Las Vegas Grand Prix Recap: Max Verstappen takes the win in the Nevada desert, championship hopes still intact

With another Las Vegas Grand Prix comes another race recap. From drive bombs, bad race starts, fuel issues and disqualifications, this race had it all. As the circus of Formula 1 leaves the bright streets of Las Vegas and makes its way to Qatar, the Drivers' Championship continues to heat up.

(Image credit to @F1 on X)

Heading into the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Max Verstappen needed to make up forty-nine points on Lando Norris in the World Drivers’ Championship. He would also need to make up a place in-race courtesy of Lando Norris being on pole and him being in second.

Not only would Max Verstappen get the job done and pull ahead of Lando Norris for the win, but he would pull seven points closer in the championship. As a result, Verstappen now finds himself forty-two points behind Lando Norris with two races and a sprint left to run. 

Lap one was filled with chaos- from both McLarens losing places to contact, it was nerve-racking for all fans. Bortoleto ended both his and Stroll’s race early when he attempted a dive bomb on lap one and experienced the ongoing grip issues all the drivers have been facing this weekend, meaning he failed to slow his car down soon enough. This resulted in his green Sauber making harsh contact with Lance Stroll and spinning the Alpine of Gasly. Both Bortoleto and Stroll were forced to retire from the race following the contact. The moment will be investigated after the race by the stewards with possible penalties to be given out.

Further up the grid, Lawson had a similar incident, making contact with championship contender Piastri and damaging his own front wing. After dropping carbon debris on the track, a VSC was brought out and Lawson pitted for a new wing. The contact was noted by the stewards but no further investigation was needed.

Others who had a less-than-ideal start were rookie Kimi Antoneli and Alexander Albon who were both noted for a false start. Antoneli was given a 5-second penalty soon after, while Albon was given his own time penalty at lap twenty.

Alpine also had a rough start. After starting in tenth, Pierre Gasly struggled throughout the first half of the race, falling down into fourteenth by the time lap thirty-one came. Elsewhere, Franco Colapinto would fall into sixteenth, having experienced his own struggles to start the race.

In better notes, Hamilton had a strong start to the race, moving from 19th to 12th in the first few laps. Both Ferrari’s had unexpected pace, with Leclerc explaining over the radio that he was racing like an animal just before overtaking Piastri and Hadjar, moving up to 4th early on.

There were more issues up and down the grid, with Alexander Albon experiencing radio issues which meant his team had to rely on communication through their pit board and George Russell expressing annoyance over the radio regarding a recurring steering issue.

Another VSC was brought out on lap 14 after Albon made contact with Hamilton when trying to overtake him, causing his wing endplate to ricochet across the track. Whilst marshals cleaned the track under the safer conditions, Albon pitted to change his front wing.

Back to the Ferrari drivers, Charles Leclerc was able to find his way as high as second place before his pit stop at lap twenty-four. The late pit stop ensures he would complete the move ahead of Carlos Sainz, who qualified ahead of him, Elsewhere, Lewis Hamilton fought his way into sixth before his pit stop, which would see him down into tenth. 

Lap twenty-five would see Max Verstappen get into the pits and onto new hard tyres. Despite George Russell’s best efforts, he would have to settle for a one-second gap to the Dutchman, granting him a second chance via on-track action. However, the next two laps would see Max Verstappen add another second to his lead on the Mercedes driver. 

As George Russell continued to fall behind Max Verstappen, Lando Norris only drew closer, eventually getting past his fellow Brit on lap thirty-four with a 5-second gap to Verstappen ahead. 

Our third retirement of the race came on lap 37 with Alex Albon entering the pit lane for the fourth time in the race. He served his five-second penalty from his false start before the team wheeled him back into the garage. With his previous radio issues, the final cause of this DNF was due to his contact with Lewis Hamilton. 

With Lando Norris attempting to inch closer to Max Verstappen, his immediate championship rival, Oscar Piastri, worked his way up to fifth, bringing Charles Leclerc with him into a three-way battle with Kimi Antonelli. With 50-lap-old hard tyres, Antonelli showed very strong pace this race, being able to hold off Piastri on much fresher tyres. The young Italian, however, would lose his 4th place result to his five-second penalty which would land him in fifth. This is a tremendous effort for the rookie after starting the race in 17th.

A fright came at the end of the race when Norris lost 10 seconds to Verstappen over 2 laps with a reported fuel issue. Luckily for the Brit, he had built a strong gap to George in third and managed to cross the line in second with a 2.8-second gap to the Mercedes.

McLaren was able to let a breath out when he crossed the line but they wouldn't be relaxed for long as hours after the race, both cars were noted for execcive plank wear founded in the normal post-race inspections. After some suspense, it was announced early Sunday morning that both McLaren cars were found to break the regulation and were disqualified from the Grand Prix.

In terms of the championship battle, this is huge, meaning that Max Verstappen was able to score the maximum amount of points whilst his two rivals went home with none. As it stands, Piastri and Verstappen are tied 366 points with Norris only 24 points ahead on 390. This means that Verstappen can no longer be eliminated from the championship battle in the Qatar Sprint Race and if he or Piastri win the race, and Lando finishes out of the points,

The Qatar Grand Prix is set for next weekend. Sprint Qualifying will occur on Friday, with the Sprint Race set for Saturday. Grand Prix qualifying will follow the race, with the Grand Prix set for Sunday. 

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Article written by Noah Guttman and Olivia Myers