

Lap 20/50: With Norris sitting back down in sixth and Verstappen in second, the broadcast is beginning to muse that McLaren doesn’t have the pace to go with Red Bull.

McLaren’s Zak Brown joins the broadcast and does admit they’re off the pace but references Mercedes in doing so, not referencing Red Bull.

Obvious title implications, nonetheless.

Lap 19/50: The Mercedes are flying out there tonight, with Russell comfortably out in front and Hamilton all over the back of Leclerc in his hunt for fourth.

Lap 18/50: Perez pits to get some mediums put on and comes back out in 14th.

The top six are now able to do battle with no stragglers: Russell, Verstappen, Sainz, Leclerc, Hamilton, and Norris.

Lap 17/50: Russell leads from Verstappen, followed by Sainz, Leclerc, Perez, Hamilton, Norris, Tsunoda, Piastri, and Magnussen.

Lap 16/50: Russell leads by nearly ten seconds to Verstappen but, importantly for the Red Bull driver, he’s well clear of sixth-placed Norris.

As things stand, we’re going to crown a four-time champion.

Updated

Lap 15/50: Gasly is on the radio complaining about low power. His team answer back saying everything is fine on their end but he’s still not happy. And now there’s smoke coming out the back of his car! Looks like his engine is gone – that great qualifying run quite literally going up in smoke.

Laps 14/50: Russell maintains around a six second lead on Perez, with Verstappen moving up into third as Hulkenberg pits. Then comes Sainz, Leclerc, Norris, Hamilton, Magnussen, Bottas, and Tsunoda.

Hamilton wasn’t too happy about the amount of places he lost in his stop but his team are quickly on the radio to tell him he’d have lost a lot more had they waited.

Updated

Lap 13/50: The scene is being set for some absolute chaos as this race goes on – overtakes aplenty.

Hamilton pits now, too, with Russell taking his lead back. He’s followed by Perez and Hulkenberg, neither of whom have pitted. Then comes Verstappen, Sainz, Leclerc, Norris, Magnussen, the resuming Hamilton, and Bottas.

Apparently, Ocon came into pit lane, missed his garage completely, and had to come in next lap to do his stop. That can’t happen too oftenn.

Updated

Lap 12/50: Verstappen pits as well and while it’s a good stop, he comes out behind some traffic in the form of Magnussen and Bottas. Nonetheless, he’s emerged in front of Sainz, Leclerc, and Norris.

Russell is now going to be the next to pit, leaving Hamilton as out new race leader – albeit one expects he’ll be coming into pit soon.

Updated

Lap 11/50: So a host of early pit stops as the field begins to stretch out.

Lap 10/50: Sainz now pits after being overtaken on that lap by Verstappen. Russell maintains the lead but as it stands, Verstappen will be crowned world champion in 40 laps time.

Piastri, meanwhile, has picked up a five-second time penalty for a false start.

Updated

Lap 9/50: Norris moves to respond and gets past Gasly for fifth position.

Meanwhile, it looks like Leclerc is slowing with indications are that he’s perhaps having some trouble with his tyres after his aggressive start. He heads into the pits.

Norris, too, has been called into the pits! Albon and Stroll heading into there as well, with Leclerc emerging in 16th and Norris in 17th.

Updated

Lap 8/50: It’s now around a four-second gap between fourth-placed Verstappen and sixth-placed Norris, as the former makes a move to try and overtake Leclerc for third… and gets past him!

Updated

Lap 7/50: The Mercedes of Hamilton moves past Hulkenberg and lays Piastri under siege, only for Piastri to prove up the task and keep him at bay, for now at least.

Lap 6/50: Despite a plastic bag appearing to have been caught in his body, Russell still leads from the Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz. Verstappen follows in fourth, with Gasly’s Alpine serving as a buffer between he and Norris. Tsunoda, Hulkenberg, Piastri, and Hamilton round out the top ten.

Lap 5/50: Norris went around half a second slower on that lap than he did four, hurting his efforts to get past Gasly and maintain the pressure on Verstappen.

Lap 4/50: Russell leads by less than a second from Leclerc, followed by Sainz. Verstappen has vaulted past Gasly and into fourth, putting a car between he and Norris.

On the radio, Ferrari are apparently telling their drivers to maintain their tyres through turns ten and eleven but, in contrast, Verstappen has been told he can go a bit harder by Red Bull.

