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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Sport
Joey Lynch

Max Verstappen wins Las Vegas Grand Prix: F1 – as it happened

F1 Carlos Sainz Ferrari Vegas Joey Lynch Las Vegas Carlos Sainz Charles Leclerc Esteban Ocon Lance Stroll Lando Norris McLaren (Person)

And with that, I think I’m done.

Max Verstappen, again, reigns supreme. There was chaos. There were thrills, spills, and everything in between. But there was always Verstappen. Refusing to be denied again. Leclerc battled hard and stole second but, for him, the pole woes continue – just when will he be able to turn one of those fine qualifying performances into another appearance atop the podium? Perez is forced to make do with third-place but in finishing clear of Hamilton he’s all but guaranteed himself second-place in the driver’s championship.

Just one more race to go this season, with the eyes of the world now turning to the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi for the final race of the season next weekend.

My name’s been Joey Lynch, thank you ever so much for keeping up with the Vegas GP with me. I’ll leave you with Giles Richards’ full report. Thanks and success.

Updated

Verstappen lifts his 18th trophy of the season. We’re going to need to find some other kind of superlative because dominant isn’t really cutting it.

Red Bull has now set the record for the most wins in a single season with 19, breaking Mercedes mark – only Ferrari on a single occasion denies them this season.

Updated

Time, now, for the anthems. And again, it’s the Dutch anthem ringing out as Verstappen takes out another race, followed by the Austrian one for Red Bull.

Verstappen to Coulthard: “It was a it was a lot of fun there. With the DRS, that helped a lot for very good racing air. Also, I think the low degradation with the tarmac here, you could really push on the tyres, which I think was good. It was a lot of fun out there.

“A great crowd. I hope everyone enjoyed it a bit. We definitely did. So already. excited to come back here next year and hopefully try to do something similar.”

Leclerc speaks to David Coulthard: “I mean, what a race! Honestly I enjoyed it so much. I’m of course disappointed to only finish second but at the end, that was the best we could do. At the start, it was very tricky because I think Max on the inside, lost a little bit of grip and broke me on the outside but then we had the place, we passed him back, and we were we were really strong overall.

“That was a really good race. We got a bit unlucky with the safety car. We didn’t pit because we didn’t know what the others will do. And we went for track position and keeping that first place and that was difficult with the older tyres towards the end. But second place with a lot of fights. Honestly, I enjoyed it.”

The Podium finishers have been taken in a Rolls Royce to the Bellagio. As you do in Vegas.

How it finished in Sin City

1. Max Verstappen (25 Pts)

2. Charles Leclerc (18)

3. Sergio Pérez (16)

4. Esteban Ocon (12)

5. Lance Stroll (10)

6. Carlos Sainz Jr (8)

7. Lewis Hamilton (6)

8. George Russell (4)

9. Fernando Alonso (2)

10. Oscar Piastri (1)

11. Pierre Gasly

12. Alexander Albon

13. Kevin Magnussen

14. Daniel Ricciardo

15. Zhou Guanyu

16. Logan Sargeant

17. Valtteri Bottas

DNF: Lando Norris, Nico Hulkenberg, Lando Norris

Updated

The Red Bull garage plays Viva Las Vegas on Verstappen’s radio and asks if they should call him Elvis, one wonders if they’re poking fun.

Updated

Yeeehaw says Leclerc as he reacts to taking second. He wanted that win badly – his inability to turn pole position into a win now extends to twelve – but it was a fantastic drive from the Monégasque to stick with it after being overtaken on turn one.

That move to overtake Perez on the last lap was immense.

Updated

Max Verstappen wins the Las Vegas Grand Prix!

He may be absolutely no fan of this track at all but Verstappen has won the Vegas GP; extending his record setting season -- he’s won 18 races this season and it’s his sixth in a row.

But it’s Leclerc that steals the show!!! He darts past Perez at the last to steal second place away and deny Red Bull a one-two! It was his best lap of the whole race and he takes away second at the last! What a grandstand finish!

