Skip to main content

F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024 preview: Max could seal the Championship

The odds are against Lando beating Max, but it still could happen

Las Vegas Grand Prix West Harmon Zone Grandstand seating is included in the Lewis Hamilton Vegas Package.
F1 LVGP

The Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024 is November 21 to 23. Competition is tight for the F1 World Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships, with the possibility that Red Bull driver Max Verstappen will lock up the former on Saturday night. The Constructors’ title isn’t tied down for the season, but this week’s race won’t end the competition.

Why the Las Vegas Grand Prix is getting so much attention

The elite motorsport competition returns to Las Vegas after last year’s successful event, which was the first F1 race in the city since the early 1980s. Hosting Grand Prix races is big business; last year’s race brought in a reported $1.5 billion. This year, Las Vegas hotel groups and other entities have gone all out to attract F1 fans with race-related activations, pop-ups, culinary events, and tons of special ticket package deals.

Recommended Videos

Driver and Constructor competitions

When the 2024 F1 Championship series began, it looked like a repeat of the 2023 season, with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen dominant. When other drivers started winning races, the season got more exciting. McLaren’s Lando Norris has had the best chance of loosening Verstappen’s lock on the World Driver Championship.

Max’s masterful performance in Sao Paulo, coming from the seventeenth position to win the race, increased his Championship points lead to 62 over Lando. With only two races remaining in the season after the Las Vegas Grand Prix this week, if Max is still 60 points or more ahead of Lando after the Vegas race, Max will win his fourth Championship.

Both McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have won races this year, and even when they haven’t won, they’ve finished high enough in the points competitions that McClaren is in the lead for the Constructor title, with 593 points. Ferrari has 557 points, and Red Bull is in third with 544 points. Because the Constructor point totals combine the points from two drivers, with two races remaining after Las Vegas, the Constructor title will still be undecided.

Before the race, the Driver and Constructor points standings

Driver Championship:

Max Verstappen Red Bull 393
Lando Norris McLaren 331
Charles Leclerc Ferrari 307
Oscar Piastri McLaren 262
Carlos Sainz Ferrari 244
George Russell Mercedes 192
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 190
Sergio Perez Red Bull 151
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 62
Nico Hulkenberg Haas 31
Yuki Tsunoda RB 28
Pierre Gasly Alpine 26
Lance Stroll Aston Martin 24
Esteban Ocon Alpine 23
Kevin Magnussen Haas 14
Alexander Albon Williams 12
Daniel Ricciardo RB 12
Oliver Bearman Haas 7
Franco Colapinto Williams 5
Liam Lawson RB 4
Guanyu Zhou Sauber 0
Logan Sargeant Williams 0
Valtteri Bottas Sauber 0

Constructor Championship Points:

McClaren Mercedes 593
Ferrari 557
Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 544
Mercedes 382
Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 86
Alpine Renault 49
Haas Ferarri 46
RB Honda RBPT 44
Williams Mercedes 17
Kick Sauber Ferrari 0
Bruce Brown
Former Digital Trends Contributor
A Digital Trends Contributing Editor and Contributor for TheManual.com, Bruce Brown writes e-mobility reviews and covers…
Feel the speed: F1 X brings legendary F1 race cars to Las Vegas Grand Prix Plaza
In F1 X, fans use interactive tools to design and construct an F1 race car.
Aston Martin AMR23 at F1 X in Grand Prix Plaza in Las Vegas.

When the Las Vegas Grand Prix Plaza officially opens its doors on May 2, the massive F1 X interactive exhibit will feature three of the most famed race cars in F1's 75-year history. None of the cars has been displayed previously in North America.

Spanning 20,000 square feet, F1 X provides guests with numerous opportunities to immerse themselves in F1. Among the activations available at F1 X, fans will learn about the workings of F1 today, including experiencing F1 simulator seats and spending time on an interactive pit wall, listening to virtual race engineers converse and strategize on team radios.
An iconic race car sampler on view at F1 X

Read more
F1 in the Americas 2025: six Grand Prix Championship races from May to November
The Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix is the first of six F1 races in the Americas in 2025
Aerial shot of the 2023 F1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix.

F1 moves to Florida for the Miami Grand Prix, May 2-4. The Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix 2025 is the first of six races in the Americas in the 2025 F1 schedule.
Why F1 races in the Americas matter

Formula 1 has a global scope, but the most significant growth in the motorsport's popularity has recently been in the Americas, particularly in the United States.

Read more
F1 engineer reveals how he found a job and fulfillment with the Red Bull pit crew
Nicholas provides plenty of evidence that work in an F1 pit garage is a high-pressure job
Life in the Pitlane by Calum Nicholas bookcover shot against road with yellow centerlines.

Anyone who aspires to work for a Formula 1 racing team would do well to read Calum Nicholas's new book, Life in the Pitlane. Nicholas, a senior engineer who has been part of the F1 Red Bull Racing team since 2015. He is also a member of the pit crew that held the 1.82-second world record for the fastest Formula One pitstop from 2019 until 2023.
How Nicholas found a job with the Red Bull F1 pit crew

Nicholas details his journey as a young man growing up in England. He had an interest in cars, but lacked direction until he attended the Formula 1 2009 British Grand Prix at Silverstone with his mother. Prior to the race, they walked the pit lane, an experience Nicholas now describes as a "light-bulb moment."

Read more