Formula 1 Las Vegas GP 2024

The Race Director is Rui Marques and the Technical Delegate is Jo Bauer. The stewards are Nish Shetty, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Matthew Selley, and Dennis Dean.

A list of drivers participating in the Las Vegas Grand Prix can be found in Document 8 - Entry List. All documents are sourced from the FIA website.

Free Practice 1

• Valtteri Bottas (#77) was given a five grid place penalty for using his fourth Energy Store, which will take effect during the race since there is no Sprint this weekend.

  Explanation: Article 28.2 of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations says that "each driver may use no more than ... two (2) energy stores", while Article 28.3 says that the first time a driver exceeds those limits a ten grid place penalty will be imposed, with additional infringements resulting in five grid place penalties. Since this is Bottas' second additional energy store, the stewards gave him a five grid place penalty.

  Documents: Document 11 - New PU elements for this Competition, Document 12 - Infringement - Car 77 - PU elements

The top three drivers in FP1 were Lewis Hamilton (#44) with a 1:35.001, followed by George Russell (#63) with a 0.396 second gap (1:35.397), and Lando Norris (#4) with a 0.953 second gap (1:35.954). See Document 13 - P1 Classification for the full timing sheet.

Free Practice 2

• A red flag was issued when Alex Albon (#23)'s car stopped on track because of a fuel systems issue. He managed to stop near an opening in the barriers, allowing the session to be restarted quickly. Williams will have to wait until after the session to retrieve it.

• The Technical Delegate noted that Carlos Sainz (#55) ran a gearbox assembly outside the restricted number components (RNC) allocation.

  Explanation: A driver is allowed to exceed the gearbox assembly RNC allocation up to four times in FP1 or FP2 throughout the season by Article 29.3(g). This was Sainz's fourth time, so he can no longer run gearbox assemblies outside the RNC allocation in FP1 or FP2.

  Documents: Document 16 - RNC used outside allocation

The top three drivers in FP2 were Lewis Hamilton (#44) with a 1:33.825, followed by George Russell (#63) with a 0.011 second gap (1:33.836), and Lando Norris (#4) with a 0.190 second gap (1:34.015). Max Verstappen (#1) finished 17th with a 1:35.834, 2.009 seconds off Hamilton and 1.819 seconds off World Champion challenger Norris. See Document 15 - P2 Classification for the full timing sheet.

Free Practice 3

• Aston Martin was fined €200 because Fernando Alonso (#14) exceeded the speed limit in the pit lane by driving at 81.3 km/h.

  Explanation: Article 34.7 sets a speed limit of 80 km/h in the pit lane throughout the season, unless the Race Director amends it following a recommendation from the Safety Delegate. Article 34.7(a) says that "Any Competitor whose driver exceeds the limit during any free practice session, qualifying session, or sprint qualifying session will be fined €100 for each km/h above the limit, up to a maximum of €1000." The stewards, rounding up from 1.3 km/h, fined Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team €200 accordingly.

  Documents: Document 22 - Infringement - Car 14 - Pit lane speeding^[1]

• A red flag was issued when Lance Stroll (#18)'s AMR24 began smoking, which appeared to be coming from the front brakes. While he did manage to park it by a gap in the barriers, the batteries made the car unsafe to recover for the time being. The session restarted at 19:29 without enough time for a timed lap but enough for a practice start on the grid.

The top three drivers in FP3 were George Russell (#63) with a 1:33.570, followed by Oscar Piastri (#81) with a 0.215 second gap (1:33.785), and Carlos Sainz (#55) with a 0.348 second gap (1:33.918).

Lando Norris (#4) went fourth-fastest with a 1:34.008, 0.438 seconds off Russell. Max Verstappen (#1) improved to fifth-fastest with a 1:34.137, 0.129 seconds off Norris and 0.567 seconds off Russell. Lewis Hamilton (#44), the leader in FP1 and FP2, went sixth-fastest with a 1:34.341, 0.771 seconds off teammate Russell.

See Document 21 - P3 Classification for the full timing sheet.

Qualifying

Session 1

• Alex Albon (#23) had his 1:34.590 lap deleted for track limits at turn 4.
• Charles Leclerc (#16) had his lap deleted for track limits at turn 8.
• Fernando Alonso (#14) had his lap deleted for track limits at turn 12.
• Kevin Magnussen (#20) had his lap deleted for track limits at turn 5.
• Nico Hulkenberg (#27) had his lap deleted for track limits at turn 5.

Sergio Perez (#11), Fernando Alonso (#14), Alex Albon (#23), Valterri Bottas (#77) (five grid place penalty and will start last), and Lance Stroll (#18) were eliminated from Q1.

The top three drivers were George Russell (#63) with a 1:33.186, followed by Lewis Hamilton (#44) with a 0.039 second gap (1:33.225), and Max Verstappen (#1) with a 0.113 second gap (1:33.299).

Session 2

• Lewis Hamilton (#44) has his lap deleted for track limits at turn 8.
• A yellow flag was issued at the end of Q2 in sector 3 when Franco Colapinto (#43) shunted on a qualifying lap, disconnecting three of his tyres. See the Formula 1 post for more details.

Esteban Ocon (#31), Kevin Magnussen (#20), Zhou Guanyu (#24), Franco Colapinto (#43), and Liam Lawson (#30) were eliminated from Q2.

The top three drivers were Lewis Hamilton (#44) with a 1:32.567, followed by Carlos Sainz (#55) with a 0.144 second gap (1:32.711), and George Russell (#63) with a 0.212 second gap (1:32.779).

Session 3

The start of session 3 was delayed to 23:09 due to Colapinto's crash.