Max Verstappen passes the chequered flag, waved by none other than Justin Bieber.
Max Verstappen passes the chequered flag, waved by none other than Justin Bieber. Photograph: Darron Cummings/AP

Updated

Lap 49/50: Penultimate lap in the books – Verstappen leads from Perez, Leclerc, Ocon, Russell and his five-point penalty, Stroll, Sainz, Hamilton, Alonso and Piastri – who as forced himself past Gasly and into the points.

Lap 48/50: Sounds like it will be Justin Bieber waving the chequered flag. Oh baby, baby, baby oh.

That was a bit much, I’ll admit. Is it too late now to say sorry?

Verstappen leads, followed by Perez and Leclerc. And we’ve had another retirement, Tsunoda rolling off.

Lap 47/50: We have another retirement! Just the second one of the race as the Haas of Hulkenberg limps off the track – far away enough from the track that there won’t be a safety car.

Verstappen and Perez are out in front, with Leclerc half a second back of the Mexican.

Lap 46/50: Callers confirm that Russell still has a five-second penalty hanging over him, pontificating if his team may have forgotten that since they’ve told him that they’re still targeting fourth.

After starting in 16th, Ocon remains in fourth at the moment, just about a second clear of Stroll. Hamilton goes past Alonso and into eighth position.

Lap 45/50: As we enter the final laps, Verstappen leads from Perez, Leclerc, Ocon, Stroll, Russell, Sainz, Alonso, Hamilton, and Gasly.

Lap 44/50: Piastri is forced to pit and emerges out of the points, on the rear of the eleventh-placed Albon.

Lap 43/50: Leclerc with a silly mistake and that allows Perez darts past him. We have a Red Bull one-two with Verstappen still leading.

Lap 42/50: Verstappen leads Leclerc and Perez. Piastri in fourth, Ocon fifth, Stroll sixth, Gasly seven, Russell (with a five-second penalty hovering over him) eight, Sainz nine, and Alonso ten.

Updated

Lap 41/50: The gap is continuing to grow between Verstappen and Leclerc, almost at two seconds now.

News also coming through that Norris has been taken to a medical centre as a precautionary measure.

Lap 40/50: Sainz and Alonso move past Albon, as does Hamilton.

Verstappen still leads and he’s pulled away from the DRS range of Leclerc.

Lap 39/50: Hamilton has moved into twelfth position, behind a train of cars that starts with Russell, and also features Albon, Sainz, and Alonso.

Lap 38/50: So Verstappen leads, Leclerc in second, Perez in third, Piastri still needing to pit in fourth, Ocon in fifth, Gasly is sixth, Stroll seventh, Albon at eight, Russell is ninth, and Sainz rounds out the top ten.

Lap 37/50: Rhianna watches on from the Ferrari dugout as Verstappen moves past Leclerc and into first-place!

The Red Bull garage tells Perez to stay with Verstappen, looking at trying to fashion a one-two, but he’ll first have to get past that Ferrari.

Lap 36/50: Perez has gone from leading Leclerc to first falling behind the Monégasque and now being overtaken by Verstappen! First to third in an instant.

Lap 35/50: Leclerc has re-taken the lead! Perez is seemingly caught napping and the Ferrari moves past the Red Bull!

Lap 34/50: Perez leads from Leclerc, followed by Verstappen, Piastri, Ocon, Gasly, Albon, Stroll, Russell, and Sainz.

Lap 33/50: Verstappen, having served his five-second penalty already, is now up into third-place, with a Red Bull one-two coming into focus.

The two Alpine cars are doing battle for fifth, with Ocon now moving past Gasly.

Lap 32/50: Perez finally overtakes Leclerc! With nothing but clear track in front of him, the Red Bull man needs to get a move on.

Versappen gets his overtake and moves into fourth behind Piastri, who is going very fast but is going to be forced to pit at some point because he’s only raced on two hards so far.

