Max Verstappen fought back from a five-second penalty and dropping to 11th to win a gripping Las Vegas Grand Prix.
He complained on Wednesday it was “99% show,” but the show was all on track in one of the best races of the season.
Verstappen, his team-mate Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc swapped and re-swapped places throughout as they fought for the podium positions.
Verstappen moved into the lead with 16 laps to go but Leclerc passed Perez back on the final lap to secure second.
Verstappen was penalised five seconds for forcing Leclerc off track at the first corner, suffered a damaged front wing in a collision with Mercedes’ George Russell and made an extra pit stop than Leclerc under a mid-race safety car – the second in an action-packed race.
But the pace of the man who has utterly dominated the season inevitably prevailed and he climbed back up to pass Leclerc for the lead with 13 laps to go for his 18th win of his record-breaking season.
There were battles throughout the field as F1 put on the spectacle its bosses had hoped for when they invested upwards of £500m – including building a pit building on a plot of land the sport bought in the centre of the Nevada city.
The investment – which will take in the region of three years to be repaid – already proved worthwhile as the drivers staged arguably the best race of the season. (BBC)
