Written by Owen Bradley
Credit: Kym Illman
Las Vegas, has a short history with Formula One, and not particularly a great one. FP1 cancelled this weekend, fans given a $200 voucher as compensation for missing the track action. However somehow despite all of the negative PR generated by the Las Vegas GP, it actually did deliver us one of the greatest races in 2023.
Full Race Results
1st Max Verstappen
2nd Charles Leclerc
3rd Sergio Perez
4th Esteban Ocon
5th Lance Stroll
6th Carlos Sainz
7th Lewis Hamilton
8th George Russell
9th Fernando Alonso
10th Oscar Piastri
11th Pierre Gasly
12th Alex Albon
13th Kevin Magnussen
14th Daniel Ricciardo
15th Zhou Guanyu
16th Logan Sargeant
17th Valtteri Bottas
DNF Yuki Tsunoda
DNF Nico Hulkenberg
DNF Lando Norris
Grand Prix
Credit: Chris Graythen
The race got underway, and it wasn't just the wheels spinning on the grid, it was also the roulette wheels spinning too. And some drivers were all in from the very start, with Charles Leclerc squeezing Max Verstappen up against the pit wall, before Verstappen did manage to get up the inside, but with the short run to Turn One and tyres being incredibly cold, Verstappen ran Leclerc and himself off the circuit on the exit of One.
A bunch of other cars would collide, with Alonso going into a spin and Bottas having nowhere to go, hitting the Aston Martin of Alonso. Lando Norris would lose the rear of the car and end up smashing into the wall, being taken to hospital for precautionary checks.
Eventually, Verstappen would be given a 5-second penalty for the incident with Leclerc. Perez, Hamilton and Alonso would all make a pit-stop and go onto the Hard Compound tyres, gaining a lot of time under the Safety Car and VSC as well.
A battle between Verstappen, Perez and Leclerc would then break out, with Verstappen closing down on the pair, eventually managing to make his way through on both of them. Perez and Leclerc would be locked in a battle, exchanging places all over the circuit and down the straight, before eventually Perez needed to have a tow of slipstream from Verstappen.
Perez was running the standard rear wing, making it drag more down the straight, whereas Verstappen had better straight line speed. Leclerc also had excellent straight line speed, managing to dive up the inside of Perez in the final braking zone, before Perez viciously followed Leclerc's Ferrari, but not quite having enough speed to pull alongside the Monegasque.
Further behind, the pack was spread between less than a few seconds, unfortunately sometimes creating a DRS train and making it harder to actually pull of a move.
Credit: ANP
Max Verstappen Won the Grand Prix after having a few setbacks, a penalty and broken front wing as a result of contact with George Russell. Perez managed to achieve a podium despite starting from the back, and being involved in collisions too. Leclerc would have a bittersweet race, managing to take a last gasp 2nd place, but still losing to Verstappen, who got penalised.
What did you make of the Las Vegas GP? let us know in the comments!
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