Martin Brundle on the results of the Las Vegas Grand Prix

Former Formula 1 driver and Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle summarized the results of the Las Vegas Grand Prix…

Congratulations to Max Verstappen on his fourth world title in a row. The psychological and physical dedication required to achieve such consistent results in difficult times is only inherent in true superhumans. Other great drivers – Jim Clark and Ayrton Senna – could well have been counted among them had they lived longer.

At the start of the season the car allowed Red Bull to win and Max won seven of the first ten races, providing an excellent springboard to winning the title.

During that period he somehow managed to cope with the crisis that team leader Christian Horner found himself in, with Christian’s falling out with his father Jos and endless rumors about who might leave the team, and then the real departure of Adrian Newey. At the same time, it was necessary to achieve success on the track.

In the second half of the season his car was already the third fastest, but he was able to compensate for the weaknesses and minimize the damage, winning 13 podium places in the season. He was also very strong in the sprints, where he scored points.

Lando Norris’ hopes suffered a fatal blow in Brazil when Verstappen put in a masterclass performance to rise from 17th to first in the rain.

In all the battle for the title in Vegas it was a bit of a shame for George Russell, who took pole and dominated the race. He was so far ahead for almost 50 laps that we barely saw him on the broadcast. This is George’s third Grand Prix victory.

The Mercedes cars were very fast from the first laps of the first practice session and led every session. Their car performed well on the cold, slippery surface and the team was generous enough to admit that they didn’t quite understand the reason.

Hamilton did not seem any less fast in the second Mercedes car, but went off the track several times. Unfortunately for him, he completed two failed laps in the final qualifying session due to problems with the rear of the car, starting from a lowly 10th place.

After the race he said that if he had started from the front he would have been riding downwind, which surprised Russell a bit. There was no doubt that Russell had the speed when he needed it.

But Lewis put in an excellent performance, fighting his way through some tough competition to second place and finishing just seven seconds behind the winner. The fans rightly voted him the best driver of the day, and he answered some questions that have recently been raised about him being out of his league.

McLaren was happy to see Mercedes earn plenty of points for the winning double, limiting the Scuderia’s chances to third and fourth. McLaren could only finish sixth and seventh.

Ferrari were considered favorites before the race, but on this evening the tires were more worn than Mercedes, despite the warmer weather than the two previous evenings.

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc swapped positions several times and seemed to constantly get in each other’s way, but were unable to catch Russell or defend against Hamilton’s attacks.

Sainz was fortunate not to receive a penalty for entering the pit lane, but was told to stay on track as the team was not ready. Such an exit to the circuit at the fastest final corner in Formula 1 would normally attract the attention of the race director and even race control, and the corresponding paragraph of the International Sports Code addresses this situation very clearly, but this story is not developed.

Leclerc was very dissatisfied with fourth place and cursed himself on the radio for letting his teammate pass.

Norris’s McLaren was as worn as the Ferrari, and he finished 43 seconds behind the leader, but that included a late pit stop – he went for new tires to set the fastest time.

Oscar Piastri had another disappointing race, which started when he failed to precisely determine his starting position and was given a five-second time penalty. His seventh place means Ferrari is now just 24 points behind McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship, with two races and a sprint remaining. McLaren expects to perform better in Qatar, this is very important to them.

Nico Hulkenberg achieved an important eighth place for Haas, allowing the team to return to sixth in the Constructors’ Championship, just one point ahead of Alpine, who squandered an excellent points opportunity when third starter Pierre Gasly retired with engine problems.

In a race where there were no safety cars or yellow flags, Alex Albon dropped out in second due to overheating problems in his Williams. The team impressed by putting together two latest-spec cars after a series of crashes in Brazil, but rookie Franco Colapinto brutally crashed one of them during qualifying.

Colapinto finished 14th, but the hype and support he received at his first Grands Prix will cause him some mental stress. Finishing with an undamaged car is exactly what the 21-year-old driver needs now.

Yuki Tsunoda had a confident weekend and earned two points. Directly behind him in 10th place, Perez finished the race in the second Red Bull car, which, despite a spectacular double overtake at Turn 14, had poor tire control throughout the race.

The weekend in Las Vegas is a curious affair that can sometimes feel interminably late, dark and cold, given the schedule and time of year. It is difficult to move along the highway here, but it is interesting to see the endless sea of ​​people both on the highway and in the casinos to which the hotels are connected.

I regularly kick myself for using anything other than ‘awesome’ to describe F1 in Vegas, but when you’re in the shower at 3am and desperately trying to warm your bones before you find something to eat, This weekend’s schedule doesn’t seem to be working out for everyone.

But it was another good race on smooth asphalt under floodlights and against incredible scenery. This is the first season in history in which four teams won at least four Grand Prix. And the first when seven drivers won multiple races. Until now.

Next year the battle should be even fiercer given the stability of the regulations, and if Verstappen wins the title in 2025 it will be impressive. But let’s wait for this: there are still two races until the end of the season.