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The F1's Las Vegas Sunday told two parallel stories: Mercedes' literally dominated the GP and Red Bull's secured the title, at least in terms of the drivers standings.
George Russell won a race lacking in overtakes in the first positions, and one which was mostly decided in the pit stop phase. George was in great shape since the first session on Friday and was able to accumulate a lead of more than seven seconds over his garage mate, Lewis Hamilton, who ended the party with his performance. Instead, Carlos Sainz gave Ferrari fans some joy despite the request to let his brand mate pass, and despite the fact that, during the last stop, the mechanics weren't yet ready, as they themselves admitted over the radio. The chaos in strategies didn't, however, penalize Charles Leclerc beyond measure, so he managed to cross the finish line in 4th place.
Like a good accountant, Max Verstappen was able to settle for fifth place that, in any case, guaranteed him his fourth consecutive win. Behind the newly crowned champion was his main rival, Lando Norris, with the fastest lap, while Oscar Piastri's McLaren crossed the finish line seventh, also due to a 5" penalty given for an early start.
Nico Hulkenberg, on the Haas, finished eighth ahead of Yuki Tusonda on the Racing Bulls and Sergio Perez on the RB20. Of note were Alex Albon's withdrawal, due to the power unit of his Williams, and Pierre Gasly, who started third but was very soon sucked in by the more competitive cars before the classic white smoke ended his race.
"I had a flight planned in a couple of hours, but I'm not going to take it. I'm going to stay here and have fun with the team. Las Vegas is a crazy place. Winning the pole, dominating, and getting a one-two finish is something we've been waiting for. The last two races where I started on pole had rain and red flags, so I'm happy," the winner said with excitement.
"Congratulations to Max for the championship. If I had done a better job yesterday, today would've been a piece of cake but, starting from a tenth position, I still had fun. We don't know why the car was so fast. It was never like that during the season. Should it be confirmed, we'll be able to challenge the strongest," Ham comment.
"It was shocking. The mediums lasted eight to nine laps, so I could only limit the damage. We didn't have any today," Carlitos admitted.
"It was a long world championship. I didn't think it was possible to get here with four titles. I feel relieved and proud. I still prefer 2023, but I learned lots of lessons this year," Mad Max confessed.
