Max Verstappen pounced on an aggressive Turn 1 move from Lando Norris that cost the pole-sitter the lead, and ultimately the win, at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Claiming his sixth win of the championship, Verstappen kept his championship hopes alive with Norris in what could’ve been a close call with George Russell as the Mercedes driver closed up in the final laps.
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The top ten, led by Lando Norris, lined up on the grid on the medium Pirellis with Nico Hulkenberg in P11 the first on the hards. Kimi Antonelli was the only driver on the soft rubber.
Norris made a good start but stormed across the track in an aggressive move to block Max Verstappen, crowding him towards the wall. It cost Norris as he went flying off the track at Turn 1 and Verstappen took the lead. George Russell also got ahead of Norris.
Oscar Piastri dropped to seventh in contact with Liam Lawson that left the Racing Bulls driver with a broken front wing, Piastri’s McLaren also suffered damage. Lance Stroll and Gabriel Bortoleto collided while Alex Albon rear-ended a Has. Lewis Hamilton shot up to 13th.
There was a shocking moment as marshals flooded the track to pick up debris despite the drivers still racing at speed. Race Control eventually threw the VSC.
Back underway at speed, Verstappen led by half a second ahead of Russell with Norris third ahead of Carlos Sainz, Isack Hadar and Piastri. The latter was under investigation for the Lawson collision, but the stewards ruled no further action.
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10 laps in, Verstappen broke out of DRS range from Russell, who was complaining about steering issues. Antonelli was noted for moving on the line, handed a five-second penalty, and Albon for a start infringement. The latter was given a reprimand.
Leclerc was a driver on the move, passing Piastri and Hadjar within two laps. Hamilton and Albon collided at Turn 14, the Williams driver clipping the rear of the Ferrari and breaking his front wing. Albon was given a five-second penalty for causing the collision. The VSC was out for the second time for a marshal to clear the bits of Williams.
Russell was the first of the frontrunners to pit, stopping on lap 17 for a set of hard tyres. He came out P7, behind Hadjar and ahead of Hulkenberg. With clean air ahead of him, Norris was given the hurry-up.
Back at the front, Verstappen continued to pull away from Norris as Leclerc chased down Sainz for third place. Piastri pitted on lap 22, with Norris and Sainz in the next lap. Further back, Fernando Alonso was on a flyer as he overtook Yuki Tsunoda and Franco Colapinto within three corners.
“Box, box” was the call for Verstappen midway through the race, but the Red Bull driver pulled in a bit long into his box. He came out 1.1s ahead of Russell with Norris in a third a further two seconds back.
Behind them, Hulkenberg and Hamilton were running long ahead of Antonelli, who had swapped his softs for hards on lap 2. Hamilton stopped on lap 30 for a set of mediums, Hulkenberg in the next lap.
Heading into the final 15 laps, Verstappen looked to be in control while Russell behind him was worried about Norris’ pace as the McLaren driver closed in on his rear wing. Norris, meanwhile, asked McLaren if they want him to “overtake” Russell. The reply: “Overtake, we want to go get Max.”
He promptly did so to applause from the McLaren garage. He was, however, five seconds down on Verstappen, who was told by GP: “Lando has been told to come and get you.”
Albon retired his Williams on lap 37, calling time on a dreadful evening in Las Vegas for the Thai-British racer.
While much of the focus was on the Verstappen v Norris battle for the win, that going the way of the Red Bull driver, Antonelli, Piastri and Leclerc were fighting for fourth place as they ran wing to nose, separated by just metres. Antonelli, on 40-lap-old tyres and with a five-second penalty hanging over his head, kept the McLaren and Ferrari at bay to give his teammate Russell some breathing room in third place.
Voted ‘Driver of the Day’, Verstappen continued to build his advantage over Norris into the final laps as the championship leader’s pace collapsed. Verstappen claimed the win by a comfortable 19 seconds over Norris with Russell on the podium in third place.
Antonelli was fourth at the line but dropped to fifth when his five-second penalty was applied, elevating Piastri to fourth ahead with Leclerc P6. Sainz, Hadjar, Hulkenberg and Hamilton completed the points.
Norris leads the championship by 30 points ahead of Piastri with Verstappen a further 12 off the pace. 58 points are still up for grabs.
Las Vegas Grand Prix result
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing
2 Lando Norris McLaren +20.741
3 George Russell Mercedes +23.546
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren +27.650
5 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +30.488
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +30.678
7 Carlos Sainz Williams +34.924
8 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +45.257
9 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber +51.134
10 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +59.369
11 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team +60.635
12 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +70.549
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +85.308
14 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing +86.974
15 Pierre Gasly Alpine +91.702
16 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +1 lap
17 Franco Colapinto Alpine +1 lap
Did not finish
Alex Albon – crash damage
Gabriel Bortoleto – collision
Lance Stroll – collision
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