2023 F1 Grand Prix of Las Vegas — Results & aftermath

Verstappen aces out Leclerc for win in action packed Las Vegas GP; Leclerc salvages P2 with last lap pass on Perez

Red Bull’s peerless Max verstappen continued his historic season by taking the win in the return of the Las Vegas Grand Prix after an absence of 41 years. But it was hardly smooth sailing for the already-crowned World Champion on the brand new and quite high speed Las Vegas Street Circuit. While Verstappen made his typically superior getaway to pass the pole-sitting Ferrari of Charles Leclerc at the start of the race steaming into Turn 1, he was adjudged a tad too forceful in pushing Leclerc’s Prancing Horse off the track and was eventually handed a 5-second time penalty. Meanwhile behind the skirmish at the front, a number off cars made minor contact as they got away and compressed under braking and the debris left behind prompted a quick Virtual Safety Car for cleanup. Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso both ducked into the pits under that VSC for new front wings as a result of all that contact, which started when Alonso spun out on the slick surface. The race resumed on Lap 3 but was quickly halted again when something failed on the McLaren of Lando Norris and he went flying into the barriers in the runoff area at Turn 11. It was a heavy hit that required a full Safety Car for repairs and retrieval. Norris was eventually taken to hospital for observation but thanks fully released not long after.

The race resumed again at the end of Lap 6, with Verstappen managing the restart with aplomb but being told about the stewards’ judgement against him. With his initial set of Medium Pirellis already going off, however, Leclerc was actually able to re-pass Verstappen for the lead on Lap 16 without needing those 5-seconds, prompting the Red Bull braintrust to call their main man into the pits on the subsequent lap for a switch to fresh Hards and the serving of his sanction. Following him in were the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and the sole surviving McLaren of Oscar Piastri, who had just made contact with each other. Hamilton got the worst of the exchange and had to limp in with a puncture but Piastri also needed repairs (although the young Aussie chose to stay on Hard tires meaning he still owed a mandatory pit stop later in the race) and both drivers lost valuable track position due to the incident.

Meanwhile at the front, Leclerc finally pitted from the lead on Lap 21 and emerged in P3  behind Perez and the Aston of Lance Stroll, who started the race on Soft tires and made up a ton of positions from his lowly P19 start when so many other cars got into difficulty. Behind them, Verstappen and the Silver Arrow of George Russell made short work of Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari and began squabbling amongst themselves over P4. Going wheel to wheel into the apex of Turn 14, a passing hot spot all night long, the two collided when Russell appeared to pinch Verstappen, leaving a veritable debris field of carbon fiber shards and bringing out another full Safety Car for the cleanup. Sure enough, Russell was assessed a 5-second penalty for causing that collision, making it less than a banner day for Mercedes’ chances of a podium with either car. Verstappen darted in for new tires under the caution, along with Russell, Sainz and Hamilton, but despite some end-fence damage to the Red Bull’s front wing it did not require changing. At the restart on Lap 28 of this 50-lap contest, Leclerc led Perez, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in P3, Piastri in P4 and Verstappen now in P5 after everything had cycled out..

While Piastri jumped on Gasly’s fading Alpine for third directly after the restart, Perez closed up on Leclerc and when DRS was re-enabled of Lap 31 the Mexican wasted no time grabbing the lead from the Monegasque on the subsequent lap. But running at the front was not to Perez’s car’s liking and somewhat astonishingly, Leclerc was able to wrest the race lead from him again just three laps later. That put Perez firmly in the clutches of his rapidly onrushing teammate and Verstappen dusted his wingman off for P2 on Lap 36. The Flying Dutchman then set sail for Leclerc up at the point, making the move for the lead that would seal his win on Lap 37. Leclerc’s tires then seemed to lose some of their grip as he locked up several laps later and saw Perez whistle back by him for second place on Lap 43. But with a ton of grit and determination, Leclerc never stopped trying to get that position back and after several laps of pursuit closed the race with a dominant overtake for P2 on the final lap of this scintillating race from Sin City.

Top 10 finishers of the Las Vegas Grand Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 50 1:29:08.289 25
2 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 50 +2.070s 18
3 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 50 +2.241s 15
4 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 50 +18.665s 12
5 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 50 +20.067s 10
6 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 50 +20.834s 8
7 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 50 +21.755s 6
8 63 George Russell MERCEDES 50 +23.091s 4
9 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 50 +25.964s 2
10 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 50 +29.496s 2

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next and final race is in but a week’s time when the Formula 1 circus finishes up the season in Abu Dhabi and the beautifully lit night race at Yas Marina Circuit. You can bet Verstappen will want to punctuate his epic 2023 campaign with yet another victory to keep warm his heart over the winter break. But the other possible contenders like Leclerc, Perez, Sainz and Norris will be desperate to get a win of their own at the Dutchman’s expense. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!