America was at a disadvantage twice, but Max Verstappen successfully came back to win and help Red Bull win the 20th round of F1 2023.
On Wednesday night, Versappen complained that the Las Vegas Grand Prix was "99% a spectacle" due to too many side events. But the reality was that the race on the streets of the "Capital of Entertainment" became one of the most watched races, with the Dutch star at the centre of it despite the earlier noise about a collision with a valve cover and complaints from spectators about the price of tickets.
Verstappen was penalised five seconds for forcing Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc off the track at the first corner on the start. He also damaged his front wing in a collision with Mercedes rival George Russell, and spent one more stop than Leclerc before falling behind. But the RB10’s consistent pace over the long distances, combined with the defending champion’s skill and tenacity, allowed Verstappen to gradually gain the upper hand. He took the lead again with 13 laps to go, and went on to win his record-breaking 18th title of the season.
Verstappen celebrates his victory on the RB10. Photo: Red Bull Racing
Leclerc had the advantage of starting early in the Las Vegas night race, but in his previous pole positions, Verstappen had beaten him to the punch. The rivalry between the pair set the tone for the November 19 race from the very first seconds. Verstappen got off to a better start than Leclerc, charging from second into the SF23 at the entrance to Turn 1.
The Dutchman was forced to go wide at the exit of Turn 1, forcing Leclerc to the side of the track. Verstappen’s actions were reminiscent of the controversial action he took against Lewis Hamilton in the fierce 2021 race. This time, the Dutchman explained that the RB19 had taken the apex of the corner first and therefore had the right of way at the corner. However, after a careful video review, the referees decided to add a five-second penalty to Verstappen.
"I didn't mean to force Charles off the track, but I couldn't slow down. Looking back, that penalty was probably correct," Verstappen explained after finishing.
On the track, after the controversial situation, Leclerc waited for Verstappen to return the lead. But Red Bull still let Versappen keep this position and only served the penalty when he stopped to change tires. However, Ferrari soon regained the lead. Versappen struggled with the medium tires and could not widen the gap with Leclerc. From lap 10, the gap between the two drivers gradually narrowed from the maximum of 3 seconds created by the Dutch star. By lap 16, when Red Bull called Verstappen to the pits for the next lap, Leclerc was able to attack, overtaking his opponent at the end of the Vegas Strip straight.
Leclerc regained the lead, just ahead of the other Red Bull driver, Sergio Perez. The Monaco driver continued on the same set of tyres for another five laps. When Leclerc pitted on lap 21, Perez took the lead. A collision on lap 25 between Russell and Verstappen at Turn 12 prompted the safety car to be deployed to clear debris from the track.
The collision seemed to have caused a lot of damage to Verstappen as the RB19 had to pit for a front wing replacement. However, thanks to the safety car, the Dutchman was not left behind. In addition, the timely appearance of the safety car also contributed to hindering Leclerc, as he suddenly had another tough competitor, Perez.
Verstappen's RB10 on the F1 Grand Prix Las Vegas track on November 19. Photo: AFP
The Mexican started only 11th and then dropped to the back of the pack after a collision in the middle group at Turn 1 on the start line. The collision forced Perez to pit for a new wing. But then the first safety car of the race after McLaren driver Lando Norris's crash benefited the Red Bull driver by deciding not to pit at that point.
Taking advantage of the second safety car after the collision between Russell and Verstappen, Perez immediately pitted for tyres. Leclerc, who had only changed tyres five laps earlier, decided to stay on the track. After the tyres were changed, Perez and Verstappen dropped to second and fifth. While Perez was behind Leclerc, Verstappen was behind Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Oscar Piastri (McLaren).
When the safety car withdrew for the restart, Leclerc tried to defend against Perez, despite having a five-lap tyre gap. However, the Ferrari driver only held the lead for three laps before Perez closed in and attacked and overtook him. Having dropped to second, Leclerc remained close to his rival and took the lead again on lap 34 with a stunning late braking at the end of the Strip straight.
Below, while Leclerc and Perez were fighting fiercely, Verstappen also quickly took care of Gasly and Piastri to stay close to the two leading cars. On lap 36, the Red Bull number 1 easily passed his teammate on the Strip straight and approached the Ferrari car. Leclerc tried his best at this time, but still could not defend against the formidable opponent with the support of the DRS wing. On lap 37, Leclerc was passed by Verstappen at Turn 14.
Perez also followed and attacked Leclerc and regained second place, giving Red Bull hope of a double victory. But Leclerc did not give up. He tried to stay close to Perez and put a lot of pressure on his rival. With only about 2 laps left in the race, Red Bull even had to ask Verstappen to gradually slow down so that Perez could close the gap to less than 1 second so that he could use his DRS wing to defend.
