Max Verstappen (NLD) Red Bull Racing RB19 leads Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari SF-23 at the start of the race. 18.11.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 22, Las Vegas Grand Prix, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, Race Day.
Max Verstappen triumphed over Charles Leclerc and team-mate Sergio Perez to win the inaugural Formula 1 race at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.
The two Red Bull drivers had to overcome the threat from polesitter Charles Leclerc, who had to settle for second after being thwarted by an ill-fated Safety Car.
With graining anticipated to be a substantial issue the drivers would have to manage throughout the race, the Soft tyre was not expected to be favoured come race day.
However, Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda right at the back opted for the grippiest rubber available, but the entire top 10 elected to set off on the middle-range Medium compound.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton, bidding to make progress from the middle of the order down in 12th, chose the Hard compound, along with both Oscar Piastri and Guanyu Zhou.
Away from the line, Verstappen got the better launch and nosed up the inside of Leclerc into Turn 1, forcing the Ferrari driver off the track to gain the lead from the outset.
While Red Bull informed Verstappen the move appeared acceptable, Leclerc voiced his discontent on the radio at being shoved wide and the stewards then noted the incident.
Further back at the start, Alonso’s ambitious attempt to make up places saw him spin on the low-grip track surface, almost collecting the Williams of Alex Albon in the process.
But he did make contact with Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez was then caught out by the Alfa Romeo driver’s sudden stoppage, requiring front wing changes for all three.
There was also trouble for Carlos Sainz as the Ferrari driver, starting down the order due to a 10-place grid drop, went straight into Hamilton’s Mercedes at the first turn.
The race had been run under a Virtual Safety Car, but on Lap 4 the full Safety Car was deployed when Lando Norris suffered a high-speed shunt with the wall at Turn 11.
Proceedings got back underway on the seventh lap. Although one McLaren was out, Piastri was intent on making progress and displaced Tsunoda for 10th position.
Tsunoda was then overhauled by Hamilton, while Verstappen, already leading by 2s, was hit with a five-second time penalty for forcing Leclerc off the track on the first lap.
Behind the leading two, George Russell sat third but was being closely tracked by Pierre Gasly, ahead of the two Williams and the second Alpine of Esteban Ocon.
Kevin Magnussen was already struggling with his tyres and Piastri took advantage to gain the place. However, the Dane returned the favour into Turn 5 for eighth.
At the second time of asking Piastri made the move stick, while Hamilton overtook the other Haas of Nico Hulkenberg before also getting by Magnussen not long after.
Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari SF-23 and Max Verstappen (NLD) Red Bull Racing RB19 at the start of the race. 18.11.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 22, Las Vegas Grand Prix, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, Race Day.
At the back, Sainz was squabbling with the Aston Martins and opportunistically nipped by his Spanish counterpart Alonso for a lowly 16th place, having stopped earlier on.
Both Lance Stroll and Sainz had moved beyond Daniel Ricciardo, but the Ferrari driver was unimpressed by a call from his race engineer that he needed to cool the car.
Logan Sargeant had been running steadily in sixth but ran wide and allowed Ocon through, the Frenchman continuing his charge through the field from 17th on the grid.
Verstappen’s choice to bolt early on had seemingly backfired as Leclerc closed to within DRS range of the Red Bull, while Russell pitted for the Hard tyre from third.
The Dutchman displayed concern about the condition of his tyres and the pace of the Ferrari, leaving him utterly powerless to defend from Leclerc into Turn 14.
Red Bull immediately pitted Verstappen for the Hard compound, emerging in 11th place ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, as Leclerc sauntered away on his starting set of tyres.
Verstappen’s five-second time penalty had also cost him a net position to Russell, who had only pitted one lap before the champion.
With Leclerc courting the race lead, Sainz progressed into the points positions for the first time in the race on Lap 16 with an overtake on Zhou’s Alfa Romeo for 10th.
The Spaniard would profit further from Piastri and Hamilton touching as the pair went side-by-side into Turn 14, handing the Mercedes driver a rear-right puncture.
Amid the chaos, Perez, who had already made a pit stop, had risen up to third and that became second when he blasted past Ocon on Lap 19, 14.4s behind Leclerc.
