Though the 2023 Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix ended with yet another Max Verstappen victory, the amply disparaged race proved to be a competitive show which nearly saw the dominant Red Bulls beaten on track for only the second time this year. And the racing was real.
Charles Leclerc began the race on pole and led a decent chunk of the evening after Verstappen was ordered to serve a five-second penalty in the pits for pushing Leclerc off the track in the first corner, taking the lead in the process. As it turned out, Leclerc didn’t need the penalty to take the lead.
Leclerc willed his Ferrari around Verstappen on lap 17, just as the Dutchman made a dive for the pits after struggling with tire management from the start of the race. Leclerc maintained the lead after Verstappen served his penalty, although Sergio Perez cost the Monegasque driver a fair bit of time to Verstappen’s advantage and the lead was soon in the hands of the champion once again.
More important – arguably – than who won, who took a turn in the lead, or who pushed who off the track in turn 1, was the fact that any of this happened on-track.
It wouldn’t be bold to say that expectations were uncertain for many by the time the lights went out on Sunday (Nov. 19) morning. The run-up to the race had included lower-than-anticipated ticket sales, track problems in practice, popular disapproval from the local populace, and a lawsuit, just to be sure.
What transpired when the lights went out was another story entirely. Not only was there action at the front, but it was actually sustainable. For the first half of the race it was nowhere near certain that Verstappen would be able to walk away into the night as he frequently does in dominant fashion. By the end of the race, the gap to Leclerc was only two seconds, and we’ll never know how Verstappen would have fared getting around Leclerc without the Ferrari driver being confronted with the back end of Perez’s RB19. Despite that, once Verstappen went by the battle was properly on between Perez and Leclerc.
That battle wasn’t settled until the final lap.
Good racing for the lead has been in short supply this year, but not tonight. Good racing in the pack has not been as scarce, however, and that trend continued under the lights of The Strip.
For the first time in… some time, the action at the front of the race compromised, albeit lightly, the broadcast’s focus on the rest of the field….
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