LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX 2024
photo credit:foxnews.com
The Mercedes boys are back on top!!
The Mercedes team had an unexpected 1-2 finish today and looked miles faster than the pack. It was so unbelievable that even the drivers and the team did not know how did the car become so unbelievably quick throughout the weekend. It is a known fact that the Mercedes is fast in cold temperatures and low grip conditions but no one expected them to be the benchmark to beat this weekend. George Russell started on pole and after a few laps of being under pressure from Charles Leclerc, he was no where to be seen, miles off ahead of the field leading. On the contrary, Lewis Hamilton started from P10 after a scruffy Q3 yesterday in which he was not able to put in a lap due to errors. But that did not hamper him. He drove through the pack and overtook anyone who came in his sights... HE WAS A MAN ON A MISSION this weekend after a horrid Sao Paolo grand prix and speculations on his ability to be fast. In the end, he finished P2 showing everyone that he is still fast enough and more than capable to be fighting at the front of the pack. Overall, the Mercedes team had one of their best weekends in a really long time. First 1-2 finish after Sao Paolo 2022.
Although Mercedes were the one's who won, Max Verstappen was the talk of the paddock marching his way along to win his 4 consecutive driver's world championship. He has been supreme all season and has wadded off Norris's challenge for the championship. Although he finished in P5 and was not feisty like usual, it was a well driven race as he did not take too many risks keeping in mind the championship which is the ultimate goal of any driver.
The Ferrari boys crossed the chequered flag to finish in P3 and P4 a nice result for them as they finished ahead of their main competitors in the Constructor's championship, McLaren who finished in P6 and P7. This has caused the gap in the constructor's world championship to come down to only 24 points between Ferrari and McLaren. The Ferrari's looked like they were the second fastest car today after the Mercedes and they fought well and worked as a team to stay ahead of their rivals and overtake Max, giving them extra points in the championship.
It was a horrid result for McLaren today as they seemed to be lacking a lot of pace compared to their main rivals. Coming into the weekend, it was thought that McLaren will be the car to beat and this circuit might suit their car the best, but it was the complete opposite. They were terribly slow and just did not seem to have either the qualifying pace or the race pace. They ended up in P6 and P7 miles behind their rivals.
Sergio Perez today could barely score a point and finished P10, not what a top team like Red Bull hopes from their driver. He has only scored 9 points in the last 6 Grand Prix's which is quite lower than some of the driver's of the midfield teams. He had a miserable qualifying yesterday, getting knocked out in Q1 and could not make up for it today by fighting through the pack to score big points.
Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon both had to retire due to power unit issues. It was a miserable one for Gasly as he had pulled off a stellar lap in qualifying and started P3 in the Grand Prix only to later retire due to a power unit failure.
Hulkenberg finished in P8 and Yuki Tsunoda in P9 , scoring 4 and 2 points respectively for their teams. Both of them did a wonderful job for their teams and gave us wonderful battles to watch. These points scored puts Haas 6th in the constructor's world championship 1 point above Alpine and 4 points above VCaRB in 8th. A close battle between all 3 teams going onto the final 2 races of the season. It is going to be a feisty one as each position in the constructor's championship is minimum 10 million dollars.
Sauber are just having their worst season ever being miles off the pace of the other cars and not being able to challenge anyone on the grid. This might be their only pointless season EVER!!!!!!!
Overall SIN CITY did not disappoint. It give one of the best races of the year with numerous overtakes and plenty of upsets and surprises. The cars under lights, through the Las Vegas Strip is one hell of a sight to see which will be missed until the race next year!! Gambles were made in the race today and some paid off and some did not, but that is what happens in Vegas.
Now the teams move on to Qatar next week, heading off from Vegas and its glitter and glam because... WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS, STAYS IN VEGAS!!!
Next week we will be looking out to see whether McLaren has any answer for Ferrari's pace or can even Red Bull make a comeback out of nowhere into the championship. Can Mercedes continue their wonderful form from Vegas and will they be able to play a role in advantaging or disadvantaging the top three teams? We will only come to know all of this next week in the Qatar sprint weekend.
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