Updated

Lap 3/50: Given the circumstances, Verstappen isn’t being as aggressive as he otherwise might be, looking after his tyres in fifth position.

Up top, Leclerc is piling on the pressure on Russell.

Lap 2/50: Russell maintains his lead over Leclerc, Sainz and Gasly. No change between Verstappen and Norris.

Hulkenberg has moved past Piastri and into eighth, while Alonso has moved up multiple positions into 14th.

Lap 1/50: Leclerc with the incredible start, vaulting up past Sainz and Gasly and into second place as Russell leads them around turn one!

Verstappen holds his fifth position over Norris in the battle for the title while Tsunoda, Piastri, Hulkenberg, and Hamilton round out the top ten.

Lights Out! The Sin City GP is underway!

Can Verstappen claim the title? Can Norris keep his hunt alive? 50 laps will tell us the answer.

The formation lap is underway in Vegas and the circuit is looking resplendent under the 12 million light bulbs that illuminate the city.

Updated

Alonso will be starting the race on soft tyres, catching a few by surprise. Perhaps looking for an early safety car.

Down at the back, Bottas and Perez are on the hards, as is the pit lane starting Colapinto.

Updated

In other Americana-related news, General Motors’ efforts to secure a place as the 11th team on the F1 grid look to have moved into its final stages against the backdrop of the Las Vegas GP, with McLaren chief Zak Brown saying its announcement was “probably imminent”.

An Andretti-led bid to join the grid in 2026 was rejected earlier this year but Giles Richards and others are reporting that a retooled bid that will see the new entrant operate as a GM works team – including building their engine by the 2028 season – and potentially operating under the Cadillac brand name looking to have swayed F1 towards seeing the bid as a strong commercial proposition.

Verstappen is a winner and Americans tend to like winners, so perhaps it’s no surprise that Giles Richards has found that the championship leader has his fair share of admirers in Vegas this week.

Gasly’s claiming of third place on the grid represents the Frenchman’s best-ever performance since entering F1 in 2017 and sets a new mark for Alpine this season after his teammate Esteban Ocon’s remarkable effort to grab fourth secured in a sodden Brazilian qualifying earlier this month.

Needless to say, it was one of the biggest shocks of Saturday

“I’m very happy to qualify in the top three today,” said Gasly. “The lap felt incredible and it was one of those when you cross the line and you know that everything was thrown at it. I never imagined that we would be in the top three, though, that was a surprise.

“Tomorrow, we will give it everything but we know where our fight is. It’s a tough race for tyre degradation and graining. We have to stay on top of it as last year at this race it cost us. We’ve worked hard as a team to understand it and there is more hard work tonight to prepare ourselves. We will go for it tomorrow with the target of taking some points.”

Ocon – who qualified 11th in Vegas – and Gasly ended up flanking Verstappen on the podium in Brazil, a result that saw them overhaul Haas for sixth place in the Constructor’s Championship and move five points clear of RB.

“With Esteban just missing out on the final part of Qualifying in eleventh place, our goal is to get both cars in the points tomorrow,” team principal Oliver Oakes said. “Similar to last year, we expect the conditions will be tricky with the lower temperatures and tyre management, so we need to analyse how we can get the most out of our strategy.”

Sainz is now two-from-two in qualifying second-fastest in Vegas, albeit last year he was hit with a ten-place penalty before lights out and had to fight back up the grid to finish sixth. The Spaniard, who will be driving with Williams next season, won from pole in Mexico City but crashed his Ferrari and was forced to retire in the following race in Brazil.

“I’m happy with qualifying today as it was one of the trickiest Saturdays of the season and we performed well,” said Sainz. “I would have obviously preferred to be on pole, but Mercedes has been very fast all weekend on a flying lap. Overall, we are in a good position for the race and in terms of pace I’m confident we can put up a fight.”

Sainz’s teammate Leclerc dramatically overtook Pérez in the final lap of last year’s race to secure a second-placed finish and will start today on the second row – Ferrari the only team with representation on both two front rows.

With three races remaining on the season, the Italian outfit sits second in the Constructors’ Championship behind McLaren, trailing 557 points to 593, and will be seeking to close that gap this evening.

