Formula 1: Winners and Losers From the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton charged from tenth on the grid to secure Mercedes a 1-2 finish ahead of Carlos Sainz, while Max Verstappen's fifth place was good enough to secure a fourth world title.

Much to the relief of those working in the F1 paddock, the second Las Vegas GP didn't have the mayhem and pomp of the first, and the race itself was a relatively mundane affair.

But who came out with double-sixes, and who was getting triple lemons?

Winner: Max Verstappen

Photo: Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

Game set and match Verstappen, who joins Schumacher, Fangio, Vettel, and Hamilton in the pantheon of drivers to win four consecutive world titles.

Verstappen's task was simple. If he finished ahead of Norris and didn't make a rare mistake, the championship would be his.

Practice hadn't gone well, with Red Bull down on pace amid rumours they had brought the wrong rear wing to Las Vegas. But the pace improved for qualifying, albeit only good enough for fifth.

After retaining his start spot, he cleared Pierre Gasly for fourth by lap four, and by staying out longer than the two Ferraris at his first stop, he vaulted ahead of Sainz into net race second.

With Norris not making any impression, Verstappen didn't have to fight too hard. After he let both Ferraris go, he settled back into fifth, sealing the championship.

Winner: George Russell

Photo: Mercedes Benz Media

It was a flawless weekend for Russell, who demonstrated to his Mercedes bosses why he should lead the team in 2025.

An excellent final run put him one pole by just under a tenth from Sainz, and despite Leclerc's challenge, he held his lead.

With Leclerc's tyres degrading, Russell stretched out his lead, making the first and second stints of the race relatively serene and ensuring he would retain his lead after both stops.

A late Hamilton charge put the pressure back on, but the young Brit held his nerve to take his second win of 2024, earning him redemption from his post-race disqualification at Spa.

Winner: Yuki Tsunoda

Photo: Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

After a run-in with immigration upon arrival in Las Vegas, which nearly ended his weekend before it started, Tsunoda again showed why he should be promoted to Red Bull for 2025.

Tsunoda had the edge over his teammate Liam Lawson throughout proceedings and comfortably advanced into Q3 for the second race in succession, ending up an impressive seventh on the grid.

He retained his starting spot before stopping for hards on lap 13 but had a hair-raising moment when he hit a pitlane speed limit marker when exiting the pits.

After the second round of stops, Tsunoda cycled back up to seventh, and although he lost eighth in the closing stages to Nico Hulkenberg, ninth ahead of Sergio Perez and Lawson, wasn't a bad result by no means.

Winner: Nico Hulkenberg

Photo: LAT Images/Haas Media

Brazil was a horror show for Hulkenberg, but the German bounced back in Las Vegas with crucial points to aid Haas' fight for sixth in the Constructors Championship.

The Haas VF-24 looked better suited to Las Vegas's bumps, and Hulkenberg advanced into Q3, qualifying ninth ahead of Hamilton and Esteban Ocon.

By the end of the opening tour, he was up to eighth before dropping back to tenth as the faster cars of McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Hamilton's Mercedes got by.

A later first stop gave him fresher rubber, but Hulkenberg's second stint was the most eye-catching. First, he got by Lawson on lap 36 to move back into tenth.

Then he got by Esteban Ocon into ninth, and with five laps to go, he dived past Tsunoda to take eighth, where he stayed until the flag.

Loser: Lando Norris

Photo: McLaren Racing Media

Vegas saw Norris run out of cards in his high-stake poker game with Verstappen following a weekend during which neither he nor McLaren could land a blow.

With a horrific weekend at Interlagos still fresh on his mind, Norris knew he had to finish ahead of Verstappen in Las Vegas to have any chance of keeping the title fight alive.

However, unusually for McLaren, the team struggled for pace, with Norris only sixth on the grid alongside title rival Verstappen. For the first time since September's Azerbaijan GP, he would not start on the first three rows of the grid.

With Verstappen clearing Gasly on lap 4, Norris needed to get past the Alpine quickly. Instead, he spent five laps stuck behind the Frenchman, costing him time in the lead group.

Although he managed to secure the fastest lap on the final tour, it scant consolation for a quiet and painful race for both him and McLaren.

Loser: Alpine

Photo: Alpine Media

From the euphoria of Sao Paulo to the misery of Las Vegas, Alpine came crashing back down to earth with a thump as raging incompetence ruined both of their drivers' races.

Gasly had been the surprise of qualifying, putting the Alpine an impressive third on the grid and splitting the two Ferraris.

Although he dropped back behind Messers Verstappen and Norris, a good haul of points was on the cards until a sluggish first stop put him behind Tsunoda. Then, the much-maligned Renault engine decided to clock out early on lap 16, ending Gasly's promising weekend with a whimper.

As for Ocon, an organisational mishap meant only one mechanic was ready to receive him in the pits, forcing him to do a glorified drive-through penalty through the pitlane.

From then on, he fought a losing battle, eventually finishing 17th way out of the points.

Loser: Sergio Perez

Photo: Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

Returning to the site where he secured the runners-up honours in the 2023 Drivers Championship, Perez had another weekend of horrors.

While Red Bull didn't have the pace to fight for pole position, Perez should have broken his run of three consecutive Q3 misses, but he could only manage a dismal 16th.

With Perez going on the alternate strategy, he needed to preserve his tyres to get anything from the race. Despite a sluggish opening lap, the Mexican ran as high as second before making his first stop on lap 18.

Stopping for a second time on lap 33, Perez made some headway through the order in the closing stages and even made a sensational double overtake on old chum Lawson and Kevin Magnussen.

But in the end, tenth was as high as he got, which will do nothing for his standing inside the Red Bull camp.

Loser: Williams

Photo: @WilliamsRacing/X

It was a miracle that Williams even had two cars ready for Las Vegas, but despite their mechanics' hard work, they wouldn't be rewarded for their efforts.

Alex Albon's Friday running was curtailed by a fuel system issue in FP2, and in qualifying, he struggled for pace, only managing 18th.

But the race looked promising. By just under half distance, Albon was in with a shot at points before an issue with the power unit ended his race on lap 26.

Franco Colapinto had made Q2, but he undid all of his good work by suffering a 50G crash, which jeopardised his participation in the race.

The medical teams cleared him to race on Saturday morning, and although he started from the pits, he made some amends to his hard-working mechanics by finishing 14th, albeit out of the points.