It was inevitable, but Max Verstappen secured his fourth World Championship in Las Vegas to firmly cement his legacy as one of the all-time greats in Formula One.
As he celebrated his Championship win, there were plenty of other things happening amongst all the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas.
To find out what, let’s get to our latest edition of F1 talking points.
Verstappen joins an elite club
Max Verstappen is a four-time World Champion, joining a very elite club in the process.
It was always going to happen at some point, and although 2024 was much more of a contest for the Dutchman than last season, he always looked the strongest and most consistent driver across the season in the fight for the World Championship.
In securing his fourth title, he joined the ranks of legends Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton as a four-time World Champion.
He also joined Vettel as the only driver to win their first four World Championships consecutively.
It’s an incredible feat no matter how you look at it and shows how far Verstappen has come from the days of his young, reckless self that looked destined to never reach his full potential.
It now remains to be seen just what more can be achieved by him moving forward.
He has never been one to actively seek records, but given his age, ability and form, you can’t doubt that there will be more championships added to his CV in the years to come.
Bravo Max, bravo.
McLaren is on the verge of losing both titles
Since the Miami Grand Prix in May, McLaren has been the form team, winning five races and taking the lead in the Constructors’ Championship.
With Lando Norris, they also found themselves closing the gap at the top of the Drivers’ as well, as the team pushed for their first championship of any kind since 2008.
But now the Drivers’ Championship has been decided and not in the favour of Norris, it looks likely that the Constructors’ Championship could too be about to slip from their grasp.
A poor weekend in Las Vegas with very limited pace relegated the team to only sixth and seventh on the track, with Norris beating teammate Oscar Piastri on the road as the checkered flag was waved on Saturday.
An additional point was secured by Norris by claiming the fastest lap, but it amounted to very little given Ferrari finished well ahead of them in third and fourth, cutting the gap in the Championship to just 24 points with two rounds remaining.
If this form continues, McLaren is at risk of throwing away a very strong season in which that long title drought was set to finally be broken.
From challenging for both titles to all of a sudden maybe missing on both, it’s a nervous time to be a McLaren fan.
Mercedes are the hardest team to read in 2024
Can the real Mercedes please stand up?
Out of seemingly nowhere, the team dominated the Las Vegas Grand Prix in a throwback to five years ago when that was the norm in Formula 1.
This came off the back of the previous four rounds when the highest position achieved by the team was fourth.
In fact, since the Belgian Grand Prix, where the team also finished 1-2 on the road before George Russell was disqualified, the team has only had one podium, with Russell finishing third in Azerbaijan.
But this is the same team that not only won in Belgium after Lewis Hamilton inherited the win lost by Russell but Britain and Austria too.
So just which version of Mercedes is real?
It’s hard to tell, given that they are capable of some extremely fast weekends where they look impossible to beat, and others where they are nowhere near the pace of McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull.
What’s even more fascinating is both Russell and Hamilton seemingly can’t explain themselves where the pace comes from and where it goes, adding to an extremely baffling season for the team.
With Hamilton departing at the end of this season and Russell inheriting the team leadership role, he will be hoping that weekends like this one in Las Vegas will become more regular and he’ll finally be able to show how capable he is when it comes to a championship fight.
Of course that will only happen if the confusing run of form by the team can level out and remain more consistent moving forward into 2025.
The battle for sixth might be the best battle remaining this season
While the Constructors’ Championship is well and truly up for grabs in the remaining two rounds of the season, perhaps the most entertaining battle comes in the form of the fight for sixth place.
With two rounds remaining, only four points separate Haas, Alpine and RB in the Constructors’ Championship, with both Haas and RB adding to their points tally in Las Vegas.
It may not sound like a battle anybody should care about, but when there are millions of dollars in prize money at hand for each finishing position, it is a big deal, particularly for the smaller teams where every cent counts.
Haas has perhaps been the biggest standout in 2024 when it comes to the Constructors’ Championship, with many predicting them to not score a single point when pre-season predictions were done.
They currently hold sixth with 50 points after another strong performance by Nico Hulkenberg in Vegas vaulted them back up the standings.
One point behind is Alpine, who was unlucky not to score on the weekend after Pierre Gasly’s incredible qualifying put him third on the grid.
An engine issue caused his retirement in the race, denying him and the team more valuable points.
(Photo by Getty Images)
RB secured two points in Vegas thanks to Yuki Tsunoda finishing in ninth, as the team hung on in the battle that has mainly been between them and Haas all season.
A rare off weekend by Liam Lawson meant they weren’t able to get any more points on the board, but expect this to be rectified in the last couple of rounds.
It all sets up an incredible fight in Qatar and Abu Dhabi over the next two weekends that is worth tuning in for.
Las Vegas might be the strangest F1 race ever
A final note on the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend as a whole.
This was not only my first time at this Grand Prix, it was my first time in Las Vegas in general – and it’s safe to say it’s a city that lives up to many of the reputations it has.
Outside of those reputations though is the race itself, and boy was it an odd one.
From having the media centre in a literal casino to being able to get personalised pet tags in the paddock for your beloved domesticated animal, it was a weekend of uniqueness.
The paddock itself was quite a distance from the media centre and involved a bit of a hike to and from it, and when in the paddock there were all levels of over-the-topness that only Vegas could deliver.
The previously mentioned pet tags aside, there were numerous pop-up food and drink stations that I had never seen in an F1 paddock before.
It was mixed with things you would expect from Vegas such as a red carpet for appearances by mostly D-list celebrities and many Elvis impersonators hanging around to get a photo with.
One of the more unusual aspects of the paddock was the fact that there were Las Vegas Grand Prix staff on hand to offer assistance to people.
While that may not sound unusual, they were the same staff members who were out in the main parts of the track for the general public, making it an odd sight to see general assistance staff offering help in a place that is generally an exclusive domain for media, team personnel and select VIPs.
There were also plenty of press junkets organised by the Grand Prix, allowing journalists such as myself personalised tours of places such as the paddock club, rooftop bar on the pit building and a celebrity chef showcase with behind-the-scenes tours of some of the more exclusive corporate zones along the Las Vegas Strip.
The fact that this led to me interviewing Wolfgang Puck and hanging out with Mark Wahlberg was something that wasn’t on my bingo card before the weekend started.
It all came together very well, but the weird mix of entertainment, excess and show combined with the fact that it was a Formula One Grand Prix certainly made it one hell of a weekend and perhaps one of the weirdest experiences I’ve ever had as a journalist at an international sporting event.
If you want to ever experience something so unique you can barely explain it, then get yourself to the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
This article was originally written for The Roar. You can read the published version here
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