Ferrari finally pitted Leclerc at the end of Lap 21 but the Italian marque couldn’t service the leader with a clean stop as the Monegasque was delayed for 3.9s in his pit box.
Nevertheless, Leclerc exited the pit lane ahead of team-mate Sainz and remained comfortably ahead of both Russell and Verstappen, who had closed on the Mercedes.
Russell had been caught up behind Alonso but swept past down the famed Strip stretch before Verstappen also went past the Aston Martin uncontested into the first turn.
As Leclerc nursed his tyres early in the stint, Sainz tried his best to hold up his pursuers but the Spaniard lost two places in one straight to Russell and Verstappen.
Verstappen was eager to overtake Russell but the two came to blows into Turn 14 as the Red Bull racer dived up the inside and the Mercedes turned into the corner.
As his closest contenders came to blows, Leclerc moved past Stroll into second place, now 11.4s shy of Perez who had inherited first position by the virtue of pitting earlier.
However, the race was completely reset when the debris from the Verstappen and Russell collision prompted the second introduction of the Safety Car on Lap 27.
That intervention allowed many of the early stoppers to come in for a change of tyres, including Perez and Sainz, with Red Bull also electing to pit Verstappen once again.
Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull Racing RB19. 18.11.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 22, Las Vegas Grand Prix, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, Race Day.
Despite relinquishing first place to Leclerc, Perez retained second and was directly behind the Ferrari on much fresher tyres that would likely take him to the end of the race.
Leclerc almost lost it under the Safety Car, prompting him to contest that the pace was too slow to generate sufficient temperature in the harder compound of tyres.
Right before the restart, the stewards decided to hand Russell a five-second time penalty for the contact with Verstappen, who was noted for an unsafe release at his stop.
The Safety Car came in at the end of Lap 28, with Piastri slipping by Gasly with a clean pass for third position while Perez managed to stay within proximity of Leclerc ahead.
Perez had remained within DRS range of the Ferrari by the time the mechanism was enabled once more and swept by Leclerc for the race lead down the Strip boulevard.
Verstappen was back on the charge and overtook Piastri easily for the final podium place to join the fight, as the two Alpine drivers battled aggressively behind for fifth place.
Although Gasly came back at his team-mate, Ocon seized the high ground to become the lead Alpine on the track, despite the team having told him to hold position.
Leclerc had been able to keep pace with Perez ahead and replicated the move that the Red Bull driver had many on him several laps earlier on Lap 35 into Turn 14.
The Mexican’s Saturday night got even worse as his higher-downforce rear wing configuration proved costly again as his team-mate made his way through the next lap.
Verstappen attached himself to Leclerc’s rear and assumed the lead once again using the aid of DRS down the Strip to complete the move into the braking zone of Turn 14.
Sainz had encountered difficulty in making much progress since the race resumed under green flag conditions but finally overhauled Albon, followed by Alonso and Hamilton.
Leclerc had fallen out of DRS range of Verstappen and then succumbed second to Perez when he out-braked himself at Turn 14, allowing the second Red Bull through.
However, Leclerc had regrouped to reignite his battle with Perez, right as Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas retired before Yuki Tsunoda also exited in the closing exchanges.
Russell managed to overtake Stroll for fifth and set off up the road to try and build the five-second margin he needed to mitigate his impending time penalty.
Leclerc successfully launched an overtaking move on the inside of Perez into Turn 14 on the final lap to deny Red Bull a first 1-2 finish since Monza.
But out front, Verstappen had survived a time penalty, damage and an intense battle with his team-mate and Leclerc to secure a record 20th victory of 2023 for Red Bull.
Despite being pipped on the final lap, Perez earned his first podium since the Italian Grand Prix in September, with Leclerc’s victory drought continuing as he ended second.
Russell claimed fourth on the road with a last-lap move on Ocon but dropped behind the Alpine driver along with Stroll, Sainz and Hamilton to eighth in the classification.
Alonso picked up two points for ninth in the second Aston Martin, with Piastri beating Gasly to secure a solitary point for McLaren and round out the top 10 finishers.
Keyword: Verstappen beats Leclerc and Perez to victory in Las Vegas