Las Vegas Grand Prix: Max Verstappen wins fourth F1 title in a row – live

The podium finishers have packed into a very expensive looking Rolls Royce as they make their way to the Bellagio for the post-race festivities, as has the newly crowned World Champion, Verstappen, alongside race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.

Queen’s ‘We are the Champions’ can be heard blaring out across the circuit.

Somebody already has a special M4x signs and merch ready for this moment.

That’s preparation, right there.

We’ll bring you the full standings soon, but the top ten in Vegas were as follows: Russell, Hamilton, Sainz, Leclerc, Verstappen, Norris, Piastri, Hulkenberg, Tsunoda and then Perez.

Lando Norris has crossed the line and he did end up setting the fastest lap of the race, earning himself a few extra points.

Max Verstappen wins the world championship!

George Russell wins the Las Vegas Grand Prix!

Lap 49/50: Russel with a comfortable lead as he takes the turn for the final lap. Perez, meanwhile, has moved into the top ten and is Tsunoda for ninth.

Lap 48/50: Russell leads from Hamilton and Sainz. Leclerc follows and then Verstappen.

Norris has gone into the pits, getting himself set to try to pick up a few extra points by setting a fastest lap of the race.

Lap 47/50: Hamilton briefly runs off the track as his tyres begin to go, costing himself nearly a second, and it looks like Russell has well and seen off the danger, it would appear.

Russell is going to win this race but Verstappen is going to win the title – sitting comfortably in fifth place ahead of sixth-placed Norris.

Lap 46/50: Russell still leads from Hamilton and Sainz but behind them, Leclerc has now moved ahead of Verstappen. It’s a one-two for Mercedes and a three-four for Ferrari – the two class teams of the Vegas GP taking the top positions.

Norris is now behind Verstappen but is nearly ten seconds back with only four to go.

Lap 45/50: Verstappen is keeping Leclerc at bay, with Sainz very slowly opening up a gap in third.

Russell gets some instructions over the radio to pick up the pace, suggesting we might begin to see him re-open something of a gap over Hamilton.

Lap 44/50: Russell’s lead over Hamilton is now less than five seconds, with the broadcast confirming the soon-to-be Ferrari driver is under no special instruction should he come up behind his teammate.

However, Russell’s tyres are six laps younger than Hamilton’s, so he should have some pace in the bank.

Further back, Hulkenberg has moved ahead of Tsunoda.

Lap 43/50: As it stands, Tsunoda and Hulkenberg’s battle for eighth has RB and Haas level on points in the Constructors’ Title, just a point back of Alpine.

Lap 42/50: Sainz has now begun to motor away from Verstappen but there’s a long way to go to catch up to Hamilton, who is now less than six seconds back of Russell.

Leclerc is now looking to get ahead of Verstappen but the Red Bull is now getting a slipstream and even some DRS opportunities from Sainz.

Norris is now more than 11 seconds back of Leclerc – his hopes of keeping the title race alive now resting on Verstappen making a mistake.

Lap 41/50: Leclerc is also putting together some lightning laps as he and teammate Sainz increasingly overhaul Verstappen – the Red Bull just doesn’t have the pace of the Mercedes’ or the Ferraris’ tonight.

And there it is! Sainz moves in front of Verstappen, with Leclerc now looking to do the same.

Down in the battle for eighth, Hulkenberg is all over the back of Tsunoda.

Lap 40/50: Another fastest lap for Hamilton – nearly half a second quicker than Russell – and the gap between he and his teammate in first is down to less than seven seconds.

Verstappen has now been informed that he’s 16 seconds in front of Norris with ten laps to go.

Lap 39/50: Verstappen is comfortably in front of Norris but he looks to be labouring a bit and now coming under some pressure from Sainz, with Leclerc not too far behind.

With little to gain from doing so, however, one imagines he won’t work too hard to keep those two at bay – even if his team suggests on the radio he should try and do so.

