Max Verstappen celebrates his victory in the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix
Forty-one years after it was laughed out of town, and at the end of another bruising weekend for the sport, one which has left it open to accusations of negligence and profiteering, Formula One finally put on a half-decent show in Las Vegas.
No prizes for guessing who won the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, and the first in the city since the Caesars Palace Grand Prix in 1982; Max Verstappen claiming his 18th victory in 21 races this season.
But the world champion had to do it the hard way, penalised for an opening lap incident with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, then fighting his way back from fifth after a couple of safety cars threw everyone’s strategi.es up in the air.
The Dutch driver, who has been so critical of this event all weekend, could not resist trolling Formula One, even in his moment of victory. “Viva Las Vegas! Viva Las Vegas!” the Dutchman sang over the radio.
Behind him, Leclerc and Sergio Perez – both of whom led the race at different points – fought an entertaining battle for second place which went all the way to the final lap, the Ferrari finally edging out the Red Bull thanks to DRS. Perez’s consolation was to tie up second place in the drivers’ championship, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, the only man who could have beaten him, now too far back heading to the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi next weekend. It is Red Bull’s first ever one-two in the drivers’ standings.
After all the controversy, the drama over the manhole cover and the fans who were thrown out before any meaningful action got underway on Thursday, the hope was for a decent race to change the narrative. And there was action from the very first corner, with Verstappen in P2 surging up the inside of pole-sitter Leclerc into Turn 1, but collecting a five-second penalty in the process.
Verstappen and Charles Leclerc ran close in turn one on lap one – Getty Images /Chris Graythen
Behind them, Fernando Alonso spun his Aston Martin, collecting Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton also had contact. They were all able to continue but McLaren’s Lando Norris was not so fortunate after a big crash on lap three, losing the rear and sliding along the barriers backwards at high speed and into the run-off area.
That heralded the first of two safety car periods, with Verstappen having to fight his way back from fifth spot, overtaking Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Leclerc and Perez to secure his victory.
Hamilton finished seventh but was unfortunate to pick up a puncture, without which he might have been on the podium, while Mercedes team-mate George Russell was eighth after being handed a five-second penalty of his own for causing a collision with Verstappen.
Hamilton was enthusiastic about the race. “For all those who said it was all about ‘show’, Vegas proved them wrong,” said the seven-time world champion.
That quip was aimed squarely at Verstappen, who had described the race as “99 per cent show, 1 per cent sporting event” after Wednesday’s opening ceremony.
After being ferried to the Bellagio in a limousine for the post-race interviews in front of the hotel’s famous fountains the world champion decided to play nice this time. “I think it created quite a good amount of racing here, so it was a lot of fun,” he said with a straight face when asked for his impressions of the track. “I hope everyone enjoyed it a bit. I’m already excited to come back here next year.”
