It has taken Formula 1 15029 days since the last Las Vegas GP but it was worth the wait. Close racing, last lap passes, Safety Cars but still a Max Verstappen victory.
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The Start
The start of the Las Vegas produced the drama that was expected. Heading into the first corner Max Verstappen passed the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc , which led to a 5 second penalty for forcing the Ferrari driver off the track.
Further down the order, Alonso spins all on his own causing several cars to take avoiding action, unfortunately for Bottas he couldn’t avoid the spinning Aston Martin.
The Ferrari of Carlos Sainz struggled to stop and as a result tagged the rear of Lewis Hamilton and sending the Ferrari into a spin. Once all has shaken out, Perez, Bottas, Alonso had to head to the pits for replacement parts.
The Race
After a short Virtual Safety car to clear up some debris after the first corner incidents, the race was able to continue, however it was not long before we had our first incident as Lando Norris lost the rear of his McLaren heading through turn 12 sending him straight into the wall and out of the race. The first full Safety Car was deployed for the stricken McLaren. Thankfully Norris reported that he was OK, not the same could be said for his McLaren car.
The Grand Prix finally settled into a more settled rythem, the sole remaining McLaren of Oscar Piastri put in some impressive moves on the cars around him. Unfortunately his progress was delayed somewhat after minor contact with Hamilton’s Mercedes leading to both cars suffering from a puncture. Oscar and Lewis were both able to continue.
Safety Car 2
The second Safety Car of the race was due to contact between Max Verstappen and George Russell, unfortunately for Russell, he didn’t see Verstappen as he attempted a pass down the inside of the Mercedes leading to contact and damage for both cars. The stewards decided that George Russell was at fault and handed down a 5 second penalty.
The damage led to debris spread across the track and the second Safety Car of the race.
Battle for the Lead
As the race headed into the final third the battle for the top spot was building up nicely, with Charles LeClerc out in front being chased by the impressive Perez and the fast charging Verstappen.
Sergio Perez was the first to jump with a great pass on LeClerc, however the lead didn’t last long as the Ferrari would dive down the inside of Sergio Perez heading into turn 14 and retake the lead.
While all this was happening, Max Verstappen was planning his moves on Sergio and Charles, despatching Sergio with ease and retaking the lead into turn 14.
Ferrari and Charles Leclerc were looking at second place until lap 43, when he out-braked himself heading onto the strip, this opened the door for Sergio Perez to take second place.
Further Down the Order
With Max Verstappen and Redbull occupying the top 2 spots, other drivers were having a pretty good day, including Lance Stroll, who took the Aston Martin up to 5th place, several places ahead of his teammate, Alonso. Esteban Ocon quietly worked the Alpine into 4th place in the usual Alpine fashion.
Oscar Piastri had a solid race, showing some great moves and was rewarded with 10th and one point.
The Last Lap
The race looked like it was heading towards a 1-2 for Redbull, however Charles LeClerc had other ideas, diving down the inside of the Mexican heading into turn 14 of the last lap of the race and stealing second place from Redbull and cementing the Ferrari driver as Driver of the day.
The streets of Las Vegas and the 2023 season belongs to Max Verstappen. Can anyone take the fight to Redbull in 2024? Let’s hope so