The Dutch Max Verstappen of Red Bull was imposed in Las Vegas and earned his 18th victory of the season to join Sebastian Vettel in third place on the list of drivers with the most wins in the history of the Formula 1.
The victory on a spectacular night in Sin City was the 53rd of the triple champion’s career and the sixth in a row, while it came after a five-second penalty for forcing Charles Leclerc, of Ferrari, to go off the track at the start and a collision with George Russell, from Mercedes.
Leclerc finished second after starting on pole position, losing, regaining the lead and losing it again before passing Mexican Sergio Pérez on the final lap to deny Red Bull its seventh one-two of the season.
The victory was Red Bull’s 20th in 21 races, another single-season record, and provided competition that lived up to expectations as Formula One returns to Las Vegas for the first time since the 1980s.
It also completed a three-win sweep in the United States in 2023 for the 26-year-old Dutchman, who dominated in Miami and Austin.
“It was difficult,” said Verstappen, whose racing suit paid homage to the signature jumpsuit of the late “King of Rock and Roll,” Elvis Presley.
And he added: “I tried to go after him at the start, I think we both braked quite late and then I ran out of grip and we ended up a little wide, so the stewards penalized me for that. That delayed us a little, I had to overtake quite a few cars (…) It has been a lot of fun.”
Leclerc, whose team is the only one to beat Red Bull this season, showed all his fighting spirit after the initial setback.
“I wanted that victory so much, but what a race!” he gasped over the radio after finishing 2.070 seconds behind Verstappen.
It was the second consecutive race that Pérez lost on the final lap, after the Mexican was overtaken by Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin at the finish line in Brazil.
Perez at least had the consolation of securing second place in a championship long won by his teammate.
Source: Ambito
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