Las Vegas Grand Prix: Race Recap

Hulkenberg started from ninth place on the grid on Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires, and gained a spot early on to hold eighth, before being overhauled by the recovering Oscar Piastri and fast-charging Lewis Hamilton. Hulkenberg came in for White hard tires on lap 14 and gradually cycled through the traffic, before making a second stop on lap 33, also for hard rubber. The German re-emerged in 12th position but slotted into the top 10, before chasing down RB’s Yuki Tsunoda in the closing stages. Hulkenberg carved his way past Tsunoda on lap 44 to move into eighth spot, a position he retained through to the checkered flag.

Magnussen took the start from 12th place, also on medium tires, but dropped down to 15th amid the jostling in the midfield. The Dane ran slightly longer than most rivals, coming in for hard tires on lap 17, and ran a one-stop strategy, the only driver in the field to do so. Magnussen then retained 12th through to the finish.

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team moves back up to sixth position in the Constructors’ Championship, on 50 points – one point ahead of seventh-placed Alpine (49), and four ahead of RB in eighth (46).



Nico Hulkenberg:

“I’m very pleased; I think P8 is the best we could’ve achieved today, being the fifth best team. It was a clean race, good execution and as expected, it was very challenging on the tire side with graining – on the front especially. That kept everyone occupied and busy, but we came out of that well and offset ourselves a little bit to our main competition and that worked well, and our pace was also decent.”

Kevin Magnussen:

“We did a one-stop which wasn’t the right thing I think, and that’s why we’re P12. The pace was good on the hard tire, just bad on the graining while on the medium. We struggled but kept going on, and lost everything, so had to build it back up on the hards. It didn’t feel like we got the best out of it.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal:

“I think that’s the best P8 we’ve ever achieved. It wasn’t an easy race to manage, but what I’m so happy about is that nobody panicked, and everyone stayed calm. Everyone, including the team back at the factory, did their bit, and to have that strong two-stop race with Nico to get P8 is great. With Kevin, after the first lap was losing position etc. the only way we could get him back into the game was one-stop. His team did as well as they could in that scenario, nearly getting back to P10. I think it was a huge team effort, and back up into P6 in the Constructors’. After that terrible result in Brazil, it’s been an amazing reaction, and it gives people confidence, so I couldn’t be happier.”

Today's Data:

Event: Las Vegas Grand Prix – Saturday November 23
Location: Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Las Vegas, Nevada
Layout: 6.201-kilometer (3.853-mile), 17-turn circuit
Weather: Clear
Air Temps: 17.9 degrees Celsius (64.2 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 degrees Fahrenheit)
Race Winner: George Russell of Mercedes
Team Result:    
Nico Hulkenberg – Started 9th / Finished 8th (4pts) (Running – completed 50/50 laps)
Kevin Magnussen – Started 12th / Finished 12th (Running – completed 50/50 laps)