F1 Las Vegas GP 2023 results: Max Verstappen wins wild race – Motorsport.com

Verstappen overcame a 5-second penalty and beat Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.

Verstappen pushed past Leclerc in the first corner, much to the pole winner’s annoyance, and received a 5-second penalty, but retained his position at the front in the early stages.

Leclerc overtook Verstappen just before his first pit stop, while Perez stormed through the field after an early pit stop to change his front wing after a first corner collision.

The race was halted when McLaren’s Lando Norris crashed heavily on lap three and again after Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell collided just after the halfway point.

Perez and Leclerc swapped places just as Verstappen caught up with them. Verstappen then overtook both of them and scored his 18th win of the season. Perez was running second when Leclerc went wide, but Leclerc overtook him on the final lap, parrying a Red Bull one-two.

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2023 F1 Brazilian Grand Prix results

How the 2023 F1 Brazilian Grand Prix unfolded

Polesitter Leclerc was unable to maintain his lead in the short sprint into Turn 1 as Verstappen pushed him wide into Turn 1 and secured the lead. Moments later, both Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz spun, and Perez needed a new front wing on his Red Bull, as did Alonso after being ousted in the runoff by Valtteri Bottas (by his Alfa Romeo). had been weakened behind Perez). Sainz fell back to 17th place.

Russell came third ahead of Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Alex Albon (Williams). Logan Sargeant (Williams) passed Kevin Magnussen (Haas) on the first lap at the strip and finished sixth just before a virtual safety car picked up debris.

Things started up again on the third lap, Verstappen was 1.8 seconds ahead of Leclerc, but only until Turn 12, when Norris dropped out and narrowly missed his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri as his left rear wheel appeared to be broken. This led to a safety car phase in which Sainz and Lance Stroll (Aston) made a “free” pit stop due to hard tires.

The race resumed on lap seven, with Verstappen taking the lead over Leclerc – who complained that he had slowed his Red Bull too slowly before hitting the gas – ahead of Russell, Gasly and the Williams duo. Verstappen then received a 5-second penalty for pushing Leclerc off the track.

Alpine rider Esteban Ocon grabbed seventh place ahead of Magnussen, and Piastri followed him after swapping eighth place on lap 11. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), who like Piastri was on hard tires, overtook Magnussen in ninth place. Ocon, Piastri and Hamilton shot past Sargeant on lap 15.

Leclerc got into Verstappen’s DRS range just before the third distance, and Russell was the first front runner to pit on lap 16.

Leclerc drove past Verstappen into Turn 14 on lap 17 with DRS before Verstappen made his first stop and took his 5-second penalty. Leclerc rode for a long time on his medium tires, while Perez – who had been on fresh hard tires since his early stop – overtook Ocon for second.

Verstappen fell to ninth place, behind Russell. Hamilton and Piastri collided with their wheels and both had to pit because of tire damage.

Leclerc stopped on lap 22, pushing Perez into the lead and Stroll into second. Sainz and Alonso followed next, ahead of Russell and Verstappen.

Russell passed Alonso in DRS, as did Verstappen while braking in Turn 1. Russell and Verstappen quickly caught up with Sainz, the pair leading halfway down the strip.

Leclerc overtook Stroll for second when Verstappen and Russell collided as the Dutchman was fourth, requiring a second safety car to clear debris from his front wing. Russell received a 5-second penalty for causing the collision.

Perez, Stroll, Verstappen, Russell, Sainz and Alonso all made second pit stops, with Verstappen not changing his front wing and fighting for a place through a late Stroll.

On lap 29 the race started again with Leclerc leading Perez, Gasly, Piastri, Verstappen, Ocon, Stroll, Albon and Russell. Piastri rushed past Gasly at Turn 5 and took third.

Perez overtook Leclerc at Turn 14 with 17 laps to go as Verstappen passed Gasly for fourth and then caught Piastri for third. Gasly and Ocon swapped fifth place before Ocon held on despite the team telling them to hold the position.

Leclerc regained the lead at Turn 14 with a bold lunge on lap 36 just as Verstappen caught up with her. Verstappen drove past Perez and chased Leclerc for the win.

With twelve laps to go, Verstappen overtook Leclerc and pulled away. Leclerc slowed himself down with seven laps to go and handed second place to Perez.

Verstappen pulled away to help Perez, but Leclerc grabbed second place ahead of Perez just a few corners from the finish line.

The penalized Russell finished fourth away from home ahead of Ocon, Stroll and Sainz – but fell to eighth due to the added 5 seconds.

Fastest laps at the 2023 F1 Brazilian Grand Prix

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