Lap 31/50: Verstappen is all over the back of Gasly but the Alpine driver sees him off for now.

Leclerc is holding off Perez, for now.

Lap 30/50: Despite all the bang, crash, wallop that’s been on show thus far, there’s still been only one retirement thus far in the race in the form of Norris.

Leclerc, Perez, Piastri, Gasly, Verstappen, Ocon, Albon, Stroll, Russell, and Sainz is the top ten.

Lap 29/50: Piastri moves up into third with an audacious overtake, moving into a podium place behind Leclerc and Perez.

Lap 28/50: The safety car is in and it’s Leclerc (one stop) who leads from Perez (2), Gasly (1), Piastri (1), Verstappen (2), Ococ (1), Stroll (2), Albon (1), Russell (2), and Sainz (2).

Russell has been given a five-second penalty for his clash with Versappen.

Lap 27/50: There’s another safety car out there to help deal with debris and Perez darts into pit lane straight away to take advantage for a second time – re-emerging in second on hard tyres.

Verstappen is also in there for his second stop – the safety car possible coming out at a very good time for him – and comes out in fifth place. But the stewards are investigating his collision with Russell.

All the leaders are on the hard tyres down to Guanyu in 13th place.

Lap 26/50: Verstappen is asking for an update on his tyre and front wing, told to stay out there by his team. Replays show he darted up Russell’s inside and there was some decent contact as they prepared to head up the Strip.

Lap 25/50: How far can Perez go after his early stop? He’s still well out in front at the moment, ten seconds clear of Leclerc, who has gone past Stroll.

Verstappen goes past Russell but there’s contact! There looks to be damage to that Red Bull!

Lap 24/50: Sainz, Russell, and Verstappen are all tooing-and-froing in the battle for fourth, fifth, and sixth.

Sainz then loses two places in one straight! Russell moves into fourth, Verstappen fifth, and the Ferrari is now sixth.

Lap 23/50: Vertappen finds himself in sixth behind Russell as we approach the halfway point.

Perez maintains his lead, followed by Stroll, Leclerc, and Sainz.

Lap 22/50: Leclerc has come out of pit lane in third position, just about ten seconds behind Perez but needing to get past the Aston Martin of Stroll.

Updated

Lap 21/50: Leclerc comes into the pits so the Red Bull of Perez takes the lead.

Lap 20/50: Ocon comes into the pits, putting on a set of hard tyres.

Leclerc is getting some reminders from his pit to look after his tyres, hinting at a one-stop strategy.

Updated

Lap 19/50: Leclerc has a lot of space between him and Perez, but the latter has already pitted during the safety car period.

Updated

Lap 18/50: Leclerc leads, followed by Ocon and Perez. Stroll in fourth, followed by Sainz, Guanyu and Russell. Verstappen ninth and Gasly rounds out the top ten.

Most of these cars are yet to pit.

Updated

Lap 17/50: Several cars are taking the opportunity to pit, with Hamilton forced in to replace a punctured tyre after failing to overtake Piastri – losing several positions before he can get into pit lane.

Leclerc re-takes the lead!

Lap 16/50: Leclerc is back in front of the Las Vegas GP!

He gets past Verstappen just before the Dutchman pits, with the Ferrari staying out there and extending his lead!

Charles Leclerc regains the lead.
Charles Leclerc regains the lead. Photograph: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

Lap 15/50: Leclerc is gaining on Verstappen -- the Ferrari right on the back of the Red Bull around the Vegas course and demonstrating that its speed in qualifying was no fluke.

Lap 14/50: It’s a good night for Alpine, Gasly is pushing hard to move into third while Ocon has gone from 16th at lights out and is now all the way into sixth!

Sargeant in his Williams is starting to struggle, he’s fallen into ninth position.

Lap 13/50: Sainz is being told that he needs to cool the car down as he gets past Ricciardo and into 14th. He’s been surrounding by a lot of traffic at the back of the field.

