00:00If Max beats Lando tonight, he's champion of the world.
00:03Here are the lights.
00:05We're underway in Las Vegas and racing to turn number one
00:09with George Russell holding the lead.
00:11The battle is between Gasly and Sainz
00:14and they open the door for Charles Leclerc
00:16to go from fourth, potentially to second.
00:18There's no grip offline, Ferrari versus Ferrari
00:21and around the outside to take P2
00:23goes the man fourth on the grid.
00:25Charles Leclerc roars up to second.
00:27George Russell holds the lead.
00:28Down goes Sainz, down goes Gasly.
00:31Verstappen is still ahead of Lando Norris having left the line,
00:34but it's Russell P1.
00:35It was very close behind as well with Norris.
00:38There's Yuki Tsunoda in there with Oscar Piastri as well,
00:41but crucial for Ferrari.
00:42They've got ahead of Gasly
00:44and that might allow a bit of a buffer
00:46back to the main contenders behind.
00:47Verstappen stuck behind Gasly for now.
00:50It reminds me a little bit of Montreal,
00:53the middle part of the lap as Charles Leclerc goes for the move.
00:56Oh, there was always going to be an opportunity
00:57for multiple overtakes there.
00:59Russell defends P1, but Gasly could not defend P4.
01:04It's game on at the front of the field.
01:06We roar through the 17th and final corner of the racetrack.
01:09Look at this scene between Mercedes and Ferrari,
01:13separated by hardly anything.
01:15There's no grip around the outside, surely.
01:17And George Russell stays ahead,
01:19but he's under massive pressure from the Scarlet Ferrari.
01:24Lewis Hamilton fighting his way past the McLaren or at least trying to.
01:29Terrific pitchers at enormous speed.
01:31The Australian driver on the left-hand side as out front,
01:35Carlos Sainz has fought his way up to second position.
01:38Charles Leclerc has gone from contending for the lead of this Grand Prix
01:42to losing second position.
01:44And a man from the front row who lost second at the start has reclaimed it.
01:49Wow, it's a case of keeping the ties in the window.
01:51If you fall out, you chew through them quickly.
01:53And having looked like he was going to take the lead of the Grand Prix
01:56a couple of laps ago,
01:58Charles Leclerc is now going to tumble off the podium.
02:01Through goes the championship leader.
02:03Max Verstappen up to third.
02:05One Ferrari moves up to second.
02:07One drops down to fourth.
02:08It's Mercedes ahead of Ferrari, ahead of Red Bull.
02:11Now the podium contenders, still four in the battle for the win.
02:15Norris gets past Gasly.
02:17He has moved up to fifth position.
02:18It's Russell, then Sainz, then Verstappen.
02:21Well, we had a slightly mixed up grid
02:24because of qualifying in very low conditions.
02:26It's still only 17 degrees track temperature out there.
02:29And Hamilton's making use of these conditions.
02:31Charles Leclerc has been called in to the pits.
02:33Lewis Hamilton is gaining another place.
02:36Tenth on the grid to seventh in the Grand Prix at the moment.
02:40This is such a pleasure to ride on board with Verstappen.
02:43And when you're sitting in that cockpit, he's going to blast past Sainz.
02:46This is going to be a slam dunk move when he opens the DRS.
02:48And Sainz just has to wait in all the apexes to actually rotate the car.
02:53Interesting comparison between the straight line speed of the Ferrari without DRS.
02:57Took a while for Verstappen to get by.
02:59Sainz will be pitting.
03:00He's got no tyres left.
03:01Lewis Hamilton has claimed fourth position.
03:05No power. No power.
03:07No power.
03:07Everything's looking okay for us.
03:09We hit the limiter.
03:10No power.
03:11It's an expiring power unit in the back of his Alpine.
03:15And after being one of the stars of the qualifying hour,
03:18the man who started third on the grid comes into the pits to retire.
03:24Carlos Sainz sweeping past Sergio Perez up to third place.
03:28Perez yet to stop.
03:29This is more important though.
03:31This is a straight fight.
03:32That's Lewis Hamilton late on the brakes.
03:34That's Lewis Hamilton past Lando Norris.
03:36And that is for sixth position.
03:38We are reaching our point for the leaders to make their second stop.
03:42And Sainz being told to swap positions.
