Penalised Verstappen beats Leclerc to win Las Vegas thriller
The Red Bull driver had to fightback from a five-second time penalty for forcing Leclerc wide at Turn 1, passing both his teammate Sergio Perez and Leclerc for a second time en route to victory in an eventful race that featured two Safety Cars.
Leclerc appeared to have lost out on second place to a recovering Perez when he ran wide in the closing stages, but the polesitter seized the position back with a brilliant last-lap overtake.
Perez had to settle with the final spot on the podium after losing a place on the last lap for the second time in two races. However, the result sees the Mexican seal second place in the championship to give Red Bull their first-ever 1-2 finish.
Verstappen’s victory was his 18th from 21 races in a dominant 2023 campaign and also marked a record-breaking achievement for Red Bull, who have surpassed Mercedes’ previous tally of 19 wins in a single season.
Esteban Ocon claimed a strong fourth for Alpine, ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Carlo Sainz’s Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton recovered from a mid-race puncture to take seventh while Mercedes teammate George Russell was demoted to eighth after picking up a penalty for making contact with Verstappen.
Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri completed the top-10 for Aston Martin and McLaren respectively.
McLaren’s Lando Norris has been sent to hospital for precautionary checks following a heavy crash on the fourth lap of F1’s first race in Las Vegas since 1982.
