Despite the terrible start on Thursday, the Las Vegas Grand Prix was corrected this Sunday (Saturday, in the American city) with one of the most explosive events of the season. A test full of incidents from the moment the traffic lights went out until the caravan of single-seaters crossed under the checkered flag waved by Justin Bieber. The cathedral-like advertisements that cover the most famous casinos in the world offered a unique vignette, the image that Liberty Media, the event’s promoter, sought to offer when it decided to recover this event from the calendar more than four decades later. The glitter mixed this time with a hybrid layout between what would become Singapore and Monza, and all of this combined with an icy and gripless asphalt that turned the race into a true Russian roulette.
Some of the most affected were Carlos Sainz (sixth) and Fernando Alonso (ninth), stuck in the middle of the grid and who spun during the first stop that eliminated them from any chance of fighting for the podium. And the best stopper was Max Verstappen, the same as always, forced to make up for the thousand and one setbacks to celebrate his 18th victory of the course, a new record that surpasses the one he himself established in Brazil two weeks ago. This victory, moreover, represents the 53rd in his service record, a figure that places him on the same level as Sebastian Vettel, the previous one. Wonder child from Red Bull. Both share third place in the classification of the most successful drivers of all time, only behind Lewis Hamilton (103) and Michael Schumacher (91).
The podium was completed by Charles Leclerc (second) and Checo Pérez (third), who fought for second place at the same finish line and who led the peloton at some point. However, none of them were able to retain the Dutchman, crowned three-time world champion for an eternity and who managed to overcome several setbacks capable of demoralizing anyone. Despite losing the battle against Ferrari, third place allowed the boy from Guadalajara to secure the runner-up position, in a double that exemplifies the superiority of the energy structure.
Placed in the first row next to Leclerc, the author of the polethe current champion won the game against the Monegasque in the first braking, in a maneuver that the stewards considered excessive and which resulted in a five-second penalty for the driver. Mad Max. As if that were not enough, the performance of the RB19, the perfect car He plummeted at the end of the first set of turns, forcing him to visit the workshop at the worst possible moment, with Leclerc close behind. Verstappen rejoined the eleventh and without any apparent hit, even though the boy from Hasselt can never be considered dead.
Another touch between him and George Russell (lap 25) caused the safety car to appear, a circumstance that led to a second tire change that revitalized the options of a rider who proved to have all the possible wild cards in the city of the game. All the cards turned heads tonight for Verstappen to the same extent that they turned to Leclerc, who had the situation completely under control until the emergence of the security that ended up altering a show that initially had to go down in history in its entirety, but that will also be remembered for the brawl that was seen on the track.
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