03:45That's one thing to issue the instruction.
03:47Might be another thing to let both cars by.
03:49How does he do this?
03:50Through goes Leclerc.
03:51That was well driven from Carlos Sainz.
03:53What a tough position he was put in.
03:55Look, Charles Leclerc goes through.
03:57Sainz hangs on to fourth.
03:58But only surely for a few meters does he peel into the pits.
04:01He does ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
04:04Synchronized swimming.
04:04Ah, he's gone deep.
04:06He's gone on.
04:07And he's cut the line as he does so.
04:09That was a strange one.
04:10On board with Lewis Hamilton.
04:12And Sainz just carries straight on.
04:16Now he pits.
04:17And that's going to cost Sainz a lot.
04:19What happened?
04:20We're not ready.
04:21Wake up, guys.
04:23Come on.
04:23The team have obviously said stay out, stay out.
04:25And so he's reacted to the team.
04:28That is a major mistake for Ferrari.
04:30And now Hamilton is well up the road.
04:32Three seconds up the road as Sainz finally
04:34gets back onto the track.
04:37Charles Leclerc has been called to the pitch from second place.
04:40So this is now the battle for P2.
04:42Lewis Hamilton's got the speed.
04:43Look at the speed.
04:45He has got 216 miles per hour.
04:47And he moves up to third.
04:48That will become second.
04:50And it will shake out to be a Mercedes 1-2.
04:52No contest between the two greats, Verstappen and Hamilton.
04:58Now, one Ferrari with cold tires.
05:02One Ferrari with fired up tires.
05:04One Ferrari with a fired up driver.
05:06And Sainz will get the inside line and fourth position as he goes past Charles Leclerc.
05:10Now, these two have been passing and repassing all day.
05:15Oh, Perez trying to go past two of them in one corner and doing so.
05:22It's been a terrible season.
05:24Those are his words.
05:25But he absolutely roared by there.
05:28Two for the price of one to get past Lawson and Magnussen with one of the moves of the Grand
05:33Prix so far.
05:34Brave on the brakes.
05:35And he probably didn't expect both places to be up for opportunity.
05:40And then manages somehow to find his way through without contact.
05:46DRS open for the rapid Ferraris.
05:48Can Verstappen do anything about it?
05:50We know he's going to fight it.
05:51But can he fight it?
05:53Here we go on the brakes for Carlos Sainz to get by.
05:57And Verstappen could not defend when it came to the braking.
06:00One Ferrari goes through.
06:03HĂĽlkenberg trying to go past up to eighth position to take a point away from his Japanese rival.
06:09Crucial for Haas to be best of the rest if they want to claim sixth position.
06:14Next car to lap for George Russell is Liam Lawson.
06:17Then Lance Stroll.
06:18Then you get to a battle to the inside.
06:20And claiming the position is Charles Leclerc.
06:23The defense for the man who will win the title in a few laps time is over for the Ferraris.
06:29Both Sainz and Leclerc go through.
06:32Out of the penultimate corner.
06:34He's left the entire field behind.
06:37He'll convert his pole position to victory.
06:40The British driver will look up and see the chequered flag first.
06:44He punches the air as George Russell wins the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
06:50The third time in Formula 1, he's taken the chequered flag.
06:53It's second place for Lewis Hamilton.
06:55Carlos Sainz will complete the podium.
06:57But further back, the Dutch driver will retain his crown.
07:02Max Verstappen is a four-time Formula 1 world champion.
07:08Max Verstappen is the champion of 2024.
07:12And after a mid-season spent in limitation, he was burdened until the brilliance of Brazil.
07:18He now has the title in his grasp once again.
07:22In 2024, Max Verstappen would not be moved.
07:26And that is four in a row, Max.
07:29Four in a row, congratulations.
07:32Oh my God, man. What a season.
07:34Four times.
07:35Thank you guys.
07:36Thank you to everyone.
07:37I mean, it was a little bit more difficult than last year,
07:39but we pulled through and we gave it all.
07:42Thank you so much, guys.
07:44The day that Verstappen soars to four is Las Vegas under the lights.
07:50After the brilliance in Brazil.
07:52Just needed a fifth place and to beat his nearest rival.
07:56The driver, who currently has a car third in the Constructors' Championship,
08:01has taken the driver's crown again.
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