Max Verstappen overcomes penalty and collision to win Las Vegas Grand Prix

By Sports Desk November 19, 2023

Max Verstappen overcame a five-second penalty, a collision with George Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to claim a historic Las Vegas Grand Prix win.

On a wild night in Sin City, where the lead of the race changed hands on multiple occasions, it was Verstappen who prevailed to take his 18th win from the 21 rounds so far with popstar Justin Bieber waving the chequered flag.

Charles Leclerc passed Sergio Perez on the final lap to finish runner-up, while British driver Lando Norris was taken to hospital for precautionary checks after he crashed out on the third lap at 180mph.

The build-up to Formula One’s debut race on the Strip has been mired in controversy following Thursday’s practice washout and Verstappen comparing the Las Vegas race to football’s National League.

But the 3.8-mile venue served up a brilliant race which culminated in Verstappen passing Leclerc for the lead on lap 37 of 50.

A celebrity-jammed grid dispersed moments before the lights went out in Sin City, and it was Verstappen who raced away from his marks to gazump the pole-sitter into the opening bend.

However, Verstappen’s move courted the attention of the stewards with Leclerc forced off the track.

Behind, Fernando Alonso’s spin triggered a pile-up as Perez tagged Valtteri Bottas. Carlos Sainz also thudded into Lewis Hamilton, but the latter escaped without damage.

The virtual safety car was deployed following the first-corner chaos and when the race resumed three laps later, Norris was in the wall.

Norris lost control of his McLaren through Turn 11 and was soon a passenger as he thudded backwards into the concrete wall amid a flurry of orange sparks, before the car righted itself and Norris went head-on into the run-off barriers at Turn 12.

Norris’s machine was wrecked in the high-speed smash, but the 23-year-old was on the radio to report he was okay, before he made his way into the medical car.

Out came the safety car and Verstappen was dealt a five-second penalty for forcing Leclerc off the road at the first bend.

“Yeah, that is fine,” he said over the radio. “Send them my regards.”

Verstappen might have felt he would have the sufficient speed in his Red Bull to open up a gap to Leclerc, but the Ferrari man was soon in his mirrors. And on lap 16 the Monegasque swept by to take the lead. In came Verstappen for new tyres.

Further back, and Hamilton, who had been on the charge, sustained a puncture following a collision with Oscar Piastri.

The seven-time world champion limped back to the pits for repairs, but he emerged 19th and last, and a credible result on American soil was in tatters.

In the other Mercedes, Russell, now ahead of Verstappen following the Dutchman’s penalty, had the Red Bull swarming in his mirrors.

Verstappen threw his Red Bull underneath a surprised Russell at Turn 12 and the British driver turned into his rival as they duelled for a net third.

Russell made contact with Verstappen’s Red Bull with debris falling off both of their machines.

The safety car was out for a second time and Leclerc took the lead with Perez moving up to second by virtue of a free pit stop.

When the safety car came back in, Perez passed Leclerc to take the lead on lap 32 while Verstappen was also on the move as he swatted Piastri aside for third.

Three laps later, and Leclerc was back on top after fighting his way back past Perez. A lap later, Verstappen moved ahead of Perez on the Las Vegas Boulevard for a second, and then on lap 37, he slung his Red Bull underneath Leclerc’s scarlet machine for the lead.

Perez looked to have completed a one-two for Red Bull when he made his way ahead of Leclerc with seven laps to go only for the Monegasque to fight his way back past on the last tour.

Russell crossed the line in fourth, but was demoted to eighth after he was hit with a a five-second penalty for his collision with Verstappen. Esteban Ocon took fourth, one place ahead of Lance Stroll with Carlos Sainz sixth and Hamilton seventh.

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    Max Verstappen lamented Red Bull's changes that left the RB20 "uncontrollable" at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday. 

    Verstappen could only manage fifth place around the streets of Baku, but remains 59 points ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris, who finished one place in front. 

    But the Dutchman was the beneficiary of a collision involving Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz on the penultimate lap of the race. 

    Verstappen has now gone six grand prix without a pole position and seven without a victory, last winning at the Spanish Grand Prix in June.

