Max Verstappen won an exciting Las Vegas Grand Prix – a race full of twists, crashes, courage and mistakes that lived up to expectations on the Strip.
“Viva Las Vegas,” sang the victor, the latest Elvis impersonator in town, from his Red Bull throne.
A bet on the World Champion may be the safest punt in all of Sin City, but it didn’t always look that way in the bright lights of this inaugural event.
The result was an 18th win in 21 laps for Verstappen, yet the most precarious and fluctuating of the season, and the Dutchman only finally took victory on lap 37 of 50 when he passed Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari in a haze of increasing inevitability .
As he did so, news broke that Lando Norris had been taken to University Medical Center for tests after suffering a major impact at 180 mph.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen once again came out on top this week during the Grand Prix of Las Vegas
The Dutchman defeated Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and teammate Sergio Perez
Another striking fact was again the poor performance of the Mercedes duo. Lewis Hamilton, who had two prangs, the second was his fault and caused a puncture, leaving him seventh. George Russell, never quite in the mood, finished eighth, after taking a five-second time penalty.
A revival in the fortunes of the Silver Arrows seems as elusive as ever. How Hamilton, the sport’s biggest world star, must have wished things could have been different on this grand and glitziest stage Formula 1 has ever known.
The event, which got off to a dismal start on Thursday evening when training was halted and postponed and fans sent home, came out ace as the eyes of the world turned to it, as bleak as they had been in the European core countries. breakfast on the Sabbath.
But this was primarily a show for a Saturday night crowd in Nevada, and it worked. A super full grid set the tone. In fact, it was so busy that several announcements were made to ‘please leave’ so that the lights could go out at the appointed time on a cleared road. This is done by the skin of the teeth.
As for Verstappen, he started second on the grid and wasted no time or energy in pushing poleman Leclerc so far wide that the Ferrari man was almost inside the Harbor Island Apartments on the outside of the left-hander.
Verstappen refused to admit he had made a mistake and argued on his radio that he was in the front. He was. But, as we said, until now this has hardly been a legitimate argument. He was given a five-second penalty. “Yes,” he said to the stewards with sarcasm. ‘That’s fine. Send them my regards.’
Actually, Leclerc flew and passed Verstappen just before the first round of stops. Could a surprise winner be in store? These are all surprises if Verstappen’s name does not lead the rest.
The Dutchman only finally achieved victory on lap 37 of 50 when he passed Leclerc
Lando Norris steps out of his car after a crash on the fourth lap of the Las Vegas Grand Prix
The McLaren driver crashed hard into the barrier after his rear axle locked and he spun
Before the usual conclusion, Verstappen got into a tangle with Russell in Turn 12 – the bend to Las Vegas Boulevard. It was where most of the overtaking took place. Russell was to blame when Verstappen pushed his claims with his usual enthusiasm, an act of bravado. Russell didn’t seem to realize that the Red Bull had come at him like a rocket and was right next to him. He turned inside. A little damage to both cars, but not too much. The safety car came out and they made a pit stop. The stewards awarded Russell a penalty.
Verstappen now had the bit between his teeth. He is a short touch driver and you could feel the fireworks going off in him. He passed his teammate Sergio Perez to eventually finish third, followed by the decisive move on Leclerc.
What else? That Norris incident early on. The McLaren lost control on the way past the Wynn, a big jolt of mis-steering, into Turn 12 – where else? – and turned into the wall and scraped along it until his car turned right heading north and he crashed nose first into the thankfully far barrier along the emergency exit, but still hurtling at some speed. That brought out the first of the two safety cars.
Justin Bieber waved the checkered flag. He is Hamilton’s friend. Not Verstappen, but the world champion already had a two-second lead over Leclerc. Everywhere, apart from the limousine ride to the Bellagio hotel for the presentations on an evening where nothing was left to be desired, but one where the ‘sport’ lived up to the ‘show’.