After a two-week break, the F1 season continued in Las Vegas this weekend. Unlike every other race which takes place on a Sunday, this one was at 10pm on a Saturday night (6am Sunday morning for me!). The Mercedes team surprised themselves by setting the pace in all three practice sessions while Red Bull struggled for grip. George Russell continued the good form by putting his Mercedes on pole. In the sister car, Lewis Hamilton looked capable of joining him, but a couple of mistakes in the final qualifying session left him starting in 10th. The Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were in second and fourth, split by a great performance by Alpine's Pierre Gasly. Title rivals Max Verstappen and Lando Norris were fifth and sixth with Max just needing to beat Lando to become World Champion.
The start was fairly uneventful other than Charles sending his car up the inside of the first bend to go from fourth to second. McLaren's Oscar Piastri later got a 5-second penalty for being out of position on the grid. It soon became clear that the Mercedes cars were fastest with George extending his lead at the front and Lewis making his way through the field. Sadly Pierre had to retire his Alpine after 15 laps, but there was some great fighting amongst the other drivers. After the second pit stops, Lewis came out in second and started to chase down George, but George's tires were newer and the gap never got closer than 5 seconds. They finished first and second with Carlos taking the final podium position ahead of Charles in the other Ferrari. Max came home in fifth to take his fourth Drivers' World Championship (and his fourth in a row). Lando finished in sixth with a late extra pit stop to get fresh tires to get the point for fastest lap. Lewis was voted Driver of the Day by fans.
Max's championship was won in the first half of the season. After that, Ferrari, Mercedes and especially McLaren caught up and in many cases surpassed Red Bull. This season, seven drivers have won at least two races, which is unusual in recent years, and tellingly Max's team mate Sergio Perez has won none compared to Max's eight. That leaves McLaren 24 points ahead of Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship with Red Bull 29 point behind them.
You can watch the race highlights here.
There are still two races left with Qatar next week and Abu Dhabi the week after. The Drivers' Championship may have been decided, but the teams want to win the Constructors' Championship (that's where the money is), and that's still just about a 3-way fight.