    The three-time world champion cited issues with his car during qualifying that seemed to carry over into the race, but is confident Red Bull can respond in Singapore next time. 

    "I think the changes we did to the car were positive, but then you still need of course to do the set-up on the car," Verstappen said.

    “I think we were heading in the right direction but then the changes that we made before qualifying tipped it over the edge.

    "We paid the price for that in the race unfortunately.”

    The Dutchman was able to further detail the difficulties he experienced on track, saying: “My wheels were literally coming off the ground. 

    “Then of course you lose contact patch with the tarmac which you don’t want.

    "That then caused me to slide a lot more, overheat the tyres more and there was no way to drive around it so the pace was just a bit all over the place.

    “I had to box and then it was just a bit unfortunate I got stuck behind Alex and Lando.

    "I was in that fight, George passed me, and then we actually had good pace, the two of us.

    "We were catching the leaders but then as soon as I got close to George again within that window where you have the dirty air, because of the jumping that I’m dealing with I’m sliding already quite a bit.

    “And then when I get close to him I’m sliding even more and that just tipped it over the edge where it becomes quite uncontrollable towards the end of the race, which was very difficult again.”

  • Leclerc pledges to learn from Piastri battle after Baku near miss Leclerc pledges to learn from Piastri battle after Baku near miss

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    Leclerc started at the front of the grid in Baku for the fourth time in a row, having also claimed a memorable triumph for Ferrari at their home circuit of Monza last time out.

    However, Piastri passed Leclerc on a straight on the 20th lap, and a spirited fightback was not enough for the Monegasque driver as the McLaren held on for his second win of the year.

    The result means Leclerc remains third in the drivers' championship standings with 235 points, behind Max Verstappen (313) and Lando Norris (254), while Ferrari remain third in the constructors' table.

    Speaking about his battle with Piastri after the race, Leclerc said: "It is enjoyable when you've got many opportunities every lap. 

    "I think maybe McLaren had less downforce and in the straights they were very quick, in the corners we were a bit quicker. 

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    Asked at what stage he realised victory was unlikely, Leclerc said: "I think as soon as we put the hard tyres on. On the medium we were very competitive, and the car felt good. 

    "Unfortunately for me, we didn't do any high fuel running in FP1 and FP2. We went for a setup direction which in the race was a bit more difficult to manage. 

    "McLaren and Oscar have done an exceptional job and done better than us."

    Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz, meanwhile, was pushing for a podium finish when he crashed with Baku specialist Sergio Perez, taking both drivers out of the race.

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    Piastri, who started second on the grid, emerged victorious ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to put McLaren at the summit of the constructors' championship. 

    The Australian's team-mate, Lando Norris, managed a fourth-place finish in Baku having endured a difficult qualifying that saw him start in 17th on Sunday.

    Piastri's triumph saw him move up to 222 points in the drivers' championship, and he is now 13 points behind Leclerc in third place. 

    The McLaren driver performed a huge lunge on the inside on lap 20 to take the lead from the Monegasque, defending admirably to secure the victory in Azerbaijan. 

    “I tried at the start of the race to get in front but once I dropped out of DRS I just didn’t have the pace,” said winner Piastri.

    “After the stop, I saw we were pretty close again and I felt like we had a little bit of extra grip.

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    “I went for a pretty big lunge but managed to pull it off and then hang on for dear life for the next 35 laps.

    "The last couple of laps, once [Leclerc] dropped out of DRS, were a little bit more relaxing, but there’s no such thing as a relaxing lap around here so it was hard work.

    "It definitely goes down as one of the better races of my career.”

    Piastri (two) and Norris (two) are the first pair of drivers to get two wins in the same season for McLaren since 2012 (Lewis Hamilton, four, and Jenson Button, three).

    The Australian's victory also continued the British-based team's record of having one or both of their drivers on the podium in each of the last 13 races. 

    It equalled their second-best run in the competition (13, which they recorded on two other occasions, between the United States and Portugal in 1990, and Germany 2011 and China 2012).

    Up next on the F1 calendar is the Singapore Grand Prix, a race that saw Norris claim second last year, with Piastri finishing down in seventh. 

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