Hapless Perez gifts Verstappen Las Vegas GP win as Hamilton endures nightmare

19 November 2023 , 07:33

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Max Verstappen celebrates winning the Las Vegas Grand Prix (Image: AP)

Sergio Perez blew the chance to end his winless streak as Max Verstappen flew past him and Charles Leclerc late on to take victory in Las Vegas.

The Dutchman may hate everything about this event but it did not dim his enthusiasm for winning. He pushed Leclerc off track at the first corner to take an early lead but was slapped with a penalty and soon suffered tyre issues which saw the Ferrari man wrestle control back.

A well-timed safety car thrust Perez into contention and he had the lead with 20 laps to go. But even though he had everything he needed to win for the first time since April, the Mexican was fast asleep when Leclerc flew back past him.

Verstappen screamed past both of them with a dozen laps left and Perez did get the better of Leclerc, whose older tyres were fading. It should have condemned the Monegasque to third place, but he got the better of Perez again with a brilliant move on the final lap to at least secure the runner-up spot.

As for Lewis Hamilton, it was a day to forget. He started 11th, lost several places by getting involved in a first-corner melee and later suffered a puncture which hampered his progress further. He recovered to finish seventh but it was another day to forget for Mercedes and for British F1 fans, as team-mate George Russell suffered a penalty and Lando Norris crashed out.

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Verstappen took the early lead with a sketchy move on pole-sitter Leclerc which saw both of them go off track at the first corner. Red Bull were happy that he was ahead before they went off track and so told their driver not to bother giving the place back.

The stewards eventually decided to give the Dutchman a five-second time penalty for the move. But the consensus was that it was a soft punishment and, indeed, Verstappen also didn't seem too bothered about it.

Hapless Perez gifts Verstappen Las Vegas GP win as Hamilton endures nightmare

Max Verstappen pushed Charles Leclerc off the track at the first corner (Getty Images)

Perhaps he should have been. Despite building a quick gap after an early safety car, he soon began losing ground to Leclerc. Verstappen had pushed his tyres too hard while they were still too cold and so they started graining, meaning he was losing grip and time in the corners.

By the time he pitted to serve that penalty, Leclerc had already got back past him on track. And the race was poised nicely in the Ferrari racer's favour as Verstappen lost a lot of time in traffic after his earlier-than-planned stop.

But then came the second safety car at the perfect time for Red Bull. It was brought in so that debris on the track could be cleared, after George Russell turned into Verstappen which damaged the Dutchman's front wing and saw the Mercedes racer slapped with a penalty of his own.

Indeed, it was not going well for the Brits. Russell had dropped to ninth while team-mate Hamilton was having an even worse time. He narrowly avoided crashing at the first corner but lost many positions, while his recovery took a blow when he picked up a puncture which meant he had to pit again and dropped to the back of the pack.

Amid the first corner chaos, in which several cars span, all of them managed to survive and carry on. But a few laps later Lando Norris lost control of his McLaren on the slippery surface and smashed into a barrier. He needed a trip to the medical centre but no lasting damage was done.

The second safety car had allowed Perez a cheap pit stop and he came back out second behind Leclerc. But he had new tyres which gave him the advantage and it wasn't long before the Mexican had zoomed past him and took the lead of the race.

LAS VEGAS - Lando Norris (McLaren) after his crash during the Las Vegas Formula 1 Grand Prix at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit in Nevada. ANP SEM VAN DER WAL (Photo by ANP via Getty Images) (Getty Images)

It was suddenly his race to lose. He had Leclerc behind him but the Monegasque had Verstappen in his mirrors. Perez could keep giving Leclerc the DRS to help the Ferrari star hold the Dutchman at bay and things were looking very good for this year's championship runner-up.

But he blew it. Within two laps Perez had fallen from first place to third, having been caught napping by Leclerc who outbraked the Red Bull and retook the lead. And Verstappen soon roared past both of them to retake the lead with 12 laps to go.

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He was asked to keep Perez close enough to get a slipstream and he did try to do that. But it wasn't enough to stop Leclerc from flying past the Mexican on the final lap to deny Red Bull the one-two finish, even if the result did confirm the drivers would finish in that order in the championship this year.