Formula 1's Drivers' World Championship could be decided in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A season-long battle could be decided in Las Vegas.

The 2024 Formula 1 Drivers' World Championship has been back-and-forth between Red Bull's Max Verstappen and McLaren's Lando Norris.

Right now, Verstappen is ahead of Norris by 62 points in the Drivers' standings. There will only be 60 points up for grabs after the Las Vegas race, which means that Verstappen must finish the weekend in Las Vegas ahead of Norris to secure the championship.

If Norris finishes first and Verstappen finishes second in Las Vegas, the title would be decided in Abu Dhabi.

If Norris continues to add points and ends up tying Verstappen at the end of the season, Verstappen would still win because he has won eight races this year compared to Norris' three.

In order for Norris to keep his Drivers' Championship hopes alive, he must outscore Verstappen by at least three points in Las Vegas.

Verstappen's most recent win came in a rain-soaked Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday. He started the race in 17th place and moved up to eventually win.

"It was definitely an emotional win," Verstappen told the Associated Press after the race. "I was really motivated and put everything into this race and I surprised myself today as I wasn't expecting to finish P1."

However, Norris called it luck.

"He drove well. He got a bit lucky," Norris said. "You take a gamble and it has paid off for them. It is not talent. It is just luck."

When looking at the Constructors' Championship, or the team title, there are 147 points up for grabs across the final three races and here is where things stand among the top three teams.

• McLaren Mercedes - 593
• Ferrari - 557
• Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT - 544

McLaren hasn't won a Constructors' Championship since 1998 while Ferrari hasn't since 2008. Red Bull last won in 2023.
While drivers can add points during the Las Vegas race, the Constructors' would not be decided in the valley.

On Thursday, during Liberty Media Corporation's earnings call, Formula 1 CEO and President Stefano Domenicali said having a more competitive season is one factor in growing the amount of fans around the world.

"It has been great to see the variety of winners this year, something that is treating fans and raises excitement and participation for a special season in 2025," Domenicali said. "Looking at our engagement across this season, 5.8 million fans have attended Grand Prix through [the] Brazil [race]. Attendance is up with sellout crowds at many races and seven races setting new attendance records, including the British Grand Prix, which welcomed 480,000 fans over the weekend, the largest crowd for the season."

When it comes to the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Domenicali said Formula 1 uses race week as a place to innovate and test new ideas.

"The Las Vegas race has continued to serve as a test pad of innovation that we can leverage across the broader F1 collection, including opportunities in hospitality, sponsorship, and licensing," Domenicali said. "Just last week, we announced a first-of-its-kind special merchandise collection for Las Vegas ranging from a streetwear collaboration with the Peanuts brand, the one-of-a-kind Vegas Golden Knights, and the Las Vegas Raiders. Since posting these merchandise collaborations on LVGP social channels, we've garnered over 1.2 million impressions across the posts, with more than 93,000 engagements and 86,000 likes."

Domenicali and Las Vegas Grand Prix CEO Renee Wilm both added they're continuing to learn from the Las Vegas market.

"We made a number of improvements coming into this year, which have allowed us to continue to be dynamic and adjusting products and pricing based on real-time feedback we're receiving from the market," Wilm said. "We will note the all-in cost of a Vegas race weekend has come into line with the other U.S. races."

An investor asked about ticket sales for this year's Las Vegas Grand Prix. While Wilm said ticket sales are down, she said her team has been working to cut operating costs so the event can still be as profitable as possible.

"We generally do not give race-specific economics but regarding ticket revenue, aggregate ticket revenue will be down from what we originally budgeted in Q1. However, throughout the course of '24, we have also continued to reduce costs from what we budgeted in Q1," Wilm said. "We are seeing an uptick in traffic and conversion rates around ticket sales and we expect that as we continue getting closer to race weekend. ... We still have room to grow on ticket sales but we are very excited to see year two come together over the next couple of weeks."

Helm added that the Vegas race benefits Formula 1 overall and it will be key when Liberty Media looks for a new media rights partner after their contract with ESPN expires in 2025.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix is scheduled to run from Thursday, Nov. 21 through Saturday, Nov. 23. You can see all of our coverage at ktnv.com/vegasgrandprix.