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The second instalment of the Las Vegas Grand Prix is expected to be a belter. In what will likely be a closely contested fight to the checkered flag, the street circuit nestled in the beating heart of the Las Vegas strip, it could be anyone’s race with Mercedes in top contention for the honours. But who are the other players in the mix and what’ll likely be the dominant factors for the forthcoming Grand Prix?
SportsTiger in association with Stake present you the key predictions for the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
George Russell will dominate the race
He won at Austria and almost certainly did win the Belgian Grand Prix before a heart breaking decision in lines with the infringement of the rules associated with the Mercedes car weight spoiled the party for the young Briton. But this time around, the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix will be home to an enthralling racing fiesta that will be authored by its pole sitter George Russell, who’s claimed his maiden pole in the 2024 season and his fourth overall.
Sainz will fight hard but struggle to keep his podium position
Carlos Sainz is quite clearly the smooth operator of F1. From being a man who was doubted and to good measure upon his arrival at the Scuderia family to beating the golden boy Leclerc hands down in just his maiden season (2021), the Spaniard has done several impressive stunts in that Ferrari.
The man who has won four wins with Ferrari and thus marked his career with absolute devotion to the Scuderia, will now look to bag another podium in red racing overalls. Should it come to fruition, Las Vegas will mark Sainz’s 24th Ferrari podium.
But the question is, will it be any easy for the Madrid-born who begins his 2024 Las Vegas GP from second on the grid? It is likely that the surprising pace of the much improved Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Sainz’s Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc will make matters tough for the man who will begin his contest from second.
It could be an exciting and ultimately, exhilarating Grand Prix for Carlos Sainz Jr. While he truly deserves that podium and should it happen, it could be Carlos’s maiden one at Vegas, it might not be all that easy. Ferrari may actually bring the team orders into play and “may” just give Leclerc that extra bit of advantage.
On the points table, the Monegasque driver is way ahead of Sainz, with 307 points to his name while the Spanish driver has 244, and is currently 18 points behind Oscar Piastri.
Lewis Hamilton will make massive grid jump on race day
It pains to see the man who did so well in each of the practice sessions placed on tenth for the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
With a 1:48:106, Lewis Hamilton will make usual flamboyant and impressive moves come the Grand Prix to score some valiant points. That he could finish even fifth or sixth seems more believable than any far fetched thought given the Stevenage-born’s penchant for improving on more race days than his critics would like. How and why Lewis dropped down in the decisive moments of qualifying is rather surprising while Russell, ever faster than Hamilton in qualifying runs as seen this year, gathered a brilliant pole, his first under bright lights at Nevada.
Norris and Verstappen will have a safe, unscathed race
From the looks of it, it seems as though Las Vegas could be another head-to-head but an onerous battle between the two championship contenders - Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
While the Dutchman, still dominant with a 60-plus point advantage over his closest British rival, begins his Sunday from fifth on the grid, Norris is stacked just behind. But we predict Sunday to be an error-free and clean race for the two drivers with Norris and Max expected to emerge unscathed from any dubious manoeuvre.
While there could be some tense moment at the start, given both of them understand the need to be clean and cautious with much at stake on the Driver’s standings, the fighting duo will mix aggression with caution to finish the much-awaited race in points.
Alonso - The outlier
Thus far, Vegas hasn’t really been a great spot for F1’s lion Fernando Alonso, who can’t be doubted for being dubbed a true racing stalwart. This time around, the 2005 and 2006 world champion is expected to dominate the proceedings for Aston Martin with Lance Stroll clearly not in good contention for a fighting finish having prompted a red flag session thanks to a skirmish during qualifying.
Surely, the likes of Liam Lawson and Kevin Magnussen will make the proceedings difficult Alonso during the race, but the man from Asturias will fight it out in the Grand Prix to claim a grinding finish and maybe even a surprising one.
