© Jiri Krenek for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
By Carol M. Creasey
After Lewis Hamilton arrived to Las Vegas, the media asked him if he felt he had to prove anything to Toto Wolff this weekend, a reference to Toto saying in an earlier interview that everybody has a “shelf life”.
His response was calm and measured, he seemed completely unruffled by the question, explaining he was feeling very fit, and had trained hard. He also explained that due to his longevity, he knew that many different things had been written about him, but was committed to giving his all for the last three races with Mercedes. This was in response to the people who had accused him of “checking out”.
Free Practice 1 and 2 were held in much cooler conditions than usual, but it seemed to suit his car. He topped the first session by four tenths of a second to his team mate George Russell. He then topped the second session by a finer margin to Lando Norris, with Russell 3rd. When interviewed he explained that this was the first time this year his car had been easy to drive in both sessions. But he was cautious saying that the race pace was not as strong as the single lap pace, and adjustments would need to be made before qualifying to improve it.
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Later in Qualifying both Mercedes drivers found themselves leading the time sheets. By the time Q3 came round, everything changed. Russell took pole, Lewis had topped Q2, but once again, everything changed in Q3 for him. Lewis had to abort his first lap after a front left lock-up. On his second attempt, he lost the back end and had to settle for 10th position. It was described as a rare mistake from Hamilton, but when interviewed, a downcast Lewis insisted that the handling of his car changed in Q3, making it much harder for him to keep it on track. He said he would do his utmost to get higher up the grid in the race.
Toto Wolff admitted that Mercedes had no idea why their car was suddenly so fast, suggesting it might have something to do with the cooler evening conditions. Lewis was angry with himself for not qualifying higher, whereas Russell was confident he could win the race when starting on pole.
Lewis made a cautious start, and was up to P8 by lap 9. Then came the first round of pit stops, and by lap 11 he was in 3rd position. When he made his pit stop, he came out in 9th, but there was no stopping our Briton. With a newly found confidence in his car, he gradually picked off all his rivals, and was setting qualifying laps through most of the race to end up in 2nd position.
Russell took his 2nd win of 2024, and although Leclerc had been in 2nd position at one point, tyre wear slowed him down, with Sainz completing the podium. Leclerc had to settle for 4th. Verstappen was 5th, but it gave him enough points to become champion for the 4th year running. Sir Lewis was one of the first to congratulate him and his team. He also praised Russell for his win. The fans were delighted with his drive from 10th place to 2nd place, so they voted Lewis the driver of the day.
Mercedes were scratching their heads as to why their car was not performing well the week before, and in Las Vegas they were still scratching their heads to know just why it had suddenly become so fast. The fans will hope it remains that way for the last 2 races, but this is Formula One, and anything can happen.
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