Max Verstappen Wins F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix After Whining About It
Max Verstappen won the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix late Saturday night to claim his record-extending 18th victory of the season.
The win came after the Red Bull Racing driver spent several days bemoaning the pomp and circumstance of the event, which included lavish driver introductions before the first practice session.
“For me, you can skip this,†the two-time defending World Champion, who has already clinched this season’s title, said.
“We are just standing up there, looking like a clown. I mean, yeah…”
The race started with Verstappen passing pole sitter Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari at the first corner, but the move was deemed illegal and earned Verstappen a five-second penalty that was served during a pit stop.
It didn’t matter.
Yellow flag sessions on laps 2 and 3 shuffled the field, with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez pitting from 11th for a tire change, a strategy that found him near the front in the later stages of the race.
As Leclerc and Perez fought for the lead, Verstappen made his way through the field and passed Leclerc on lap 37 of the 50-lap race, never looking back.
Leclerc and Perez continued their battle, with the Ferrari passing the Red Bull in turn 14 of the 17-turn circuit on the last lap to secure a second-place finish.
After the race, the three podium finishers were stuffed into a Rolls Royce for a parade lap of the track, which is an unusual sight in Formula One.
Logan Sargeant, lone American driver in the race, started his Williams Racing car in sixth, but was only able to score a 16th-place finish.
Here are the full results:
- Max Verstappen – Red Bull
- Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
- Sergio Perez – Red Bull
- Esteban Ocon – Alpine
- Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
- Carlos Sainz Jr. – Ferrari
- Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
- George Russell – Mercedes
- Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin
- Oscar Piastri – McLaren
- Pierre Gasly – Alpine
- Alexander Albon – Williams
- Kevin Magnussen – Haas
- Daniel Ricciardo – Alpha Tauri
- Zhou Guanyu – Alfa Romeo
- Logan Sargeant – Williams
- Valtteri Bottas – Alfa Romeo
- Yuki Tsunoda – Alpha Tauri
- Nico Hulkenberg – Haas
- Lando Norris – McLaren
