Verstappen beats Leclerc and Perez to victory in action-packed Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen emerged triumphant at the highly anticipated Las Vegas Grand Prix, solidifying his position as one of Formula 1’s top drivers. Overcoming challenges and demonstrating his exceptional skill, Verstappen showcased his unwavering determination on the track.
In an intense race filled with suspense, Verstappen faced a five-second penalty, a collision with George Russell, and a fierce battle against Charles Leclerc from Ferrari. Despite these obstacles, Verstappen may have put in his best drive as a driver considering he drove the majority of the race without a portion of his front wing changing the performance of the car.
Verstappen’s victory at the Las Vegas Grand Prix marked his record-extending 18th win of the season, further establishing his dominance in the sport.
Verstappen, who was not shy from criticizing the Las Vegas Grand Prix itself comparing the circuit to others on the Formula 1 calendar, he derided it as “National League,” implying that it lacked the prestige and allure of other iconic tracks, seemed to be extra pleased to win the race. Verstappen expressed his satisfaction with the outcome, emphasizing the significance of the win. He credited his team’s support and his own perseverance for his success, highlighting the challenging nature of the event.
“Viva Las Vegas! The race was exciting, fun and very hectic,” said Verstappen post race. “We really had to work hard for it today, there was a lot of overtaking and racing which made it really fun. It was a tough start on the mediums but once we went on to the hard tire it was better. The five second penalty at the start was unfortunate, I really didn’t mean to push Charles off, we both braked late in to turn one and there was no grip. We had a lot more pace in the car after we pit for hard. I also had a damaged front wing so I definitely lost a lot of downforce with that, it was still driveable so we opted to carry on. We were pushing flat out to the end and on the final lap, I tried to help Checo to give him a bit of slip stream, it’s a shame we couldn’t convert the one-two in this race but it’s great that we’ve secured the one-two in the Championship this year. Now we head to the final race in Abu Dhabi.”
The starting grid for the race saw Leclerc taking pole position, with Verstappen alongside him on the front row. Sainz faced a controversial engine penalty, pushing him back to 12th place, while Stroll received a five-place grid drop due to a yellow flag breach in practice, placing him in 19th position.
As the race began, with Verstappen got a strong start running up the inside of Leclerc into Turn 1, resulting in both drivers running wide as Verstappen claimed the lead. He successfully defended his position on the long run down to Turn 5.
Russell held onto third place, followed by Gasly, Albon, Sargeant, and Magnussen. Ocon and Stroll made impressive gains, finding themselves in the top 10 after eventful opening laps. However, there was drama elsewhere as Alonso spun on his own, and Sainz understeered into Hamilton. The Virtual Safety Car was deployed to clear debris from the track, prompting Perez and Bottas, who made contact at the Turn 1 bottleneck, to pit for repairs along with Alonso.
“We’re happy that you were ahead,” was the radio message to leader Verstappen during the safety car, while Leclerc complained that “this needs to be addressed now” and it would be a “joke” if no penalty came the reigning world champion’s way.
On Lap 3, the VSC ended and the racing resumed, but only for a matter of moments as Norris dramatically lost control of his car through Turn 11, slammed into the barriers and almost took out team mate Piastri, signalling a full Safety Car and prompting more pit stops from Stroll and Sainz.
Verstappen handled the restart – and tricky, cool conditions – to retain his lead from Leclerc, but the stewards would soon confirm a five-second time penalty for the Dutchman for the Turn 1 drama. “Yeah, that’s fine, send them my regards!” Verstappen wryly commented in response.
After a stunningly impressive qualifying display and early laps, Williams driver Logan Sargeant’s tires appeared to hit the cliff and he tumbled from sixth to the tail-end of the top 10 in a matter of laps, while Perez was back into the points and coming back into the game via his early stop.
Up front, there were similar tyre-related struggles for Verstappen as he issued a sweary radio message about the state of his rubber and was told to pit, but not before Leclerc reclaimed the lead of the race on Lap 16, sending the packed grandstands wild.
Another wheel-to-wheel battle saw Hamilton and Piastri make contact, giving the Mercedes a puncture and leaving the McLaren sparking its way back to the pits – an incident that the stewards looked at but decided required no further action.
As the race approached Lap 20, the yet-to-stop Leclerc led Perez by some 14 seconds, with Ocon also stretching out his first stint in third from Stroll, Sainz, Alonso, Zhou (another yet to pit), Russell, Verstappen (having served his penalty) and Gasly.
