10 things we learned from the 2023 F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix

Formula 1’s first visit to Las Vegas in 40 years was a bombastic affair off the circuit but delivered an action-packed race after a difficult start to the weekend.

Although Max Verstappen assumed his regular role on the top step of the podium, he had to fight to get there – and briefly looked fallible as Charles Leclerc challenged him all the way. But those who had put their chips on red were disappointed as Leclerc couldn’t quite overcome the odds to beat Verstappen; the house had won once again.

A battle for the lead – and later, Leclerc’s battle with Sergio Perez over second – underpinned a race where safety cars and tyre graining made the timing screens resemble a slot machine with frequent changes for position, as surprise qualifiers were dealt poor hands in the race and those who started towards the back could play their ace cards at the right time.

Here are the 10 things we learned once the roulette wheel came to a stop in Las Vegas.

1. Verstappen can barely give away a victory

A Leclerc pass, a five-second penalty, and a clash with George Russell all had the potential to derail Verstappen’s road to victory in Las Vegas, but nothing short of a global apocalypse could stop the irrepressible Dutchman’s march to victory. Or, alternatively, a slightly dodgy set-up in a Southeast Asian city-state…

Later accepting the five-second penalty for having run Leclerc out of road into Turn 1, Verstappen looked on course to easily break away and absorb the time added on during his first pitstop. But it didn’t quite work out like that, as the mediums had begun to grain on the Red Bull and allowed Leclerc to close back up – and then launch a DRS-assisted pass before Verstappen made his stop.

With the added penalty, Verstappen re-emerged in 10th and had ground to make up, a rarity in 2023’s races. This recovery yielded the contact with Russell, which broke the RB19’s front wing endplate, but this did little to harm Verstappen’s continued trajectory. It was arguably one of the scruffiest wins of his impressive oeuvre this season, but at least he enjoyed himself in the process. “It was very fun. I mean, I had a McLaren and an Alpine in between, you know, Checo and Charles but once I cleared them I could join the fight and it was basically flat out to the end. And that was really cool.”

2. Perez has…