“For most of the season, we have had a car that has better race than qualifying pace, and certainly our long run pace yesterday was strong,” team principal Fred Vasseur said. “For sure, the most important thing tomorrow will be tyre management and keeping the graining under control, trying not to push too much at the beginning of the race and managing the tyres as well as possible in order to have more strategy choices.”

Given the emergence of a safety car pretty much smack-bang in the middle of the race likely adjusted a lot of team’s plans, it’s unclear just how reflective last year’s debut in Vegas can be used as a guide for what to expect strategy-wise today.

We can be confident that teams will have to contend with relatively chilly temperatures. The temperatures drop rapidly after sundown in the Nevada desert and with a 10pm local start time, this is the latest start time of any race on the calendar.

Every driver on the grid has two sets of hard tyres up their sleeves for today’s race but given the performance of the mediums throughout the opening days on the street circuit, a one-stop strategy of medium onto hards seems to be emerging as the consensus pick for today’s race.

Such an approach would see a lot of cars pitting relatively early, in the 14 to 20 lap range, while those able to nurse their tyres could look to do so between the 28 to 34 lap mark. Invariably, however, there could be interruptions and stoppages throughout – Vegas is a circuit in which there’s going to be plenty of chances for chopping and changing – and that means adaptability will be key.

In a remarkable example of longevity and love for the sport, Las Vegas will mark the 600th race of Aston Martin stalwart and its current sporting director Andy Stevenson, who has been with the team across its various incarnations as Jordan, Midland, Spyker, Force India, Racing Point and Aston Martin.

Giles Richards spoke with him.

The national anthem of the United States has been sung. A lovely acappella version by Boyz II Men. Lights out is imminent in Las Vegas!

Brundle has now bumped into Colapinto, who says that he’s going ok after his 50g crash last night and is full of praise for his team for getting a car ready for this race.

And now here’s Sly Stallone! He was going to race today but apparently he has a bum ankle. Seems he’s conflicted about who to support, he loves a champion but he also loves an underdog. That feels a bit like having one’s cake and eating it too, to be honest.

Immediately following the ‘Rocky’ director is a stoic Verstappen, who looks very much all business.

Martin Brundle’s grid walk has begun on Sky Sports but he’s having a bit of trouble anyone finding anyone to talk to at the moment. Well, nobody he wants to talk to; he’s already been stopped by a couple of locals to tell him how excited they are.

Oh, he’s found Jerry Bruckheimer, whose producing the film ‘F1’ that has been doing some filming this weekend. He’s going “fabulous” and he loves the track. They’ll be off to Abu Dhabi to finish filming.

And now here’s Paul Mescal, star of the new Gladiator II movie. He’s been hanging with the Ferrari team, apparently. He’s very excited. So, too, is 100m Gold Medalist Noah Lyles. No doubt he’d approve of the global nature of F1 crowning a world champion.

Updated

The cut and thrust of a race is, of course, a much different beast to the chase for one-lap performance but Verstappen hasn’t been all that happy with the pace of his Red Bull in Vegas as he seeks to secure the title.

Though their car looks to be well-placed to succeed on the Qatar and Abu Dhabi courses that will follow this race, Verstappen hasn’t been happy with his car’s top speed in Nevada.

“I mean we’re just a bit too slow, we have been struggling to get the tyres to work over a lap, and we are too slow on the straights as well, especially in qualifying,” he said after qualifying.

“You can see our rear wing, it’s trimmed down quite a lot, around the DRS flap, so when we open DRS we don’t get the gains like others do, so that makes it a bit more complicated around here.

“But that’s our own fault, we know that, that’s a compromise we have, but nevertheless I tried to do the best I could.

“It was quite close for P3, little details that could have been a bit better maybe, but overall I’m happy with the laps – was not much more in it.”

Off the track, Russell is also a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA), who are increasingly losing patience and confidence in the FIA and its ­president, ­Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

Giles Richards has more from Nevada.

Vegas will mark the fourth time in Russell’s career and the third time this season in which he has qualified in pole. And given the pace his Mercedes has shown throughout the week, the Brit will be determined to make this the race in which he takes that momentum goes from coast-to-coast.

The 26-year-old ended up finishing in third behind Verstappen and Norris after recording the fastest qualifying time in Canada earlier this year – he also finished third after grabbing his maiden pole in Hungary back in 2022 – and was forced to retire mid-race at Silverstone due to a water leak in his car.