Verstappen still leads from Leclerc but he’s not moving away from the Ferrari – it’s still less than a two second gap.

Lap 12/50: Hamilton starting to make his way through the field, trying to overhaul Piastri for eighth position as Magnussen slips to tenth, overtaken on the outside.

Perez moves past Hulkenberg for twelfth.

Lap 11/50: The cars that have already been forced to pit are staging their own little battle toward the rear of the field, with Sainz moving past Alonso into 16th.

Lap 10/50: An email! Hugh with his thoughts on Verstappen:

“Classic Verstappen move. Go too fast into the corner in order to get your nose ahead and then run the other car off the track because you obviously can’t make the corner. Then claim, “I was ahead!”

“No Max, you’re not ahead if your apex speed is far too much to actually make their corner. You’re just saying “Get out of the way of me going off the track and not making the corner or take a crash”. All the drivers know what he’s doing and it’s not hard driving, it’s cheating.”

Lap 9/50: Verstappen gets the heads up that he’s got a five-second penalty to serve. Already two seconds clear, he says to give them his regards as he sets another fastest lap.

Piastri is now into eighth… no, Magnussen has it back.

Updated

Lap 8/50: Out in front, Verstappen sets a new fastest time of the race so far at 1:40:142.

Lap 7/50: Verstappen still leads and won’t have to give back the positon but the word is coming through that he’s being hit with a five second penalty next time he pits. He’s followed by Leclerc, Russell, Gasly, Albon, and Sargeant.

Piastri has done very well to move up to 10th from his initial start of 18th, into the points.

After a couple of safety car laps, drivers are working very hard to try and bring their tyres up to temperature.

Lap 6/50: The safety car has come back in and we are racing again in Vegas.

Verstappen’s team letting him now that the stewards are not going to make him hand the place back… I think? They also said they’ll leave that with him.

Coverage is suggesting that he should give it back but one doesn’t imagine he’ll be in a hurry to do so.

Lap 5/50: The safety car remains out there as replays of the start show there was very little grip for cars approaching turn one, leading to a lot of that carnage.

Hamilton is on his radio saying that debris has hit his front wing.

Stewards are still debating just what to do about it all.

Lap 4/50: Stroll started in 19th on softs, made up ten places, and now pits during the safety car to get rid of those tyres. He, Perez, Sainz, Alonso, and Bottas have all pitted already.

Replays of Norris shows him spinning out in a hail of sparks and losing a front tyre. Good to see he was able to get out of that safe, his team confirms he’s ok. It’s his first retirement since Brazil 2022 – only Verstappen had a longer streak.

Lap 3/50: The green flag waves, the virtual safety car goes away, and Verstappen retains the lead over Leclerc – however the coverage is suggesting that a call will come from the stewards making him give first back.

The Maclaren of Norris has gone off! A camera shaking crash and a safety car comes out.

Lap 2/50: Verstappen leads from Leclerc, Russell in third, with Gasly in fourth, Albon and Sargeant retain their positions.

Leclerc isn’t happy with how wide he was forced by Verstappen and is one the radio saying that he should be given back the position.

Lap 1/50: Verstappen takes the lead off Leclerc at the start by forcing him very, very wide! Could that be another win sealed on turn one?!?!

There’s been a few spins and spills early on, including for Sainz – the man can’t catch a break! There’s debris at turn one and Alonso is also on the radio complaining of some damage. Perez is also pitting as a virtual safety car comes out.

Max Verstappen leads Charles Leclerc into the first corner.
Max Verstappen leads Charles Leclerc into the first corner. Photograph: Antonin Vincent/DPPI/Shutterstock

Updated

Lights out! Viva Las Vegas!

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? No! Wherever you’re watching from around the world, the Sin City GP is underway!

The track is dirty on the left hand side: the parade car of Piastri had an oil spill before it could take him around and forced a clean-up – giving a disadvantage to the even side of the grid.

