The Las Vegas Grand Prix suffered from no shortage of storylines from Mercedes’ surprise domination to Max Verstappen securing his fourth title.
The race had plenty of drama, even if the highly anticipated safety car didn’t quite materialise around the streets of Vegas.
It appeared that Lewis Hamilton may give everyone the battle they wanted and contend for victory at the end of the race with teammate George Russell.
But, he had left just about enough in the tank to maintain a comfortable gap and cross the line to become the seventh winner of multiple races in 2024 – a Formula 1 record.
Carlos Sainz ‘doesn’t really care’ what Ferrari thinks
One of the main talking points after the race was an explosion from Charles Leclerc on the radio, berating himself for being the nice guy.
He felt as if he had been treated unfairly in his battle with Carlos Sainz, and that it ended up costing him a podium.
Speaking to Motorsport-Magazin, Christian Danner shared how he wouldn’t have changed any of the actions that Sainz carried out (overtaking cleanly).
“No, for god’s sake, no, under no circumstances would I have stopped the attempt to overtake and you also have that actual understanding of what a Sainz power had of course.
“Just see, he has himself in the foreground, so that’s all completely normal. I didn’t do anything differently and you can only forget that Sainz, he doesn’t really care what sort of advantages or disadvantages Ferrari has.
“He drives for himself, he drives for his own future, if he throws me out then at least I’ll do what I think is right.”
Radio message takes away from true Ferrari problem
It’s pretty obvious that Ferrari’s inability to warm up their tyres properly is the biggest issue to come from Vegas, and is the reason why their cars were left to squabble in the first place.
Hit hard by graining, if the track temperature was just a few degrees higher, they would have been fighting with the Mercedes drivers for top honours.
Leclerc’s frustration although somewhat warranted, has taken the limelight away from their fundamental issue – which is an inability to perform in colder conditions.
READ MORE: Ferrari told Charles Leclerc in post-race briefing the two ways he ruined his Las Vegas Grand Prix chances
Thankfully, that rarely comes into play anywhere else, but it’s something to look out for in the future – whether or not they can improve for next year.
The last two races of the season are held in the desert, so both the Qatar Grand Prix and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix should be no problem for them.
Leave feedback about this