Max Verstappen wins fourth title as George Russell heads Mercedes 1-2 in Las Vegas

Max Verstappen is a world champion and George Russell is the Las Vegas Grand Prix winner.

Verstappen crossed the line in the city that never sleeps in fifth place to seal his fourth consecutive world champion title with two races to spare.

Russell, meanwhile, capped an unexpectedly dominant weekend for Mercedes. The British driver held off teammate Lewis Hamilton's comeback charge for the race win, with Ferrari's drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc securing third and fourth spots.

The Red Bull driver, who started one spot ahead of Lando Norris in fifth, finished the 50-lap race in the same position, while the McLaren driver came home in sixth.

Verstappen joined an elite list of drivers after clinching the world title in Las Vegas.

The Dutchman joins Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel in winning four Formula 1 world championships, following the tracks of Juan Manuel Fangio (five), Hamilton (seven) and Michael Schumacher (seven).

"To stand here as a four-time world champion is of course something that I never thought was possible," Verstappen said. "So, at the moment just feeling relieved, in a way, but also very proud."

The 27-year-old star also became the fifth driver to win four championships in a row. Schumacher is the only one to claim five consecutive titles.

For a night race where the teams' main concerns were the strong wind and tires, 18 out of the 20 drivers finished the Las Vegas race.

Alpine's Pierre Gasly, who started third, retired a lap 16. He radioed his crew with a "no power" message as smoke came out of the rear of his car. The Frenchman was forced to return to the pit lane and park outside the Alpine garage.

Williams' Alex Albon was the second driver to retire from the race due to power unit issues.

Several teams decided to make early pit stops to switch to hard tires, with Ferrari and McLaren bringing their drivers in on lap 15, making the 35 remaining laps challenging for drivers.

Despite the challenges, Mercedes had the quickest car on the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.

The last drivers to cross the finish line were Lance Stroll with Aston Martin, Liam Lawson with RB, Esteban Ocon with Alpine, and Valtteri Bottas with Kick Sauber.

The race for the constructor's championship between McLaren and Ferrari is heating up ahead of Qatar's race next weekend. McLaren is 24 points clear with two races to go, while Red Bulls sits 53 points behind in third.

Here are the full Las Vegas 2024 GP results. The next F1 race takes place in Qatar, on Dec. 1.