On par with Vettel
Max Verstappen was averse to the glitz and glamor of Las Vegas, but once in the Red Bull, the Dutchman concentrated entirely on the sport and drove unapproachably to victory again. Even a five-second time penalty could not stop him in the spectacular race.
The world champion further expanded his record series in Formula 1 in the American gambling city. It was already his eighteenth victory of the season. He has now reached 53 victories in his career, which is as many as the German Sebastian Vettel. The two now share third place on the all-time rankings.
Red Bull almost celebrated double success, as teammate Sergio Pérez was in second place until the last lap. However, Charles Leclerc managed to overtake the Mexican in his Ferrari just before the finish.
Before the race, Verstappen expressed his disgust at Las Vegas. In his view, Formula 1’s visit to the gambling paradise was 99 percent show and 1 percent sport. The Dutchman had to allow a show element before the race, probably against his will. He wore a white suit with a gold belt for the occasion, as a tribute to Vegas icon Elvis Presley.
Once the red lights went out, Verstappen was immediately in sports mode. He started second, but in the first corner he steered his Red Bull past Leclerc’s Ferrari, who had started from pole position. Coming out of the corner, Verstappen pushed his rival out of the track, allowing him to remain in the lead. The stewards ruled that Verstappen should not have made that maneuver and gave him a 5-second penalty.
After an early crash by Lando Norris (McLaren), the safety car was deployed. At the restart, Verstappen flew away and immediately took the lead, but that did not last long. He wore out his tires significantly faster than those of Leclerc, who overtook him after sixteen laps and took the lead. The Limburger immediately took a pit stop to collect his time penalty and switch to the hard tires. Things went much better on that rubber.
He started a catch-up race, which took him from ninth to fifth place in a short time. When he overtook George Russell on the inside, the Briton hit him with his Mercedes and carbon fragments flew across the track. Once again the safety car came on track and Verstappen opted for a second pit stop and fresh tires. Leclerc did not do that and that would break the Monegasque. The Ferrari driver failed to hold on to first place on ‘older’ tyres. First Pérez passed him, then the unleashed Verstappen drove by quickly.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl