F1 GP Las Vegas, Verstappen wins in Leclerc’s Ferrari. Perez third

They dressed him like Elvis. And like Elvis Presley he once again took center stage. He could only be Max Verstappen to run the show on this one Las Vegas GP, a race that undoubtedly provided a lot of entertainment, especially in its surroundings. The Red Bull uniforms inspired by the king of rock worn by Verstappen and Perez undoubtedly fired up the drivers of the world champion team, protagonists of this race together with a combative Charles Leclercwhich he gave to Ferrari the first points of his history in Las Vegas, because in ’81 and ’82 the reds failed to take home any. The Monegasque, who started from pole, fought like a fury and outwitted Perez at the last attempt on the last lap, taking home a second place which counts for a lot: thanks to the simultaneous sixth place of Carlos Sainz juniorthe reds are now just 4 points away in the constructors’ standings Mercedes, who today only finished seventh and eighth with Hamilton and Russell. It will be a beautiful sprint in 7 days in Abu Dhabi.

max doesn’t give up anything

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A sprint for second place because for first, even today, it was clear that Verstappen has no intention of giving up anything. For super Max it is victory number 18 of the season, number 53 of his career which places him on par with Sebastian Vettel in the all-time winners’ list. He now only has Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher ahead of him. Unattainable? Maybe. Of course Max is a really bad driver and difficult to deal with. Today Leclerc was taken out at the first corner and the Dutchman received a 5 second penalty. But it was still a hammer, not at all satisfied by the many victories and the title already won. Not even a contact with Russell which ruined his front wing stopped him. And when he put on hard tires after the second stop, Leclerc, who made only one pit stop, was unable to defend himself from his domineering return.

good with averages

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Ferrari showed excellent things in the first stint of the race on the medium tyre. The race pace of the SF-23 was really good, and on lap 16, with the compound in better conditions than that of the Red Bull, Leclerc attacked and passed Verstappen on the track, who entered the pits right at the end of that passage, he served the 5 second penalty and set off again determined to make the race his own. Then Charles had to put on hard tyres, and that’s when the Cavallino’s race changed, as it was unable to express the same speed as the Red Bull. At least Verstappen’s. Confirmation that there is still work to be done and it is really Max who makes the difference. But in the meantime Mercedes has been soundly beaten and next Sunday the title of vice-brand champions is within reach. A little regret for the Safety Car which favored Red Bull more than Ferrari, but this is part of racing. The beauty of that final overtaking of Perez remains, after a mistake a few laps before which could have cost him the position. For Charles, righteous anger.

well done ocon and stroll

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Esteban Ocon had a good race, fourth ahead of Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, who was also very concrete today. Sainz made a comeback race from 12th position and having put the Mercedes behind was like having won. Well done also to Oscar Piastri, who saved the honor of McLaren which today lost Lando Norris to a bad accident, taken as a precaution to the medical center for checks. For Alfa Romeo 15th place for the Chinese Zhou. Home idol Sargeant was only 16th. The grand finale of this season will be next Sunday, as per tradition in Abu Dhabi.

I arrive

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Las Vegas GP finishing order: 1. Verstappen (Red Bull) 50 laps 2. Leclerc (Ferrari) at 2″ 3. Perez (Red Bull) at 2″2 4. Ocon (Alpine) at 18″6 5. Stroll (Aston Martin) at 20″ 6. Sainz (Ferrari) at 20″8 7. Hamilton (Mercedes) at 21″7 8. Russell (Mercedes) at 23″ 9. Alonso (Aston Martin) at 25″9 10. Plates (McLaren) at 29″4

rankings

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These are the World Championship rankings after the Las Vegas GP.

Pilots 1. Verstappen (Ola) 549 2. Perez (Mes) 273 3. Hamilton (GB) 232 4. Sainz (Spa) 200 5. Alonso (Spa) 200 6. Norris (GB) 195 7. Leclerc (Mon) 188 8 Russell (GB) 160 9. Piastri (Aus) 89 10. Stroll (Can) 73

Builders 1. Red Bull 822 2. Mercedes 392 3. Ferrari 388 4. McLaren 284 5. Aston Martin 273 6. Alpine 120 7. Williams 28 8. AlphaTauri 21 9. Alfa Romeo 16 10. Haas 12