Las Vegas: Max Verstappen secured an impressive victory at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, denying Lando Norris and reducing the McLaren driver’s lead in the standings to 42 points as Oscar Piastri finished fourth.
Verstappen took control of the 50-lap race on the streets of Las Vegas after the initial corners, passing pole-sitter Norris when the Drivers’ Championship leader ran wide through Turn 1, having initially chopped across his title rival off the line.
Norris also fell behind George Russell and only re-overtook the Mercedes driver in the later stages but was unable to challenge Verstappen, eventually limping home nearly 21 seconds behind after nursing a late problem.
Russell held on for the podium despite complaining about his own issues with his Mercedes’ steering, which nearly caused him to be overtaken by a fighting drive from teammate Kimi Antonelli, who finished fourth on the road after starting P17.
The young Italian managed to fend off a charging Piastri and Charles Leclerc in the final moments, but a five-second penalty for a false start dropped Antonelli to P5 in the final standings, just one-tenth ahead of Leclerc, who lost ground in the last laps.
It meant Piastri finished P4, having dropped as low as seventh at one stage early on after being hit by Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls in the opening turn, with the Australian now 30 points behind Norris in the championship.
Leclerc finished P6 after an early push from P9, with Carlos Sainz completing the top seven, having driven a measured drive aboard his Williams from Isack Hadjar’s Racing Bulls.
The top 10 was completed by Nico Hulkenberg’s Kick Sauber and Lewis Hamilton, the Ferrari driver taking the final point after starting at the back of the grid and using an opening stint on the hard tyre, as did Hulkenberg.
The Haas pairing of Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman just missed out on points, with the latter initially running inside the top 10 alongside Fernando Alonso, the Aston Martin driver finishing just behind in P13.
The Spaniard led Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull, which started from the pit lane, and Pierre Gasly, who found his Alpine facing the wrong way at Turn 1 on the opening lap.
Lawson was P16 after taking damage on the second lap, which necessitated a pit stop, as Franco Colapinto’s Alpine secured the final position.
Alex Albon (Williams) retired, having at one stage collided with the back of Hamilton, which required a new front wing, while Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) both retired with damage after contact at Turn 1 on the opening lap.
(IANS)