However, it was too late for Perez to hold on. As the race entered the final lap, Leclerc stayed close to the wind and waited for the long Strip straight to attack his rival. The Ferrari driver's efforts paid off as he beat his rival to take second place at Turn 14, just three corners short of the finish. For the second straight race, Perez lost a position when his rival passed him on the final lap, adding to the Mexican's future at Red Bull.
Leclerc (red car) and Verstappen compete at a corner at the Las Vegas Grand Prix on November 19. Photo: AFP
After the race, Leclerc admitted that he did not pit mid-race during the safety car because he was not sure what his rivals were going to do. "We were a little unlucky with that choice. I'm still very happy with the race even though we didn't win," the Ferrari driver said.
Verstappen, who has been a vocal critic of the Las Vegas F1 race, surprisingly praised the race after winning. "It was very exciting. The DRS helped a lot and made the race exciting. The track turned out to be a place where we could go full speed without feeling shy. I hope the fans enjoy it and are excited to come back next year for another exciting race."
In contrast to the excitement of Ferrari and Red Bull, Mercedes continued to have a disappointing race when their two drivers were ranked 7th and 8th. Hamilton officially lost the chance to finish second in the individual points table. Mercedes is now only 4 points ahead of Ferrari in the race for second place in the constructors' standings.
Russell was demoted four places after finishing with a five-second penalty for his collision with Verstappen. Hamilton was unlucky when he collided with Osar Piastri on lap 16, resulting in a puncture and costing him nearly 20 seconds as he had to run almost a full lap on the flat. The Briton only found out about the puncture after he had passed the pit lane. The incident forced Hamilton to abandon his one-stop strategy for a two-stop strategy.
Las Vegas Grand Prix Results
Rank on one's own | Racer | Team | Location start | Number of tire changes | Fastest individual lap | Achievements | Point |
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 2 | 2 | 1 minute 35.614 seconds | 1 hour 29 minutes 8.289 seconds | 25 |
2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1 | 1 | 1:35,669 | +2,070 seconds | 18 |
3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 11 | 2 | 1:35,939 | +2,241 | 15 |
4 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 16 | 1 | 1:36,637 | +18,665 | 12 |
5 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 19 | 2 | 1:36,584 | +20,067 | 10 |
6 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 12 | 2 | 1:35,984 | +20,834 | 8 |
7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 10 | 2 | 1:35,716 | +21,755 | 6 |
8 | George Russell (*) | Mercedes | 3 | 2 | 1:36,071 | +23,091 | 4 |
9 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 9 | 2 | 1:36,559 | +25,964 | 2 |
10 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 18 | 2 | 1:35,940 | +29,496 | 2 |
11 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 4 | 1 | 1:36,913 | +34,270 | |
12 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 5 | 1 | 1:37,357 | +43,398 | |
13 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 8 | 2 | 1:37,455 | +44,825 | |
14 | Daniel Ricciardo | AlphaTauri | 14 | 1 | 1:37,108 | +48,525 | |
15 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 17 | 1 | 1:37,375 | +50,162 | |
16 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 6 | 1 | 1:37,740 | +50,882 | |
17 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 7 | 2 | 1:37,562 | +85,350 | |
18 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 20 | 2 | 1:37,587 | Abandon the race | |
19 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 13 | 2 | 1:37,565 | Abandon the race | |
20 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 15 | 1:59,327 | Abandon the race |
+) Fastest-lap: 1 minute 35.490 seconds set by Oscar Piastri (McLaren) on lap 47.
(*) Russell finished 4th but had 5 seconds added to his overall time due to a collision with Max Verstappen.
Individual scorecard after 21 stages
Rank on one's own | Racer | Team | Point |
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 549 |
2 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 273 |
3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 232 |
4 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 200 |
5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 195 |
6 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 200 |
7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 188 |
8 | George Russell | Mercedes | 160 |
9 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 89 |
10 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 73 |
11 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 62 |
12 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 58 |
13 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 27 |
14 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 13 |
15 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 10 |
16 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 9 |
17 | Daniel Ricciardo | AlphaTauri | 6 |
18 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 6 |
19 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 3 |
20 | Liam Lawson | AlphaTauri | 2 |
21 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 1 |
22 | Nyck de Vries | AlphaTauri |
Team scorecard after 21 races
Rank on one's own | Team | Point |
1 | Red Bull | 822 |
2 | Mercedes | 392 |
3 | Ferrari | 388 |
4 | McLaren | 284 |
5 | Aston Martin | 273 |
6 | Alpine | 120 |
7 | Williams | 28 |
8 | AlphaTauri | 21 |
9 | Alfa Romeo | 16 |
10 | Haas | 12 |
Minh Phuong
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