Lap 38/50: Russell leads Hamilton – that gap now down to less than eight seconds – with Verstappen rounding out the podium. The Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc come next, followed by the McLarens of Norris and Piastri. Then comes Tsunoda and Hulkenberg as RB and Haas battle for positioning in the Constructors’ Title and Alonso to round out the top ten.

Lap 37/50: Verstappen looks like he’s going to cruise to a fourth-straight title with ease. He’s sitting comfortably in third, while Norris is more than twelve seconds back of fifth-placed Leclerc.

Lap 36/50: In the Constructors’ Championship, eighth-placed Tsunoda has helped RB move ahead of Haas on the live rankings.

Lap 35/50: Hamilton is going like absolute lightning in second, setting another fastest lap. Surely he couldn’t hunt down Russell for the lead, could he?

Lap 34/50: The RB’s of Lawson and Tsunoda are putting a lot of pressure on Ocon, with all moving upwards into ninth, tenth, and eleventh as Hulkenberg pits.

Lap 33/50: Russell comes into pit lane but as he did so with a 30 second lead over second-placed Hamilton, he maintains the lead and a 12 second buffer when he emerges.

Verstappen follows Hamilton, then come the Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc. Hulkenberg comes next, then the McLarens of Norris and Piastri, Guanyu, and then Ocon.

Lap 32/50: Both Mercedes are flying this evening as Hamilton moves past Verstappen – his battle not with the Brit tonight – for third and then finds himself in second when Leclerc heads into the pit lane.

Lap 31/50: Norris moves into the pits and emerges in seventh position behind Hulkenberg.

If these positions hold (they won’t), Verstappen will end today 71 points clear and a world champion.

Lap 30/50: So, the top ten: Russell leads from Leclerc, Norris, Verstappen and Hamilton. Sainz sits in sixth, followed by Hulkenberg, Perez, Guanyu, and Ocon.

Lap 29/50: Sainz now pits asking what happened, with the response being that “we weren’t ready”. He emerges in sixth position, just in front of Tsunoda.

Russell looks very comfortable out in front, 15 seconds in front of Leclerc. Norris then sits in third in front of the two-stopped Verstappen and Hamilton.

Lap 28/50: Verstappen moves into the pit lane, the first of this leading pack of six to come in for a second time, immediately followed by Hamilton.

It looked like Sainz was about to come in as well but pulled out at the last second. However, it appeared the Ferrari aborted after crossing into the demarcation of pit lane, meaning he’s likely to come in for a penalty.

Lap 27/50: It’s a suspected power unit issue for Albon, with the coverage suggesting some debris may have gotten caught in his car.

Lap 26/50: Albon has been called into the pits and is going to be forced to retire. Another blow to the Williams.

Sainz, meanwhile, wants to get a new set of tyres in a two-stopper but he’s staying out there for now.

Lap 25/50: Perez gets past Lawson into 13th place, looking to get some important points in the context of the Constructor’s Title.

Norris is now seven seconds back of Hamilton, with Verstappen sitting pretty comfortably in second-place.

Lap 24/50: Further down the grid, Guanyu has moved up into eleventh place past Alonso.

Norris, meanwhile, wants to pit again and get rid of his tyres but his team are telling him that the traffic he’d emerge back into makes that unwise, asking him to stay out there a bit longer.

Lap 23/50: Norris is starting to drop back of Hamilton and Leclerc’s battle for fourth, getting on the radio complaining about some trouble with his right front tyre.

Russell maintains his healthy lead at the front of the grid.

Lap 22/50: Hamilton continues to absolutely monster Leclerc in the hunt for fourth in this narrow circuit but the Ferrari, for now, is keeping him at bay thanks to his pace on the straights.

Lap 21/50: Russell holds a ten second lead to Verstappen, followed by Sainz, Leclerc, Hamilton, and Norris. There’s then a big gap to Tsunoda, Piastri, Albon, and Hulkenberg to round out the top ten.

