| Press Information 23 November 2024 |
F1: Session Report
2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix - Saturday Stunning 1-2 for the team in Las Vegas
- George Russell led home to Mercedes 1-2 as the team dominated on Saturday evening in Las Vegas.
- Lewis Hamilton drove his own incredible race, scything through the field from P10 to take P2.
- Tire management and delaying any graining in the cold night conditions of the desert was the key to the Grand Prix.
- Both drivers ran a two-stop race, starting on the Medium compound before switching to the Hard tire for the remainder of the race.
- After seeing off initial pressure from Charles Leclerc, George drove a controlled race to take the checked flag seven seconds ahead of Lewis.
- Lewis meanwhile made early progress before unleashing his superior speed in the middle stint, undercutting both Ferraris before overtaking the Red Bull of Max Verstappen for P2.
- The result means Mercedes becomes the second marque in F1 history to reach 60 1-2 finishes, following Ferrari.
- George took his third victory in the sport, following on from the 2022 São Paulo Grand Prix and the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix.
- Max Verstappen meanwhile claimed the 2024 World Drivers' Championship as he came home P5 - congratulations go to him from the team as he takes his fourth title.
- The team returns to action next week in Qatar for the penultimate race of the season.
Driver | Grid | Result | Fastest Lap | |
George Russell | P1 | P1 | 1:35.717 | |
Lewis Hamilton | P10 | P2 | 1:35.480 |
Strategy | Start | Stop 1 | Stop 2 | |
No.63 | Medium | Hard (L12) | Hard (L32) | |
No.44 | Medium | Hard (L13) | Hard (L27) |
George Russell
To win in Las Vegas feels incredible! I'm so thankful for the team and happy for them that we got this win. We had great pace throughout and we were comfortable in the lead. You are always thinking that something might happen though, such as a safety car, but it was clean throughout. It was almost a perfect weekend as we took pole position, led almost every lap and took the 1-2. It was great to be up on the podium with Lewis; he drove a fantastic race to come through from P10. We couldn't ask for more. I was meant to be flying out of here tonight but that's not going to happen now! We will enjoy this night as a team as everyone deserves it. We will then sit down on Monday and go through the data to understand why we were so quick this weekend. Hopefully that can help us as we go into the final two races of the season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Finally, I'd like to say congratulations to Max on his fourth title. He is a deserving champion, he has driven at an incredible level all year, and is the man we will all be chasing in 2025.
Lewis Hamilton I'm really happy for the team. It was an exceptional performance by everyone this weekend to claim the 1-2. The car felt strong throughout and I had a really fun and enjoyable race. It felt great to be moving forward throughout as I had a long way to come back from! It is slightly bittersweet as if we had qualified where we should have yesterday, I think I could have won. However, I didn't think I would have been able to finish P2 today before the race so I'm very happy. Congratulations to George on a great drive to take victory. Congratulations must also go to Max too who claimed the title today. He's done a fantastic job all year and is a deserving champion.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO It has been a while since we took a 1-2 so this is a fantastic result for the team. The colder conditions on a low grip circuit such as this clearly suited us. However, everyone did a great job to execute well across the weekend. We have been quick from the start of FP1 on Thursday and continued that into Friday and Saturday. We got the car in a big window and that is really pleasing. George managed the race superbly. He held off the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc early on and from there he was in complete command of the Grand Prix. Lewis also drove fantastically to cut his way through the field from P10 to P2. He showed just how quick he is to secure a brilliant result for the team. Finally, congratulations to Max Verstappen on winning the title; He is a deserving champion, and we hope to take the fight to him next year.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
We didn't come to Las Vegas thinking that this track would suit us, so it's been great to see the car working so well. We've been quick from lap one of practice on Thursday. We knew from those sessions that the single lap would be strong, but it was very encouraging to see the race pace today. George did an amazing job managing from the front, covering off safety car risks and making sure he kept his tires in better shape than the cars behind. It was another well-deserved win and the third of his F1 career. Lewis meanwhile outperformed all our simulations today to achieve P2. His final stint was immense; he'll be frustrated that he lost too much time in traffic to allow him to fight for the win but the 1-2 is of course a great result for the team. We now have two races to go in the season. We will be giving it everything we can to achieve similar success in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
We didn't come to Las Vegas thinking that this track would suit us, so it's been great to see the car working so well. We've been quick from lap one of practice on Thursday. We knew from those sessions that the single lap would be strong, but it was very encouraging to see the race pace today. George did an amazing job managing from the front, covering off safety car risks and making sure he kept his tires in better shape than the cars behind. It was another well-deserved win and the third of his F1 career. Lewis meanwhile outperformed all our simulations today to achieve P2. His final stint was immense; he'll be frustrated that he lost too much time in traffic to allow him to fight for the win but the 1-2 is of course a great result for the team. We now have two races to go in the season. We will be giving it everything we can to achieve similar success in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
