Verstappen wins action-packed Las Vegas GP, Leclerc P2

Max Verstappen won his 18th race of the year at the Las Vegas Street Circuit. The Dutchman had an eventful race, after he got a five-second penalty and made contact with George Russell, but in the end, he was able to collect 25 points today. Verstappen has also won three out of three races in the United States this season.

Charles Leclerc once again failed to convert a pole position into a race win, but eventually finished in P2 after overtaking Sergio Perez on the final lap. For the second time in a row, Perez lost a place on the final lap of the race, but starting from P11, he did well to finish on the podium.

George Russell finished the race in P4 on track, but because of the five-second penalty he received for colliding with Verstappen, he lost four positions and finished eighth. As a result, Esteban Ocon got the 12 points for finishing fourth ahead of Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz. Both the Aston Martin and the Ferrari driver had to pit on Lap 3 during the first Safety Car phase, but eventually secured a great result.

If Lewis Hamilton had not got a puncture in his battle with Oscar Piastri, he would have been able to collect more points today for Mercedes. He finished in seventh place, but he did well on the hard tyres throughout the entire night in Las Vegas. Fernando Alonso finished in P9 ahead of Oscar Piastri, who claimed a single point in the state of Nevada and also got another for the fastest lap of the race.

The three non-finishers of the race were Yuki Tsunoda, Nico Hulkenberg and Lando Norris.

As it happened

Max Verstappen got off to a better start compared to Leclerc, and was able to overtake the Monegasque driver in Turn 1 on cold tyres, in a similar way the Dutchman overtook Leclerc for the race win in Austria a couple of years ago.

Having cold tyres at the start, Fernando Alonso span in Turn 1 as well, and at a slow speed, his front wing bumped with Bottas’ car, while Sergio Perez ran into Bottas. All three came into the pit lane during a Virtual Safety Car session on Lap 2. Sainz also spun in Turn 1, after running into the back of Hamilton’s car.

One lap later, Lando Norris lost his car completely into Turn 12 and had a crash with a big impact. Fortunately, the Briton was OK, but as a result, a Safety Car came out on track, leading to Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz pitting for the first time this evening in Las Vegas.

On the restart, Verstappen did well to remain in the lead after restarting the race, breaking briefly and then pulling away once again, but a lap later, the current world champion received a five-second penalty for the way he overtook Leclerc on Lap 1 earlier today.

On Lap 15, racing in his home country, Logan Sargeant lost three places in a row, to Esteban Ocon, and two drivers who have been constantly cutting their way through the field up to this point together, Piastri and Hamilton.

At the front, on Lap 16, Leclerc started to catch up to Verstappen, meanwhile, George Russell was the first to enter the pit lane from the leading pack. The Ferrari driver overtook his rival in Turn 14, and the Dutchman was called into the pit lane. He returned to the track behind Russell.

On the same lap, Hamilton made an ambitious move on Piastri, but his right rear tyre made contact with the McLaren’s front wing, and he got a puncture. The stewards decided it was a racing incident.

Ferrari called Charles Leclerc into the pit lane on Lap 21, and he safely returned to the track ahead of Russell and Verstappen, even though he had a slower stop.

The Second Safety Car Phase

On Lap 25, Verstappen decided to go for a move on Russell, but the two made contact, and because of the debris left on the track, the Safety Car was called out on the track once again a lap later. Russell received a five-second penalty for his action of tuning in on the Red Bull driver.

Multiple drivers decided to pit, including Verstappen, Russell, Perez, and Carlos Sainz. Behind the Safety Car, on cold tyres, Leclerc also came close to losing control of his car.

Thanks to the Safety Car, Sergio Perez had a free pit stop and returned to the track in P2. On Lap 32, the Mexican driver was able to get past Leclerc in Turn 14, using DRS and fresher tyres to his advantage. On Lap 33, Verstappen executed the same move on Piastri, and to move up to fifth place, Esteban Ocon had a tough battle with his teammate, Gasly.

However Leclerc, was not the one backing down, and into Turn 14, he could overtake Perez to regain the lead of the Grand Prix, and Verstappen also flew past Perez later on the long straight after, and by Lap 37, he was the leader of the race. The Dutchman was able to break the tow to Leclerc within laps, as the second Red Bull was trying to hunt down the Ferrari. On Lap 43, Leclerc locked up, and while he was fortunate not to end up in the wall, his Mexican rival went past him. Leclerc had one final chance to attack Perez, and he got the move done on Lap 50.