Las Vegas, 19 November 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull overcame a five-second penalty to win the inaugural Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix on Sunday.

 

After sharply criticizing the event on the Strip during the week, Verstappen, however, seemed to have made peace with the circuit, celebrating his 18th victory this season with a rendition of "Viva Las Vegas" by Elvis Presley over the team radio.

 

He ended the weekend saying it was "a lot of fun down there" and that he's "excited to come back here next year."

 

Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was second after overtaking Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull in the final metres of the last lap.

 

"Honestly, I enjoyed it so much. I'm disappointed to be second, but it's the best we could do. We were really strong overall, we got a bit unlucky with the safety car," the Ferrari driver said.

 

Verstappen took the lead from polesitter Leclerc at the start of the race, but was handed a five-second penalty after pushing the Monegasque off the track.

 

"We both braked late and I ran out of grip and went wide so the stewards gave me a penalty for that," Verstappen said.

 

Leclerc tried to solve matters on track and made a move in Lap 17 to overtake Verstappen, who then immediately pitted for new tyres and to serve his penalty.

 

The Red Bull driver came out in 11th and started to climb up his way through the grid. A safety car was deployed in Lap 25 after Verstappen made contact with Russell in a dispute for fourth place and the incident left debris on the track.

 

After the restart, it didn't take Verstappen long to overtake Perez and then Leclerc to eventually claim his 53rd career win.

 

There was an early safety car phase after Lando Norris of McLaren lost control of his car on the straight before Turn 11 in Lap 4 and scrapped along the outside, only stopping when he hit the barriers in the runoff area.

 

F1 said Norris was transferred to the circuit's medical centre and then taken to University Medical Center for further precautionary investigations.

 

After Verstappen pitted and served his penalty, Leclerc also got a new set of tyres and returned to the track in third behind then leader Perez.

 

With the second safety car, the Red Bull drivers again pitted for new tyres, but Leclerc stayed out to retake the lead. Leclerc and Perez took turns up front until Verstappen took first place for good in Lap 38.

 

But behind the Dutchman, Perez and Leclerc kept a fierce battle for second place, that was only concluded when the Monegasque passed the Mexican at Turn 14 in the final lap.

 

"I overtook Charles but I couldn't pull away from him because I was carrying too much front wing in my car. So my straight line speed was a little bit down and I couldn't pull away," Perez said.

 

Perez, however, will be happy to have increased his advantage over Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton to 41 points in their fight for second place in the constructors' championship. Hamilton was seventh after a frustrating evening.

 

Esteban Ocon of Alpine was fourth, followed by Lance Stroll of Aston Martin and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. George Russell in the other Mercedes, Fernando Alonso in the second Aston Martin and McLaren's Oscar Piastri completed the top 10.

 

Verstappen had repeatedly criticized the race in Vegas, which had the possible worst start on Friday, when the first practice session was cut short and the second practice was massively delayed due to an incident with a loose water valve cover.

 

The Dutchman said that the event on the Strip, which should cost F1 some $500 million, was “99% show, and 1% sport” and suggested the sport’s new generation of fans are only interested in partying.

 

The Las Vegas GP, however, ended up being one of the most exciting races in a season dominated by Verstappen and Red Bull, as both team and driver have already claimed their respective world titles.

 

F1 next heads to Abu Dhabi on November 26 for the final race of the season, which should see a battle between Mercedes and Ferrari for second place in the constructors' championship.

 

The German outfit leads the way but only four points ahead of the Italian team.

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