He only had to complete the 50 laps of the Las Vegas Grand Prix (United States) in front of Lando Norris, to ensure he won a fourth consecutive world crown this Sunday. Challenge held for Max Verstappen (Red Bull), fifth in a race contested at night on a circuit in the heart of the largest city in Nevada, and won by George Russell (Mercedes). “Oh my God, what a season!” Four titles, we gave everything, I gave everything. THANKS ! »reacted the Dutch driver in the first radio exchange broadcast by his team at the end of the race.
Lewis Hamilton took second place behind his teammate and fellow Briton, while Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) completed the podium, just ahead of his partner, Monegasque Charles Leclerc. The Briton Lando Norris, the big winner of the day and unable to influence the outcome of a race in which he nevertheless signed the best timed lap, took sixth place, in the exhausts of Max Verstappen.
“I feel relieved and also very proud, declared the Dutch driver after the race. It has been a special season, with very difficult moments. We had to stay calm. Of the choice, I clearly prefer last season (laughing). But it allowed me to learn a lot. This title has a very particular taste. It was a great season.”
For Max Verstappen, the season will indeed have been complicated. If he had a string of victories at the start of the championship (seven out of the first ten Grands Prix), he was shaken up during the second part: no victory in ten races, between the end of June and the beginning of November. Never since 2020 has he let so many consecutive victories slip away.
He regained sensations behind the wheel during the last Grands Prix, including that of Brazil, which he won on November 3, and was 62 points ahead of his runner-up, Lando Norris, before the meeting in Las Vegas, while a maximum of 86 units remained to be distributed before the day's race.
He increased his lead once the checkered flag was waved on the Strip, the legendary boulevard of Las Vegas, which allowed him to become, at 27, the equal of the Frenchman Alain Prost and the German Sebastian Vettel in the history of Formula 1.
Back to reality for Alpine
In difficulty this season, the Alpine team experienced a much less encouraging outcome than during the previous race weekend, concluded with an unexpected double podium behind Max Verstappen, in Brazil.
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Left in 3e position on the grid, the Frenchman Pierre Gasly was forced to retire very early on. Bad news for the French team, in its race for sixth place in the constructors' championship. “We lost the engine suddenly. We had a problem that prevented me from having power and shifting normally. It's a shame, after yesterday's good qualification (Saturday), we were aiming for 7e or 8e place »he reacted at the microphone of Canal+.
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His teammate Esteban Ocon, seventeenth on the finish line, suffered from poor communication during his first return to the pits, which forced him to stop twice at the start of the race. A setback which early ruined his chances of a potential rise in the rankings.
Its direct competitors Haas and Racing Bulls pocketed valuable points by each placing a driver in the top 10, before the final two rounds of the F1 season, in Qatar (December 1) then in Abu Dhabi (December 8). . Two events during which the battle for the constructor's title will rage, between the McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull teams.