Should he take out his second win of the season today, joining his triumph in Austria, it would mark Mercedes’ of the season – Hamilton taking out wins at Silverstone and Spa, the latter after initial winner Russell was disqualified for an underweight car – their most since 2021.

“The car has been really strong all weekend,” Mercedes principal Toto Wolff said. “We seem to be able to extract good performance in these cold temperatures, as we saw at Silverstone and Spa earlier in the season, and that has helped us today. Taking pole position is great but it is also a little bittersweet with Lewis in P10. We definitely had the speed to be on the front row with both cars, but I am sure he will bounce back tomorrow.

“It is difficult to say how the race will go tomorrow. We saw on Thursday that graining is a risk; nobody has had a proper look at the hard tyre either, so there are going to be plenty of unknowns. Hopefully, our single-lap speed translates into race pace, and we have a competitive Grand Prix and fight for victory. Let’s see what we can do.”

Jenson Button talking on the Sky Sports coverage about the hours of gaming that have helped Verstappen become what he is today.

The former champion, of course, is talking about the simulator but I’m going to pretend his talking about the more recreational type. It gives me hope my hours and hours of Red Dead Redemption 2 may help me ride a horse.

To put Verstappen’s chase of a fourpeat in its historical context, should he take out the title today he will become just the fifth driver to accomplish the feat, joining Juan Manuel Fangio, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.

He’d separate himself from Ayrton Senna, Niki Lauda, Jackie Stewart, Nelson Piquet, and Jack Brabham with three F1 titles and become just the sixth racer to ever win four or more, with that aforementioned quartet joined by Alain Prost in that pantheon.

History beckons.

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How Verstappen can win the title in Vegas

Today’s biggest story is that the title is on the line in Vegas. And just seeing the words arranged the way they are feels right, because Vegas is a place that has written itself into history as a place where the title goes on the line. It’s where we got Holmes against Norton in 1978; Spinks becoming the only man to take the title of Ali in the ring in 1978; The Showdown between Leonard and Hearns in 1981 and then the latter’s incredible bout with Hagler in 1985; Holyfield and Bowe in 1992 and the former’s meaty bouts with Tyson; Mayweather locking up with De La Hoya in 2007 and then finally clashing with Pacquaio in 2015; and Wilder and Fury II in 2020.

Today, it’s Verstappen and Norris. And it’s pretty straightforward as to how it will work. Starting next to each other in on the gird, the Red Bull driver leads his Maclaren rival by 62 points entering the race, ensuring that he’ll clinch the hardest fought of fourth-straight titles if he can finish ahead of his rival come the end of the 50th lap. To keep the battle for the championship alive heading into the next race in Doha, the Brit must get past Verstappen and outscore him by three points.

“He’s only just ahead of us today,” Norris said of his rival after qualifying. “I think we have a chance to beat them tomorrow. I’ll go out and do my best.”

Deep down, there’ll be plenty among the F1 executive class that will be hoping Verstappen gets the job done on the neon-lit streets of Sin City, providing new marquee event with a signature moment that can cement its place in the calendar and the burgeoning American market. Norris and Maclaren, though, won’t care much for that.

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Further down the grid, Williams’ Franco Colapinto suffered a major impact with the wall at the end of Q2, seeing him end up in 14th place. There had existed concerns that the Argentine rookie wouldn’t be able to take up his place on the grid after the team revealed the force of the impact of the crash amounted to 50Gs but in a team statement Williams confirmed he and his car were able to compete.

“Following Franco’s incident in qualifying yesterday, he has undergone a thorough follow-up evaluation from the event medical team today and has been cleared to race in this evening’s Las Vegas Grand Prix,” said the statement.

“Franco’s health is our main priority, and we are relieved that he is well enough to race following such a significant incident. We thank the medical staff for prioritising Franco’s health and wellbeing and for the excellent care he received.”

As a result of the crash, however, Colapinto will start the race from the pit lane due to the significant work needed to get his car back on the grid; a heck of an effort from the crew given both Colapinto and teammate Alexander Albon also DNFd in Brazil.

“We are extremely thankful to our incredible garage team for their hard work overnight to repair Franco’s car and our fans and partners for their continued support,” said Williams’ statement. “We have taken the opportunity to make some set-up changes during the repair and, as a result, Franco will start the race from the pitlane.

