Grand Prize | Verstappen puts on a show in Las Vegas

(Las Vegas) The Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), critic of the spectacle which surrounded the return of Formula 1 to Las Vegas, won on Saturday for the 18^e time of the season, at the end of a Grand Prix full of twists and turns.

“Viva Las Vegas”, ended up humming – Elvis Presley style – on his radio Verstappen, already assured of a third world champion title, after having criticized the new circuit and its backstage this week, marked by a hiccup on Thursday evening during the first tests.

In the city of all vices, the Dutchman showed all his talent in this area to dominate the holder of the Monegasque leading position Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, who secured 2^e place in the World Championship before the last race of the season next week in Abu Dhabi.

From the start, Verstappen dived into the first corner, braking late to overtake Leclerc, a maneuver later deemed illicit by the stewards who handed him a 5-second penalty. The tricky “Max” also slowed down his opponents on a two-stage restart after coming out of the safety car (4^e lap) and was the author of a muscular but ultimately legal exit from the pits later in the race.

” Tight ”

Looking for a first victory this season, Leclerc, back in the lead at 16^e round (out of 50), definitively gave in to the Dutchman at 37^ewhile the leader changes led to a great three-way battle with Perez.

The Mexican had started very badly with a pit stop on the first lap, but was able to make a superb comeback with a little success and the arrival at the right time for him of the safety car on lap 25.^e round. However, he was overtaken on the last lap by a superb overtake from Leclerc in a corner, to deprive Red Bull of a double.

Celebrated with great fanfare, the return of F1 to Las Vegas 41 years after two races contested in the Caesars Palace parking lot in 1981 and 1982 suffered some criticism and began with an embarrassing day on Thursday, for the start of the tests, which were greatly disrupted through… a manhole cover.

Beckham, Zlatan, Rihanna, Justin Bieber…

Liberty Media, the company that owns F1, invested heavily in this Grand Prix, which required months of work and affected traffic on the famous Las Vegas Strip and its many hotels.

Max Verstappen was not very enthusiastic about an event geared towards showbiz – “they don’t understand what we do on the track” – nor by the circuit – “not interesting” -, the equivalent according to him of the National League (5^e English division)” compared to the Champions League of the Monaco urban circuit, according to him.

Among the stars present in Vegas, the cameras were able to capture Rihanna, footballers David Beckham and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, former American skier Lindsey Vonn, Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o, and even Justin Bieber, who waved the flag checkered at the finish.

“Everyone criticized Las Vegas but, ultimately, it was a great race,” said Ferrari boss Frédéric Vasseur.

The Italians came back to within four points of 2^e Mercedes place (Hamilton 7^eRussell 8^e) in the manufacturer classification.

At Asnton Matin, the Spaniard took 5^e rank Fernando Alonso while his Quebec teammate Lance Stroll finished 10^e.

The Briton Lando Norris (McLaren) was the victim of a spectacular accident at 4^e lap but was able to walk out of the circuit.