Lap 20/50: With Norris sitting back down in sixth and Verstappen in second, the broadcast is beginning to muse that McLaren doesn’t have the pace to go with Red Bull.

McLaren’s Zak Brown joins the broadcast and does admit they’re off the pace but references Mercedes in doing so, not referencing Red Bull.

Obvious title implications, nonetheless.

Lap 19/50: The Mercedes are flying out there tonight, with Russell comfortably out in front and Hamilton all over the back of Leclerc in his hunt for fourth.

Lap 18/50: Perez pits to get some mediums put on and comes back out in 14th.

The top six are now able to do battle with no stragglers: Russell, Verstappen, Sainz, Leclerc, Hamilton, and Norris.

Lap 17/50: Russell leads from Verstappen, followed by Sainz, Leclerc, Perez, Hamilton, Norris, Tsunoda, Piastri, and Magnussen.

Lap 16/50: Russell leads by nearly ten seconds to Verstappen but, importantly for the Red Bull driver, he’s well clear of sixth-placed Norris.

As things stand, we’re going to crown a four-time champion.

Lap 15/50: Gasly is on the radio complaining about low power. His team answer back saying everything is fine on their end but he’s still not happy. And now there’s smoke coming out the back of his car! Looks like his engine is gone – that great qualifying run quite literally going up in smoke.

Laps 14/50: Russell maintains around a six second lead on Perez, with Verstappen moving up into third as Hulkenberg pits. Then comes Sainz, Leclerc, Norris, Hamilton, Magnussen, Bottas, and Tsunoda.

Hamilton wasn’t too happy about the amount of places he lost in his stop but his team are quickly on the radio to tell him he’d have lost a lot more had they waited.

Lap 13/50: The scene is being set for some absolute chaos as this race goes on – overtakes aplenty.

Hamilton pits now, too, with Russell taking his lead back. He’s followed by Perez and Hulkenberg, neither of whom have pitted. Then comes Verstappen, Sainz, Leclerc, Norris, Magnussen, the resuming Hamilton, and Bottas.

Apparently, Ocon came into pit lane, missed his garage completely, and had to come in next lap to do his stop. That can’t happen too oftenn.

Lap 12/50: Verstappen pits as well and while it’s a good stop, he comes out behind some traffic in the form of Magnussen and Bottas. Nonetheless, he’s emerged in front of Sainz, Leclerc, and Norris.

Russell is now going to be the next to pit, leaving Hamilton as out new race leader – albeit one expects he’ll be coming into pit soon.

Lap 11/50: So a host of early pit stops as the field begins to stretch out.

Lap 10/50: Sainz now pits after being overtaken on that lap by Verstappen. Russell maintains the lead but as it stands, Verstappen will be crowned world champion in 40 laps time.

Piastri, meanwhile, has picked up a five-second time penalty for a false start.

Lap 9/50: Norris moves to respond and gets past Gasly for fifth position.

Meanwhile, it looks like Leclerc is slowing with indications are that he’s perhaps having some trouble with his tyres after his aggressive start. He heads into the pits.

Norris, too, has been called into the pits! Albon and Stroll heading into there as well, with Leclerc emerging in 16th and Norris in 17th.

Lap 8/50: It’s now around a four-second gap between fourth-placed Verstappen and sixth-placed Norris, as the former makes a move to try and overtake Leclerc for third… and gets past him!

Lap 7/50: The Mercedes of Hamilton moves past Hulkenberg and lays Piastri under siege, only for Piastri to prove up the task and keep him at bay, for now at least.

Lap 6/50: Despite a plastic bag appearing to have been caught in his body, Russell still leads from the Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz. Verstappen follows in fourth, with Gasly’s Alpine serving as a buffer between he and Norris. Tsunoda, Hulkenberg, Piastri, and Hamilton round out the top ten.

Lap 5/50: Norris went around half a second slower on that lap than he did four, hurting his efforts to get past Gasly and maintain the pressure on Verstappen.