• Lewis Hamilton (#44) has his lap deleted for track limits at turn 12.
• Lewis Hamilton (#44) has his 1:35.181 lap deleted for track limits at turn 4.

The Q3 order is as follows: George Russell (#63), Carlos Sainz (#55), Pierre Gasly (#10), Charles Leclerc (#16), Max Verstappen (#1), Lando Norris (#4), Yuki Tsunoda (#22), Oscar Piastri (#81), Nico Hulkenberg (#27), and Lewis Hamilton (#44).

See Document 27 - Final Qualifying Classification^[2] for the full order and timing sheet.

See Document 24 - Infringement - Qualifying Deleted Lap Times for more information on the deleted qualifying lap times. Lap times are deleted when a driver violates Article 33.3 of the Sporting Regulations and Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 2(c) of the FIA International Sporting Code, and are authorized by Article 12.4.1.e of the I.S.C.

Race

The starting grid is: George Russell (#63), Carlos Sainz (#55), Pierre Gasly (#10), Charles Leclerc (#16), Max Verstappen (#1), Lando Norris (#4), Yuki Tsunoda (#22), Oscar Piastri (#81), Nico Hulkenberg (#27), Lewis Hamilton (#44), Esteban Ocon (#31), Kevin Magnussen (#20), Zhou Guanyu (#24), Liam Lawson (#30), Sergio Perez (#11), Fernando Alonso (#14), Alex Albon (#23), Lance Stroll (#18), and Valtteri Bottas (#77). Bottas starts last after qualifying 19th because of a five grid place penalty for using an additional component out of his allocation (see FP1). Colapinto starts from the pit lane following out-of-allowance component upgrades and specification changes.

See Document 35 - Final Starting Grid^[3] for the grid and qualifying times.

The race is currently scheduled to begin at 22:00 PST on Saturday, November 23. Drivers are required to go to the national anthem positions at 21:42 and the anthem will begin at 21:44. See Document 31 - Pre-Race Procedure.

After the race, the top three drivers, and the World Driver's Championship winner (if decided), will stop on the grid around grid position 10. A car will transport the drivers to the Bellagio for post-race interviews, then back to the grid for the podium ceremony. There is no cool down room. If the World Driver's Championship is decided, a press conference will be held after the TV pen. For more information, see Document 32 - Post-Race Procedure.

Events

• Franco Colapinto (#43) is required to start from the pit lane for exceeding his allotment of restricted number components (RNCs) and changing a specification under parc fermé conditions.

  Explanation: Given Colapinto's crash in Q2 yesterday, Williams opted to upgrade some of his components, specifically a new gearbox case and cassette and a new gearbox driveline, gear change components and auxiliary components, which are his sixth components. Article 29.2 allows drivers to use up to five gearbox components, with additional units incurring five grid place penalties. However, the Technical Delegate noted that a new specification of the LHS and RHS front brake cooling duct was added, which violates Article 40.9: "A Competitor may not modify any part on the car or make changes to the set-up of the suspension whilst the car is being held under parc fermé conditions." Article 40.9(a) requires a pit lane start for non-sprint weekends.

  Documents: Document 29 - Parc Fermé Issues, Document 30 - Infringement - Car 43 - Changes made during Parc Ferme

• Oscar Piastri (#81) was given a five-second penalty for being outside his grid position box when the race started.

  Explanation: Article 48.1(c) says that a false start includes "Any part of the contact patch of [a car's] front tyres outside of the lines (front and sides) at the time of the Start signal." The contact patch of Piastri's tyres was out enough to be given a mandatory penalty under Article 54.3, which gives the stewards options for penalties. The stewards decided that a five-second penalty was appropriate given the "limited nature of the breach".

  Documents: Document 36 - Infringment - Car 81 - Incorrect starting position

• Pierre Gasly (#10) was forced to retire from the race with a power unit failure on lap 13.

• Alex Albon (#23) was forced to retire from the race with a power unit failure on lap 21.

• Carlos Sainz (#55) crossed the pit lane entry line as he abandoned his pit entry following a message from his engineer on lap 27. The FIA opted to not give Sainz a penalty.

  I.S.C. Appendix L, Chapter 4, Article 4(d) says: "Except in cases of force majeure (accepted as such by the Stewards), or unless otherwise defined by the Race Director ... any part of a tyre of a car entering the pit lane must not cross, in any direction, any line painted on the track for the purpose of separating cars entering the pit lane from those on the track". Formula 1's race highlights video (timestamped) clearly shows Sainz crossing the pit entry road divider, which was set out in Instruction 12.2 of Document 19 - Race Director Event Notes V2.

  In my opinion, the FIA erred in not giving Sainz a penalty.

Post-Race

George Russell (#63) finished first, followed by Lewis Hamilton (#44) and Carlos Sainz (#55). Charles Leclerc (#16) finished fourth, while Max Verstappen (#1) finished fifth. Because Verstappen finished ahead of Lando Norris (#4) who finished in sixth, he won his fourth World Driver's Championship.

Lando Norris received the bonus point for fastest lap, which he set on the final lap after pitting for softs. See Document 40 - Final Race Classification^[4] for the full race order.

This is Russell's second win this season. His win at Spa, which would have been his second, did not count because he was disqualified for his car being 1.5 kg underweight after the race (see Belgian GP Document 42 - Weight of Car Number 63, Document 43 - Summons - Car 63 - Technical Regulations, and Document 44 - Infringement - Car 63 - Technical non-compliance (Weight)).

Driver's Championship

Constructors' Championship

See Document 41 - Championship Points for the full championship points for both drivers and constructors. See São Paulo GP Document 91 - Championship Points for the previous standings.