“We are looking forward to going racing under the lights tonight.”

Elsewhere, with doubts continuing to linger about his future, Sergio Pérez’s turgid run of things since F1 returned from its summer break continued, qualifying in 16th and failing to make it through Q1 for the sixth time this season.

“The whole weekend we have been struggling with the grip, it is weirdly difficult to put a lap together, with sliding and grip with the tyres,” said Pérez. “I did expect a very difficult qualifying and it turned out to be a very tricky one. We have been lacking a lot of low-speed performance and we haven’t been able to put the tyres in the right window, that was the main issue and has been very costly in this session. I wanted more today but the progress was not enough.”

After an energy recovery system failure in final practice, the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll was only able to manage one hot lap and qualified in 20. He and Bottas will swap places on the grid, however, after the Fin was handed a five-place grid penalty for an engine change. Fernando Alonso and his Aston Martin will start from 14th.

“We have been uncompetitive the whole weekend so far and expected it to be a struggle heading into Qualifying,” said Alonso. “We have been struggling with the balance and managing the tyre temperatures in these colder conditions here in Las Vegas. We’ve had a few races of being uncompetitive now, but we need to improve and keep learning for next year. As we saw in last year’s race anything can happen, so we will be ready to capitalise on any incidents or safety cars that come up.”

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The Grid in Vegas

1. George Russell (Mercedes)

2. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

3. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

5. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

6. Lando Norris (McLaren)

7. Yuki Tsunoda (RB)

8. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

9. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

10. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

11. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

12. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

13. Zhou Guanyu (Sauber)

14. Liam Lawson (RB)

15. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

16. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

17. Alexander Albon (Williams)

18. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

19. Valtteri Bottas (Sauber)

Pit Lane. Franco Colapinto (Williams)

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Preamble

Howdy, y’all, and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Las Vegas Grand Prix and what could prove the decisive race in the hunt for the 2024 world championship.

What a difference a year makes. At around this point in 2023, Formula One’s foray into the desert of Nevada was the subject of scepticism and criticism. The first practice on Thursday evening had been forced to be abandoned when a drain cover on the street circuit ripped through the chassis of Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari, locals were expressing their disquietude over the race’s impact, and Max Verstappen, never one to tiptoe around the issue, labelled the event “99% show and 1% sporting event”.

One enthralling race later, however, and not only was the Dutchman seemingly won over, singing along with ‘Viva Las Vegas’ as he cruised to an 18th win in the 2023 season, but so was most of F1. There’s a decided sense of excitement surrounding this year’s race, with Giles Richards reporting on the ground that the event possesses “an atmosphere that boundless petrodollars simply cannot buy, and everyone feels it.”

This year’s driver’s title still being on the line, as opposed to last year when Verstappen had long since wrapped it up, probably has a lot to do with building this sense of excitement. Despite struggling for pace throughout practice, the Red Bull driver will line up fifth on the grid in today’s race and, adding to the sense of occasion, he will do so next to the Maclaren of the man seeking to get in front of him from sixth and deny him glory, Lando Norris. Of course, while Verstappen won last year’s race, Norris crashed on lap three and was forced to retire – so there’s plenty of work for the Brit to do on that front.

Up the front of the grid, George Russell will start from pole in front of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and, after his surprise podium finish in Brazil, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly – who also qualified fourth at this circuit last year, only to end the race outside the points. Charles Leclerc and his Ferrari will start next to Gasly in fourth.

The Mercedes have shown significant pace throughout their time in Vegas, with Lewis Hamilton bemoaning two errors that led to him qualifying in tenth place. “I should have been on pole but I am not,” said Hamilton, in one of his final races for Mercedes before he makes his offseason switch to Ferrari. “C’est la vie. You live to fight another day. But I didn’t do the job. I didn’t put the laps together. It’s not a stinger. I feel great. The good thing is I have pace.”

The RB of Yuki Tsunoda – after the Japanese driver was interrogated by United States border officials in his pyjamas – and McLaren of Oscar Piastri will line up behind Verstappen and Norris, while Nico Hülkenberg and his Haas will start in ninth place next to Hamilton.

Lights Out: 10pm PST/6am GMT/5pm AEDT

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