A Grand Prix in Las Vegas promises two things - drama and unpredictability. A Saturday night race speeding down one of the most famous streets in the world, combined with an autumnal desert chill, rain sweeping through the weekend and Ollie securing his fifth consecutive points finish - talk about what happens in Vegas…
Practice
In the opening Practice of the weekend, Ollie took to the high-speed, low-downforce circuit within the first few moments. Getting a feel for a cold, dirty track, a small slide was neatly controlled and Ollie ran the session cleanly.
FP2 brought damp conditions and a more hesitant field, with Ollie reporting significantly lower grip compared to the first session, as lap times dropped across the board. In the final practice session, grip remained low, but track evolution came late, and Ollie finished the session P11, putting him in the midfield mix going into qualifying.
Qualifying
Rain returned in time for qualifying, soaking the circuit and making visibility and grip scarce. Q1 started on Intermediate tyres suitable for slightly damp conditions. However, with surface water on the track, it quickly became apparent that the session required Wet tyres, which have deep grooves designed to channel water away and minimise the risk of aquaplaning.
Fitted with suitable tyres, Ollie climbed the order, going fifth fastest and then second fastest with eight minutes to go. With two minutes remaining, on another push lap, Ollie aquaplaned at Turn 14 and collided with the barriers head-on. Despite the crash, he was able to progress into the next session in P15.
In Q2, the rain eased, but the track remained treacherous. Ollie’s early laps saw him in the top ten, but he was unable to improve and was pushed into the elimination zone. Ollie qualified for the race in P14.
The Race
Starting P14, tyre warmup was challenging, yet Ollie immediately came alive under the lights of Sin City. On Lap 1, he gained an impressive four positions, slicing through the midfield. After a series of stunning overtakes on multiple drivers, Ollie was in P7 by the end of Lap 3, in a fantastic start to the race.
Later passed by the Ferrari of Leclerc, Ollie was in P8 with pace remaining strong. Ollie pitted for Hard compound tyres on Lap 18, rejoining in P15. Vegas is notoriously tough for tyre warm-up, but Ollie worked them in cleanly and began climbing once again.
By Lap 32, Ollie was up to P12 after a fantastic overtake on the Aston Martin of Alonso, which was where he stayed until the end of the race, finishing in P12. After the race, two of the championship contenders, Norris and Piastri of McLaren, were disqualified, seeing promotions across the standings.
Ollie was promoted to P10, collecting a point for himself in the process and extending his run of five consecutive points-scoring races.
Looking Ahead
Ollie is currently in P12 in the drivers' championship, just 11 points away from P8 as the season approaches its final two weekends. His impressive form and recent results have propelled Haas to P7 in the constructors’ championship. Plus, as the season heads to Qatar for the final Sprint weekend, there is a chance to earn extra points.
