LAS VEGAS, United States – “Super Max” power 4: Max Verstappen won his fourth consecutive Formula 1 world champion title at the end of the Las Vegas Grand Prix won Saturday evening by George Russell ahead of his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.
In the setting of the city of gambling, the Dutchman had only one mission: that of finishing ahead of his last rival Lando Norris to retain his world crown. Objective fulfilled since the Red Bull driver crossed the finish line 5th, ahead of the Briton’s McLaren, 6th.
With two rounds still to go and a maximum of 60 points to be taken during the last two meetings – in Qatar and Abu Dhabi – Verstappen, who is now 63 lengths ahead of Norris, can no longer be caught at the top of the general standings. .
“It’s been a long, complicated, incredible season… I’m incredibly proud of the team, this 4th title is something I didn’t dare hope for,” he reacted to the TV broadcaster’s microphone on a podium erected in front of the giant fountains of the Bellagio hotel.
“We had a difficult summer, but it was exceptional,” greeted Red Bull boss Christian Horner a few moments later. “It was his best championship but also the most difficult, he was up to the task on the days when the car was not completely up to it.”
With his fourth title acquired, the 27-year-old driver joins the German Sebastian Vettel and the French legend of the discipline Alain Prost on the F1 list. He is only ahead of the Argentinian Juan Manuel Fangio (5 crowns), the German Michael Schumacher and the British Lewis Hamilton, seven titles each.
Intractable Mercedes
For the most glamorous weekend of the calendar, Mercedes, which was not expected to perform as well for this 22nd round (out of 24) of the season, concluded an almost perfect weekend.
When the lights went out, the holder of the leading position George Russell retained the lead of the race ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc, who moved up to second place after starting 4th, and Carlos Sainz.
Behind, Pierre Gasly, surprising 3rd on the starting grid, quickly found himself under threat from Verstappen, 5th, who logically overtook the Frenchman’s Alpine four laps later.
True to his status, the powerful Dutchman then carried out his task without a hitch, taking the advantage over the Ferraris in quick succession… before they successively returned the favor with less than ten laps to go.
At the checkered flag, the two Silver Arrows were ahead of Sainz, 3rd, while Leclerc finished just off the podium.
“We don’t know why the car was so fast this weekend,” admitted Lewis Hamilton, author of a good comeback from 10th place. “If the car behaves like this in the next races, we will be able to compete with the drivers ahead of us.”
In front of an audience of stars including Sylvester Stallone, Paris Hilton, or another kind of racing car, the Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles, Norris took part in an anonymous race. Starting sixth on the urban circuit, the Briton crossed the finish line in the same place, ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri, 7th.
Gasly gives up
Ferrari certainly did not win as expected, but thanks to the performances of its two drivers, the Scuderia, second in the constructors’ championship, took 12 points from McLaren, the leading force in the field, which is no longer behind it. only 24 units.
Red Bull, arriving in Las Vegas with the wrong rear wing, remains 3rd, 53 points behind McLaren.
Alpine, propelled to sixth place (out of 10) in the championship at the beginning of November after its strategic winning move in Brazil, lost big in the streets of the gambling city since Gasly had to retire due to an engine problem – a hard blow for the Norman who has had a perfect weekend so far.
The French team – whose second driver Esteban Ocon finished 17th and therefore out of the points – drops to 7th place overall with 49 points, behind Haas (50 pts) but remains ahead of Racing Bulls (46 pts).
Canadian Lance Stroll finished the event in 15th place aboard his Aston Martin, while his teammate Fernando Alonso finished 11th.
