F1 Las Vegas GP Live Commentary and Updates – Race
Minute-by-minute updates of the 2024 Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix
Formula 1 returns for its final leg of the season under the bright lights of Sin City for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
George Russell starts from pole position for Mercedes ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
Max Verstappen can clinch his fourth consecutive F1 world title if Lando Norris fails to outscore him by more than two points in Las Vegas. The Red Bull driver starts fifth and directly ahead of his championship rival in sixth.
The Las Vegas GP starts at 6am GMT.
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A replay of the start points out Leclerc's wonderful start, sticking to the inside line into Turn 1 and with Sainz and Gasly squabbling he swept around the outside at Turn 3 to complete his fourth to second charge.
The stewards have noted Piastri for a false start. That could be further pain for McLaren and the Australian.
Alonso's foray on the soft tyres is already over as Aston Martin brings the Spaniard into the pits.
At the start of lap five, Leclerc looks for a way around Russell into Turn 1 and they come so close to contact but just about keep it clean as Russell retains the lead.
Verstappen, with DRS, passes Gasly for fourth place into Turn 14 to put a car between him and Norris.
At the start of lap four Leclerc is all over the rear of Russell and has also shaken off his team-mate Sainz. The top three are pulling away from Gasly.
Piastri was another to have a poor start, dropping behind Hulkenberg in the opening exchanges.
DRS is enabled so Russell will be desperate to get one second up the road ahead of the double Ferrari threat behind, while further back Norris is only just keeping within DRS range of Verstappen.
Down the pack, Perez has already lost a position while Lawson has muscled his way past Magnussen for 13th, the duo side by side on their way off the Strip.
At the end of the first lap Russell leads by 0.6s from Leclerc who is up to second now, with Sainz third and Gasly fourth.
Russell makes a mega start to retain the lead, while Leclerc takes third place off Gasly into the first corner. Clean getaways behind them, with Verstappen fifth and Norris sixth.
Russell takes up his pole position spot as the pack forms behind him. Here we go...
Russell leads the pack away for the formation lap. All will be franticly getting heat into their tyres and brakes, even if the temperatures are fractionally higher than earlier in the weekend: 17.9C air temp and 18.1C track temp.
Starting tyres: Perez, Bottas and Colapinto on the hard tyres, Alonso is on the softs and everyone else is on the medium tyres.
And a quick reminder on the championship permutations: put simply, if Verstappen finishes ahead of Norris he wraps up the title today.
Las Vegas GP starting grid: 1. Russell 2. Sainz 3. Gasly 4. Leclerc 5. Verstappen 6. Norris 7. Tsunoda 8. Piastri 9. Hulkenberg 10. Hamilton 11. Ocon 12. Magnussen 13. Zhou 14. Lawson 15. Perez 16. Alonso 17. Albon 18. Stroll 19. Bottas PL. Colapinto
The drivers are on their way back to their cars, so now it is time for the serious business. But how will the race play out? Well look no further: The low-grip headaches that will dictate strategy in F1's Las Vegas GP.
George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
National anthem time! Boyz II Men give a harmonious rendition of American nation anthem. 9/10, very calm and moving. One of the best of the year.
It is a real who's who on the Vegas grid: Sylvester Stallone, Jerry Bruckheimer, Gordon Ramsay, Axl Rose, Jared Leto and Noah Lyles - just to name a few.
The pitlane is closed and we have 19 drivers on a very busy grid. There is barely enough room to breathe - it looks like the whole of Las Vegas has grabbed a grid pass.
But the main focus is on the title fight. A small reminder: for the championship fight to go on to next weekend in Qatar, Norris must outscore Verstappen by more than two points. Anything less and the Dutch driver wraps up his fourth straight world title today.
Russell went from a 45-minute power nap to pole position, storming to top spot with his final flying lap, ahead of Sainz and surprise package Gasly in third. You could say it was a wake-up call for the rest...
George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Mercedes AMG
Let's start by getting you up to speed on the pre-race talking points. Colapinto has been cleared to race after his 50G qualifying crash but will start from the pitlane following a car rebuild and different specification required.
Franco Colapinto, Williams Racing, during the drivers parade
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Hello one and all! Here we go again then and time for the big one - the Las Vegas GP. The pitlane is open and the drivers are on their way to the grid.
By: Autosport Staff
