Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen stole the headlines at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, but Mercedes will be equally delighted after their best result of the season.
Mercedes knew they had a good chance of winning the Las Vegas Grand Prix after George Russell put his car on pole position.
The cold temperatures at the track appeared to significantly benefit Mercedes after performing very well at Silverstone and Spa earlier in the season.
Unfortunately, Lewis Hamilton was unable to maximise that performance in qualifying.
Mistakes on both of his runs in Q3 meant the seven-time world champion had to settle for a P10 start.
That didn’t stop Hamilton though, and he ended the race in 2nd, only being beaten to the line by Russell.
It’s Mercedes first official one-two finish of the year after Russell was disqualified in Spa and while the team may not fully understand why they were so quick in Sin City.
Hamilton will already have one eye on his move to Ferrari and only has two races left before he ends his 12-season association with Mercedes.
While his current team beat his future team in Las Vegas, Martin Brundle suggested on Sky Sports F1 that something the 39-year-old saw from Ferrari would have had him ‘smiling’ in his helmet during the race.
Martin Brundle spots Ferrari positive for Lewis Hamilton at the Las Vegas Grand Prix
Hamilton was quick to praise Verstappen after the race but was able to do so from the podium rather than the media pen where he has ended up after most races this season.
That’s because Mercedes had an advantage over the rest of the field, including Ferrari.
However, Hamilton didn’t have an easy time making some final overtakes and on the team radio, he said: “These guys are fast on the straights!”
When Brundle heard this message, he said: “That’s a weird one for Lewis, isn’t it? ‘These guys’ are faster on the straights.
“Well, he’s three races away including this one from being these guys.
“I wonder if there was a little bit of a smile, yes, when he took his thumb off the radio.”
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Co-commentator David Croft added: “We came into this race, of course, we were talking about whether Hamilton is on the shelf a little bit, nearing the end of his shelf life.
“Toto Wolff rather intimating whether he would have got rid of Lewis Hamilton even if he hadn’t made that deal to go and sign with Ferrari and I think that’s given Lewis a real incentive and motivation out there and it’s shown this weekend.
“Fastest in FP1 and FP2, 2nd-fastest in FP3 and could have been in the top three in qualifying, didn’t work out in Q3, but having a much better race, proving he’s still got plenty of overtaking left in him.”
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While Ferrari couldn’t match Mercedes in Las Vegas, their performance was much more in line with what the team was expecting compared to what Hamilton and Mercedes were preparing for.
The Silver Arrows haven’t known where they were going to be in the pecking order from session to session let alone at each race.
Whereas Ferrari have a rapid car at certain events but know their current limitations.
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Team principal Frederic Vasseur already has plans for Hamilton before his arrival in Maranello, even if he can’t take part in post-season testing in Abu Dhabi.
Russell thinks Hamilton needs a fresh start at Ferrari and their performance across the campaign, not just in Las Vegas, will give him hope that he can challenge for an eighth championship during his time with the Scuderia.
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