Tag: George Russell

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Verstappen wins Las Vegas Grand Prix, narrows F1 points gap

Max Verstappen won for the second time in four races and the four-time reigning Formula 1 champion continued to claw his way back into title picture with a Saturday night victory at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

It is the second time in three years the Dutchman has won on the streets of Las Vegas that utilizes a part of the famed Strip. He won the inaugural race in 2023 and clinched his fourth consecutive title here last year.

Now he has another win at an event he despised ahead of its debut because of the bright spotlight promoters placed on celebrities and parties instead of the actual competition. But when it comes time to get in the car, no matter how Verstappen feels about the event, he seems to excel.

Verstappen started second but took control of the race in the very first turn when current points leader Lando Norris made an aggressive move to cut in front of him at the start but wound up sliding wide of the turn in his McLaren. Verstappen moved to the lead and George Russell darted past Norris into second.

Norris found himself stuck back in third, and teammate Oscar Piastri fared no better as the Australian lost two spots on the start to drop from fifth to seventh. The two McLaren drivers have swapped the lead in the driver standings all season and Norris held a 24-point lead over Piastri at the start, while Verstappen was 49 points back.

Norris finished second and Russell was third, and with two races remaining on the year Norris’ lead is 30 points over Piastri and Verstappen trimmed his deficit to 42 points.

Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes crossed the finish line in fourth but a penalty dropped him a spot to fifth, which moved Piastri to fourth.

The biggest mover of the race was seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who qualified 20th in Ferrari’s first last-place qualifying result since 2009. He actually started 19th and immediately gained six spots. Hamilton steadily picked his way through the field and finished 10th.

For Verstappen, it was his eighth consecutive podium and he beat Norris by nearly 20 seconds. (JapanToday)

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Russell takes pole position for Singapore Grand Prix as McLaren struggle

George Russell in a Mercedes took pole position Saturday for the Singapore Grand Prix ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, as McLaren were outpaced around the Marina Bay Circuit.

Championship leader Oscar Piastri will start on the second row after coming third while his McLaren teammate Lando Norris was only fifth.

Russell set a blistering lap of 1 minute, 29.158 seconds, 0.182 seconds clear of Verstappen.

“Amazing to be on pole position. Yesterday was a very challenging day for many different reasons but good to come back and get a result,” said Russell.

His fellow Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli was fourth to split the two McLarens.

“A long sweaty race tomorrow but I knew there was potential in the car,” added Russell.

“Kimi was doing an amazing job all weekend.”

The Ferrari pair of Lewis Hamilton and Chalres Leclerc were sixth and seventh respectively.

Isack Hadjar (RB), Oliver Bearman (Haas) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) completed the top 10.

Verstappen won the previous two grands prix, in Monza and Baku, and is challenging the season-long dominance of the McLarens at the top of the standings.

He now has a chance of a maiden victory in Singapore that would keep him in the hunt for a fifth consecutive world title, having closed the gap to Piastri to 69 points and to 44 points on Norris.

McLaren are looking to wrap up the constructors’ championship this weekend, where a podium finish for one of their cars will ensure a second consecutive title with six races to spare.

Liam Lawson, who on Saturday crashed his RB for the second successive practice session causing a red flag, managed to qualify in 14th after his engineers repaired the damage between the sessions.

Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber was 11th and also failed to make it to the top-10 shootout alongside the Williams of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz, plus the Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda in 15th.

Hamilton was investigated for an alleged red flag infringement relating to Lawson’s incident, but escaped a potential grid penalty after stewards deemed he “did not drive in a manner that could be considered unsafe”.

Gabriel Bortoleto in a Sauber, Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, the Haas of Esteban Ocon and the Alpines of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly were eliminated in Q1.

Sunday’s race in tropical Singapore has been declared the first official Formula One “Heat Hazard” with temperatures during the grand prix predicted to be 31C or higher.

That means all drivers must have liquid-cooled vests and refrigerant pump equipment available, though wearing them is not mandatory.Drivers were seen trying out the vests and their associated maze of cooling tubes under their fireproof overalls. (JapanToday)