After two weeks of excited waiting for the Grand Prix, it is over again. Las Vegas was surely a thrilling race, and one quite different than expected, with safety cars, overtakes and spectacular position battles making it everything but boring.
As always the start was action-packed, with Verstappen overtaking Leclerc, who started on pole, in the first corner, getting a 5-second penalty after pushing Leclerc off the track due to lack of grip, and several cars, namely Alonso, Bottas and Perez, making contact further back in the grid, when Alonso spun in the corner.
The first safety car was not far off either, as McLaren’s Lando Norris lost control of the car and crashed into the wall during lap 3. Luckily he was able to get out of the car himself and was said to be okay after several check ups.
After changing his tyres, Verstappen, Russell and Sainz had an intense battle for 4th position, which ended with Russell turning into the corner too early, making contact with Verstappen during lap 25, resulting in damage on the World champion’s car, another safety car and a 5-second penalty for Russell.
While Verstappen kept fighting his way back to the top positions of the grid afterwards, Perez and Leclerc battled for first place several times, until both Red Bull drivers were called to “work together”, resulting in Verstappen passing by Perez and overtaking Leclerc only a lap later. Shortly after that Perez also passed by Leclerc, gaining second place.
Caused by a not properly working power unit, as he said later in an interview, Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg was forced to retire his car in lap 47, only 3 laps before the race finished.
The race was electrifying to the very last moment, when Leclerc and Perez battled for second place throughout the final lap. In the ending turns the Ferrari driver overtook Perez and secured the second step of the podium, right after Verstappen. Perez finished in 3rd followed by Alpine’s Ocon in 4th, who started in 16th, gaining 12 positions throughout the race.
Stroll worked a similar miracle, starting in P19 and finishing 5th, right before Sainz, who went up to 6th from 12th. He was followed by both Mercedes, Hamilton in 7 and Russell in 8, right before Alonso in 9 and Piastri in 10, who also showed remarkable performance, even fighting for the podium at some points.
Not only for the fans was the Vegas Grand Prix spectacular, but also for the podium finishers, Leclerc and Verstappen, who both said the race was “a lot of fun” because “so much happened” and “it was so much excitement”.
Now we go into the last race week of the season, filled with both excitement and sadness, and look forward to what the finale in Abu Dhabi has in store.
picture credits:
F1 official Instagram
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