Despite time penalty, Max Verstappen is ‘the king’ and controls thrilling Las Vegas Grand Prix | Formula 1

In recent days, the Las Vegas Grand Prix has been dominated by ultra-sports cars, but in racing the sport has the upper hand. In a turbulent start, Max Verstappen immediately attacked Charles Leclerc, but it was over.

Stewards considered that Verstappen, who ended up outside the circuit with Leclerc during overtaking, had exceeded his rule and imposed a five-second penalty on the world champion.

Leclerc did not wait for that penalty to take pole position and appeared to be gunning for victory by opting for a one-stop finish. But the safety car brought Sergio Perez and Verstappen back into the race.

In an exciting battle between the three competitors, Verstappen won in the end. Leclerc appeared to finish the race in third place after a mistake, but he surprised Perez on the final lap with a surprise attack. The Mexican took second place in the championship, the first 1-2 for Red Bull.

• Max Verstappen (1st): “It was a tough race. At the beginning I did my best, but the brakes were a little late. After the penalty I had to pass some cars, but DRS was very strong here. The front wing was hurt a little bit” after the contact with Russell, but I Glad we stuck with it. It was fun driving here. The DRS helped a lot, as did the lower tire wear. We were able to push hard, which was a lot of fun. I hope everyone enjoyed it. We really did. Hopefully we can come back next year and show the same thing.
• Charles Leclerc (2nd): “What a race! I really enjoyed it. I’m disappointed with the second place, but it was the best I could have done. We were a bit unlucky to stay out with the safety car. It was difficult to hold off after that.” “Max is on the old tyres. The team needed this race after a tough start to the weekend. The energy in the city was great. Sorry to the fans that I only came in second, but I did everything I could.”
• Sergio Perez (3rd): “It was a difficult race due to the damage to my front wing that I had at the start. As a result, I started off from the back again and had to pass the cars one by one. I had a lot of effort.” Speed, but he was unable to get away from Leclerc. “It was difficult to get rid of the cars. I did not expect Leclerc in the end. A very beautiful duel.”