Formation lap is underway and it’s a medium tyre for the majority of the grid. Hamilton is on hard tyres, as is Guanyu and Piastri. Starting at the very back of the grid, Stroll and Tsunoda are on softs.

Updated

A lot of aerial shots of Vegas as we prepare for lights out and there’s no denying it, this race is going to be a visual spectacular – the lights of Vegas, and that giant sphere screen thing, creating a backdrop unique to this season and uniquely American.

That’s hot.

The coverage is betting on red, with pundits Danica Patrick and Jensen Button betting on Leclerc to arrest his woes from pole position by going from worst to first in Vegas.

Updated

The coverage is hypothesising on if Williams could provide something of a blockage for other cars in the race tonight. Albon and Sargeant will start from fifth and sixth on the grid, which is better than their race pace for much of this year.

The national anthem of the United States is performed by Donny Osmond, who has is own residency at Harrah’s Las Vegas.

Elvis’ Viva Las Vegas rings out upon as soon as the anthem is completed.

Updated

But why are we in Vegas at all? Well one of the biggest reasons is that F1 is spending half a billion on it is that they’re trying to boost their profile in the United States from its current niche status; and an extravaganza in the style of the Super Bowl has been tapped to help them do that.

Already on the coverage we’ve seen plenty of the American aristocracy, otherwise known as celebrities, on hand for the event, including the likes of Paris Hilton, Terry Crews, Steven Aoki, Zlatan Ibrahimović, and Usain Bolt.

Here’s Giles Richards’ breakdown.

A bit of work happening to Verstappen’s car? Brundle makes his way over to look at, only to be distracted by Shaquille O’Neal with not a lot actually happening to the car.

Shaq then provides a very short interview: “Lewis Hamilton, baby.”

This isn’t the first time that F1 has come to Vegas, though, with the city, under the moniker of the ‘Caesars Palace Grand Prix’ previously hosting races in 1981 and 1982.

Martin Brundle, doing his customary walk on the grid before the race, seems to be getting a bit frustrated that he can’t find any drivers, only celebrities.

Trying to find Versappen, he’s now been intercepted by will.i.am.

And now he’s shuffling past Zlatan Ibrahimović to get to Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur.

Now we’re back to Ibrahimović, who confirms he drives “several” Ferraris.

Updated

This being the first time F1 will be racing on this Vegas circuit, there’s very little data available about how the track will respond in race conditions or what the best strategy will be.

Given the high speeds that the cars are expected to reach on the straights, “Monza with walls” is how some are describing the 50-lap, 17-turn street circuit, a course that will take racers past Caesars Palace, the Bellagio and the Venetian. But the tight corners also harken to Singapore, which may bode well for Ferrari given that Sainz provided the only non-Red Bull victory of 2023 on that street circuit.

“Better hopes than recently, mainly because the track looks a bit more suited to us than recent tracks,” Sainz said ahead of this weekend, drain covers obviously not part of his calculations.

Chris Medland, citing Leclerc’s comments that overtaking has been challenging during practice, has suggested that a one-stop strategy could be the best course of action, prioritising track position and limiting the amount of time that a driver would need to deal with traffic coming out of pit lane. That would lend itself to starting out on medium tyres.

Verstappen hasn’t been shy in sharing his thoughts surrounding this race, doubling down on previous criticism that of the race that tagged it as “99% show, 1% sporting event” by tagging it as a “National League” circuit in comparison to the “Champions League” quality of Monaco yesterday.

Anyway, Giles Richards has more.

Updated

There’s been plenty of sympathy for Sainz, who was penalised for the repairs made to his car as Ferrari had already used their allotted engines for the season. The team appealed for leniency from stewards on account of the situation being out of their control but were denied, with decision-makers saying that there was no clause in the rule book that would allow them to take mercy on the Spaniard.

“The thing that I don’t get, and I know it’s a regulation, but can not all the teams agree that should get a pass?” Former world champion Jenson Button said on Sky Sports.

“That’s nothing of their own doing, a very unfortunate and unique incident,” McLaren boss Zak Brown added. “I was a bit surprised to see [the penalty]. I think we need to be a bit more sporting when something like that happens.”

He may have benefited from the grid penalty slapped on Sainz, who proved he had the speed in qualifying but setting the second-fastest time, but Verstappen flat out said that “the rules need to change.”

Giles Richards has been on the ground in Vegas, and here’s his wrap-up of qualifying as well as the fallout from Thursday practice.

Sorry has been the hardest word for F1, who left any kind of apology out of their statement explaining the farce that Thursday’s practice sessions descended into, which, as Giles Richards explains, probably boiled down to the organisation needing to protect itself from lawsuits by avoiding admitting any kind of guilt.

There’s been no compensation offered to fans with three-day tickets following the events of Thursday practice, while those with tickets for just that evening have been offered a $200 voucher to use in the Las Vegas GP’s official online store. Shipping not included.

Alas for organisers, these efforts at contrition haven’t been enough to stave off litigious types, with a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of the 35,000 people that had tickets for Thursday’s session.

A spokesperson for the Las Vegas Grand Prix said: “We cannot comment on the litigation. Our focus is on ensuring that our fans have an entertaining experience in a safe and secure environment which is always our top priority.”

It’s the 24th time that Leclerc has secured pole in his career, which is good to have him sitting in 12th all-time. But converting those finishes into a win has tended to be a bit of a problem.

None of the Ferrari driver’s last 11 poles, stretching back to the Australian GP in 2022, have led to victory!

So that ten-place grid penalty moves Sainz down from second to twelfth, while Stroll slips from 14th and down to 19th after being penalized for overtaking under yellow flags.

The Grid in Sin City

How they’ll line up in Vegas

1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

3. George Russell (Mercedes)

4. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

5. Alexander Albon (Williams)

6. Logan Sargeant (Williams)

7. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)

8. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

9. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

10. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

11. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

12. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

13. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

14. Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri)

15. Lando Norris (Mclaren)

16. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

17. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)

18. Oscar Piastri (Mclaren)

19. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

20. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)

Preamble

Hello everyone, Joey Lynch here and welcome to Las Vegas for the penultimate race of the 2023 Formula One season and, well, let’s just hope this evening’s events go a bit more smoothly than the past few days have.

Where to start? Well, the race itself feels like a safe place and it’ll be the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc that will commence this evening’s race in pole position: the Monégasque setting a time of 1:32.726 in qualifying. His teammate Carlos Sainz finished just four-hundredths back of him but thanks to a ten-place grid penalty for the Spaniard, it will be Max Verstappen who instead starts on the front row. The Dutchman has already been crowned this year’s champion but the battle for second place in the driver’s championship received a bit of a shake-up with both Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton knocked out of Q2, with the former starting from 11th and the latter in 10th.

Maclaren has been performing well as of late but that form didn’t carry over to Vegas, Lando Norris set to start in 15th position and Oscar Piastri back in 18th. American Logan Sargeant, though, gave the hometown crowd something to be pleased about when he qualified in the top ten for the first time in his career, set to start in sixth position on the grid behind teammate Alex Albon.

Alas, the Vegas crowd probably needed something to lift their spirits after the sport’s return to Sin City lasted all of ten minutes before the first practice session on Thursday evening was forced to be abandoned when a drain cover on the street circuit ripped through the chassis of both Sainz’s car and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, forcing the former to install new power-unit parts on his car and earning him his penalty. By the time practice resumed after a lengthy delay to make sure there would be no similar incidents with any other coverings around the track it was 2:30 am local time and the few fans that had remained were forced to leave as there was not enough staff on hand to provide adequate safety to spectators.

So, it is not ideal for a race being styled as an unmissable event that would capture the imagination of the American market. Let’s hope the race somewhat makes up for it.

Lights Out: 10pm PST/6am GMT/5pm AEDT

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