Formula 1 USA Grand Prix Prediction: Verstappen's first match point

The Formula 1 World Championship season is entering its final stretch. Over the next three weekends, we'll be watching three Grand Prix races to find out who will take home the drivers' and constructors' world championship trophies this year. The triple header begins with the Las Vegas Grand Prix in the United States. We've already had two races in the US this year. The Miami Grand Prix in May was won by Lando Norris in a McLaren, and the US Grand Prix in Austin last month by Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari. Who will celebrate on the streets of the gambling paradise in Nevada?

The Las Vegas Grand Prix comes after two weekends off, during which the teams have been preparing for this fierce season finale. Immediately after the race on the Strip, the hasty packing of equipment and the great migration of people to the Middle East will begin. The Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will conclude the 2024 World Championship. The question of the champion is still not resolved, although the driver's competition is very close to being resolved. Max Verstappen won at the last race in Brazil, finally ending his long fast, which lasted from June 30 to November 3. More importantly for the Dutchman, with this victory, he significantly increased his lead in the overall standings, and with three races left in the season, he has a nice 62-point advantage over Lando Norris. In practice, this means that Max could secure his fourth title this weekend. The matter will also be mathematically resolved if Verstappen finishes the race ahead of Norris or if Norris is ahead but does not earn at least three points more than Verstappen.

McLaren is the championship leader with 36 points more than Ferrari while Red Bull is 49 points behind McLaren, which probably means that the fight will move to Qatar or even Abu Dhabi. Ferrari likes this track the most out of the remaining three, as Sainz confirmed in Las Vegas, and McLaren should like Qatar the most, where they had great speed last year, in a year of Red Bull dominance. Red Bull is not a threat to McLaren and Ferrari due to Perez's form unless the Mexican finds something at the last minute that could bring him closer to his teammate.

Britain's George Russell won the fourth pole position of his career and will start the Las Vegas Grand Prix from the best grid position. The Mercedes driver set the fastest lap of the session, and a lap of 1:32.312 was enough to win, with Carlos Sainz in second place (+0.098 s). Russell started from pole position earlier this season in Canada and Great Britain. He missed out on victory both times, and he hopes to end that streak on the streets of Vegas. He celebrated in Austria this season, and at the start of the race, his main threat will be Sainz. Behind the two was Pierre Gasly (+0.352 s), who impressed again after a great race in Brazil, where he took the podium. Charles Leclerc (+0.471 s) had to settle for fourth place after a very poor run in the first sector. Ferrari can certainly be pleased to have qualified the best of the three constructors chasing the championship, while Max Verstappen left his title rival behind. The Dutchman qualified fifth (+0.485 s), with Lando Norris two-tenths slower (+0.696 s). Yuki Tsunoda (+0.717 s) had a good qualifying and squeezed between the McLarens, while Nico Hulkenberg (+0.750 s) finished ahead of Lewis Hamilton (+15.794 s), who failed to set a good time in Q3 after a very good start to qualifying.

We can certainly hope for and expect an interesting race as it was the whole weekend in Las Vegas. Many teams showed improvement like Mercedes and Alpine and the fight in the top 6 will be very tight. Both Ferrari drivers said that the car is better in the race than in the qualifications and much is expected of them, as well from the current and most likely new champion who will start from 5th position, but after his performances in Brazil, I expect to see him on the podium in Las Vegas, maybe already with the championship title.

OUR PREDICTION: Max Verstappen in top 3