Exciting it historic first Grand Prix of Las Vegasby Max Verstappen to win again, but also him Charles Leclerc with Ferrari taking second place by 0.171s from him Sergio Peres whom he overtook on the last lap. The Dutch champion took his 18th championship victory and made history by winning the first race in Nevada. He now has 53 career wins, tying Sebastian Vettel for third all-time. He is now chasing Lewis Hamilton (103) and Michael Schumacher (91).
Ocon, Stroll, Saint, Hamilton, Russell, Alonso and Piastri completed the top ten, with the latter earning the extra point for fastest lap. The season concludes next Sunday (26/11) with the Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi.
The race
Verstappen overtook Leclerc at the start to take first place, but after a stewards’ review, the Dutchman was handed a five-second penalty for pushing his rival off the track. “Greetings to the stewards,” was Verstappen’s scathing comment as soon as he was informed of the penalty.
On lap 16 Leclerc overtook the champion, with the latter pitting on the following lap and returning to the track in 17th! His counter-attack began somewhere around there, passing George Russell on lap 25 with the two cars in contact and Verstappen saying on the team radio “he ran into me”. He was eventually vindicated, as Russell was handed a five-second penalty.
On lap 33, Sergio Perez took first place from Leclerc, with Verstappen climbing up to third by then. Leclerc regained the lead from the “Czech” on lap 35, while the Dutchman overtook his teammate on lap 36 to move up to second. The champion a lap later passed Leclerc to lead the race, while the Frenchman dropped to third on lap 43 after losing the corner due to worn tyres, with Peres returning to second. Leclerc did not give up, however, and in the final lap he regained second place from Peres.
In the fourth lap, Lando Norris went off the track and ended up speeding into the barriers, with him declaring on the team radio that he was fine, but was being taken to the hospital for tests. On the 17th lap Hamilton had contact with Piastri and the Mercedes driver, who had covered enough ground from Alonso’s spin at the start, “fell” to 19th place entering the pits for new tyres.
RACE CLASSIFICATION ??
Another victory on the board for the unstoppable Max Verstappen! ??#LasVegasGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/UpuYPp3vM2
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 19, 2023
Source: Sport Fm
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