A couple of laps later, Leclerc finally visited the pits for a fresh set of tires, following the trend of moving from mediums to hards, with the Monegasque coming back out in third behind Perez and Stroll, who continued to gain track position on their alternate strategies.
Meanwhile, an exciting scrap was developing between Sainz, Russell and Verstappen over fourth, fifth and sixth. On Lap 24, the Mercedes and Red Bull blasted past the Ferrari along the lengthy Strip straight, and then embarked on a battle of their own.
It did not take long for Verstappen to attempt a move on Russell but there was not enough space for the pair at the apex of Turn 14 and they made contact, littering debris all over the track. “Mate, he just turns in on me!” Verstappen radioed his team, with the stewards subsequently handing Russell a five-second penalty.
That debris brought out another Safety Car and served as the perfect time for Perez and Stroll to make cheap pit stops, with Verstappen, Russell, Sainz, Alonso, Zhou, Magnussen, Hulkenberg and Hamilton also taking the opportunity to put on new tires under the caution.
With the field following the Safety Car around, Leclerc remained in P1 ahead of Perez, Gasly and Piastri, with Verstappen fifth after a second stop that did not include a front wing change, followed by Ocon, Stroll, Albon, Russell and Sainz in the final points-paying positions.
Replays then showed Leclerc having a moment as he lit up the rears trying to warm his tires behind the Safety Car. “Ah, I nearly lost it! The tires are cold,” he commented over the radio, adding a swear word for good measure.
While Leclerc retained his advantage over Perez at the restart, Piastri got the jump on Gasly for P3 with a lunge into Turn 5, as Verstappen held onto fifth and avoided another penalty for an unsafe release that saw him run side-by-side with Stroll in the pits.
Perez soon began to put pressure on Leclerc and, during the 32nd of the 50 scheduled laps, duly slotted ahead into Turn 14, with the other Red Bull also on the move as Verstappen found a way past Gasly and Piastri in quick succession.
Behind, a monumental scrap between the Alpine drivers saw Ocon and Gasly exchange places on several occasions, with the team requesting that they hold position to avoid any drama, while Albon, Stroll, Russell and Sainz remained as the final top-10 runners.
Back at the front, there was another twist in the tale as Leclerc cut the gap to Perez and turned the tables on his rival with a lunge into Turn 14, the Mexican’s race taking another turn for the worse when team mate Verstappen slipped by on the back straight.
Verstappen soon saw his opportunity at the popular Turn 14 overtaking spot and took the lead from Leclerc with just over 10 laps to go, before being told by his engineer to “work hard” to break the tow and move clear of the all-important DRS window.
Piastri remained fourth from the squabbling Alpines, who were then split by Stroll’s Aston Martin, as Russell, Sainz and Alonso held the final points after Albon lost a hatful of places in a matter of minutes as Williams’ race unravelled.
When Perez began to ramp up the pressure on Leclerc once more, the Ferrari locked up into Turn 14 and handed his Red Bull rival the position, meaning a one-two result for the reigning world champions was suddenly on the cards.
However, as the final laps ticked down, Leclerc remained within DRS range of Perez and threatened a response, which he ultimately delivered on the final tour with yet another successful overtake into the Turn 14 braking zone.
Verstappen crossed the line a few seconds later to secure the victory, with Perez chasing Leclerc all the way and completing the podium positions – still doing enough to secure second in the drivers’ standings, a critical finish to the season for Perez as he has been marred in controversy regarding his status with the team in 2024.
“It was a very intense race from the start, damaging my front wing, thinking everything was over but then the pace on the hard during the first stint was tremendous and that really brought us back into the race,” said Perez. “The safety car came at the right time for us and from then on we were looking good, I overtook Charles and I thought I was going to pull away from him but we were carrying a little bit too much wing on the car and I couldn’t. It’s a shame I lost second place but we were lacking a little bit of top speed. I am very proud to secure the Team’s first one-two in the Drivers’ Championship tonight, it’s a massive piece of history for us. It has been a very intense year, the highs in the year have been extremely high but the lows have been super low. As a driver and a human being to come back from those tough moments, is what I take the most from this season. Mentally it was very tough at times but we have managed to overcome all those issues and get the job done. Thanks to my Team and everyone who supported me.”
What’s Next?
After a spectacular three days of action under the lights in Las Vegas, F1 will move swiftly on to the Yas Marina Circuit for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next weekend for the season finale.