Las Vegas hosted its Grand Prix this past weekend, from November 20th to 22nd. The Las Vegas Strip Circuit, the second-longest track of this season, is known for its spectacular night setting, illuminated by the glow of The Sphere. The race results were as usual, but a post-race technical disqualification for the two championship leaders absolutely changed the game.

Q1

It was raining during qualifying, so all the drivers used wet tires for Q1. Wet and intermediate tires are unique from slicks because they have grooves rather than being smooth.

Alex Albon went into the wall, but he was able to make it into the pit lane to avoid a virtual safety car. Nevertheless, Albon was out of Q1 despite a great performance during Free Practice.

Ollie Bearman locked up and hit the barrier, but he still advanced to Q2.

Lewis Hamilton was out of Q1, finishing in 20th. He aborted his last lap partially due to confusion from team radio, as he did not push hard enough on the first sector and then ran over a cone. It was the first time in his career that he qualified last on pure pace, a shocking result for the seven-time Driver’s Champion.

Q2

Lance Stroll was the only one in Q2 to use intermediate tires, which was a bad decision for him. This led to him being out of Q2, starting the race in 12th.

Q3- Qualifying Results   

1st- Lando Norris 

2nd- Max Verstappen

3rd- Carlos Sainz

F1 Academy- Las Vegas was the last F1 Academy race of the year. Dorian Pin, backed by Mercedes, won the F1 Academy Championship. F1 Academy is an all-female, single-seater racing series designed to help prepare young female drivers for higher levels of motorsport.

Grand Prix

Start

Las Vegas always has an eventful turn 1. Both Verstappen and Russell passed pole-sitter Norris at the start.

Stroll was out of the race at the first corner after being hit by Gabriel Bortoleto. Following this incident, Bortoleto retired from the race. Alex Albon retired as well due to a power unit issue. 

Throughout          

Kimi Antonelli had a unique strategy. He pitted on lap 2 and finished the race on his hard tyres after 48 laps. Despite many thinking he would have to make a second pit stop, Antonelli managed his tires properly to prevent them from degrading. He started in 17th and made it up to 4th. However, he did receive a 5-second penalty for moving before the lights went out. This pushed him behind Oscar Piastri into 5th. After technique disqualifications, Antonelli ended up officially finishing in 3rd place. This was an incredible performance from the rookie, starting in 17th and ultimately ending in 3rd.

Finish

Max Verstappen ended up winning this race, making him the first driver to win more than one race in Las Vegas.

Disqualified 

Both McLaren drivers were disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The rearmost skid of both cars was less than the required thickness.

Conclusion 

After the disqualifications, the podium was Verstappen, Russell, and Antonelli. With 1 sprint and 2 Grands Prix left, 58 points are up for grabs! Thanks to the McLaren disqualification, Verstappen is tied for second with Piastri for the Driver’s Championship. Norris now only leads by 24 points. Verstappen has always been an aggressive driver, and he is going to end this season with a fight in an attempt to win his 5th consecutive Driver’s Championship.