Max Verstappen has won the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Las Vegas, the penultimate race of a season that is already coming to an end. The Spanish drivers finally finished in sixth and ninth position, Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso, respectively. The podium, accompanying that of Red Bull, was filled by Charles Leclerc and the Mexican Checo Pérez, who has starred in the highest voltage laps of the race by positioning himself as the leader on lap 32, after a heart-stopping pass on Lecerc.
The starting grid has been marked by the 10-position sanction to Sainz for his incident with a sewer during the first training session. Also on lap number 4, Norris suffered a serious accident at the exit of turn 12 that removed him from the competition.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix has turned out to be one of the most competitive events of the season despite a disastrous start and much criticism due to the extravagance and opulence with which the competition has been prepared. One of the most critical had been precisely Verstappen, who, however, ended up singing "Viva Las Vegas! Viva Las Vegas!", when crossing the checkered flag dressed in his Elvis-inspired suit and greeted in the first instance by the singer Justin Bieber .
The race was the third stop of this season in the United States and has been promoted by F1 and owner Liberty Media. But the event has been criticized - especially by Verstappen - for its opulence and excess. Tickets were expensive, hotels along the famous Strip raised their prices, and the sporting element of the season's 21st race was overshadowed by everything from celebrities, musical acts, a myriad of Elvis impersonators roaming the paddock and a wedding chapel where former F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve got married earlier in the week.
Liberty had hoped to spend $500 million on its first self-promoted grand prix, but paddock speculation ahead of Saturday night's main event suggested Liberty had gone way over budget. The entire event almost fell apart nine minutes into the first practice session when Carlos Sainz Jr. ran over a water drain valve on the track which severely damaged his Ferrari and F1 had to close the 6.2 circuit. kilometers (3.85 miles) that uses a long part of the Strip for inspection.
Fans were forced to leave at 1:30 a.m. Thursday after seeing just nine minutes of track activity. The second practice began at 2:30 a.m. and continued until 4 a.m., with F1 simply offering $200 credits in its merchandise store to all ticket holders who had only purchased access on Thursday. A class action lawsuit was filed against the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Friday. That made it critical for F1 to deliver a good race on Saturday night and, although it was Verstappen's sixth consecutive victory, it was one of the liveliest events of the season.
Leclerc and teammate Sainz had qualified 1-2 on Friday, but Sainz received a 10-place grid penalty because Ferrari was forced to change his car due to damage from hitting the drain cover. The Dutchman forced Leclerc to go off the track to take the lead, and although Leclerc demanded that Verstappen be forced to give him back the position, Verstappen only received a five-second penalty. He complied during a later pit stop, but his Red Bull is so strong that he stayed in contention the entire race.
Leclerc passed Sergio Pérez for the lead with 17 laps remaining, and three laps later Verstappen passed his teammate to take second. He and Perez then worked to create a tow that allowed Verstappen to catch Leclerc for the win with 13 laps remaining. Perez had worked his way past Leclerc for second, but Leclerc recovered him at the finish to deny Red Bull their seventh 1-2 finish of the season. "I really wanted to win," Leclerc complained. "But what a race. Honestly, there's nothing left. Oh my God." Still, with Lewis Hamilton finishing seventh, Perez probably did enough to ensure that he will finish second behind Verstappen in the final drivers' standings.
Verstappen, Leclerc and Pérez were then driven in a limousine to the victory podium. Verstappen, Leclerc and Pérez were driven by limousine to the victory podium. "Let's go straight to the disco," Verstappen told his podium mates during the limousine ride. Leclerc's finish helped Ferrari cut its deficit on Mercedes to four points for second place in the constructors' championship heading into next week's final in Abu Dhabi.
McLaren's Lando Norris was involved in an early crash and taken to a local hospital for precautionary reasons.
