Max Verstappen changes his tune on Las Vegas GP after another F1 milestone

19 November 2023 , 11:30

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Max Verstappen gave his verdict after racing on the Las Vegas track (Image: Sky Sports)

Max Verstappen admitted he had "a lot of fun" racing at the Las Vegas Grand Prix despite spending most of his weekend panning the event.

Many Formula 1 stars were happy to soak up the Sin City atmosphere, but Verstappen clearly hated everything about it. He began by slamming the event as "99 percent show and one percent sport" after gritting his teeth through an opening ceremony earlier in the week.

He later took aim at the track by telling reporters he did not like it at all. And, after qualifying, the Red Bull racer issued his most scathing review of all when he quipped: "Monaco is Champions League... this is National League."

Regardless of his ill-feeling about Las Vegas, he went on to win the race. And he seemed to be feeling a lot better about the whole event after recording that 53rd career victory - only Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher have more now in the sport's history.

He said: "You could clearly see with the DRS around here it was very powerful. So, even when you would take the lead, if the guy behind would stay in the DRS, he would still have an opportunity to come back at you, which I think created quite a lot of good racing here today. So it was definitely a lot of fun."

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Speaking specifically about the track itself, Verstappen went on to claim that he knew the racing was going to be fun all along. "Well, I always expected it to be a good race today," he added.

"Long straights, low speed corners, you don't lose a lot of downforce. That's never been my issue. Today was fun. That's the only thing I want to say about it. Today was fun, I hope everyone enjoyed it. I think the DRS effect was strong but good. It made it for fun racing out there."

For Lewis Hamilton, the night was much less fruitful. He lost places at the start and then suffered a puncture which further hampered his progress, eventually recovering to finish seventh. But despite those challenges, the Mercedes star had a blast.

"I'm really happy to have had a positive race and I'm really grateful that the race was so good," he said. "I don't know how it was as a spectacle to watch but there was so much overtaking. It was like Baku, but better.

"I really wasn't expecting the track to be so great, but the more and more laps I did, I just really loved racing. Lots of great overtaking opportunities. I think for all those who were so negative about the weekend, saying it's all about the show, blah blah blah, I think Vegas proved them wrong."

Daniel Moxon