World champion Max Verstappen has fought back in the tight Formula 1 title race and confidently won the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
In the Red Bull, the Dutchman celebrated his sixth win of the season, reducing the gap in the World Championship to Lando Norris to 42 points. But it wasn’t enough to make a big attack on the front, because the Englishman was in second place and tried to limit the damage after a very weak start. George Russell came third in a Mercedes.
Verstappen now only has two races and one sprint left to displace McLaren driver Norris from the championship lead. Oscar Piastri remains the weakest of the three title contenders: The Australian came fourth and lost further points to Norris. He is now 30 points behind his teammate. Nico Hülkenberg (Emmerich/Sauber) impressed in ninth place.
The action continues next weekend in Qatar, where a maximum of 33 points can be scored in the penultimate race of the season and the last sprint. The final will take place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th. Norris wants to be crowned world champion for the first time there at the latest, but there is still a long way to go.
Norris shows nerves
In Las Vegas, Norris showed nerves for the first time in weeks. “It would be good not to lag behind for too long“Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko said on Sky. Verstappen will be at the start”everything on attack” – and this psychological game had an effect: Norris tried to cut off Verstappen’s path. He succeeded, but as a result he missed the turn-in point into the first corner and had to let the Dutchman and, a little later, Russell pass.
Verstappen was initially under pressure from Russell for a few laps, but the Englishman couldn’t follow the defending champion’s pace for too long and quickly slipped out of the DRS window. Russell also complained about problems with the steering wheel. Norris followed a little behind in third and avoided major risks. Probably also to protect the tires.
Hamilton works his way forward
Things were more turbulent further back in the field. Charles Leclerc overtook Piastri, who, like all weekend, couldn’t get going in the McLaren. Record champion Lewis Hamilton worked his way up from last place on the grid; the Englishman also benefited from the wild start phase in his Ferrari with a few collisions and slips from other drivers.
After the pit stops, Verstappen stayed in front, Russell followed ahead of Norris. The McLaren driver asked on the radio how to proceed. The key to cracking Russell was managing the tire correctly, was the answer. Norris should only take the risk at the end.
“Grab Max”
Norris stuck to the instructions and overtook Russell on the long straight without much trouble. But that wasn’t enough for McLaren. “Grab Max”radioed the command post. Verstappen, in turn, received a corresponding warning and increased the pace.
The defending champion thus extended his lead at the top. With ten laps to go he was five and a half seconds ahead of Norris.