It was all eyes on Vegas this weekend as a familiar winner proved victorious under the lights of Sin City’s inaugural Formula 1 Grand Prix. We’ve looked back at the highlights…
Max Verstappen fought back from a penalty with a damaged car to win the gripping Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Verstappen was penalised five seconds for forcing Leclerc off track at the first corner, suffered a damaged front wing in a collision with Mercedes’ George Russell and made an extra pit stop than Leclerc under a mid-race safety car – the second in an action-packed race.
But the Drivers’ Championship winner retook the lead with 13 laps to go for his 18th win of his record-breaking season.
Ahead of the race, a number of Formula 1 drivers took part in The Netflix Cup, which saw stars from ‘Formula 1: Drive to Survive’ and ‘Full Swing’ compete at the Wynn Golf Club in the Nevada capital.
Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc swapped and re-swapped places throughout as they fought for the podium positions.
Eventually, Leclerc passed Perez back on the final lap to secure second.
All highlights for UK viewers were available free-to-air on Channel 4 after Sky Sports extended its partnership with the channel in July.
Frenchman Esteban Ocon’s Alpine took fourth place with a single pit stop, taking the same strategy as Leclerc.
Alpine have recently made headlines for it’s a-list roster of investors. Rory McIlroy, Anthony Joshua and Trent Alexander-Arnold were recently named in the investment group that has bought into the team.
The sport stars join Ryan Reynolds as an investor. The Deadpool star recently strengthened his ties with the UK-based team.
Lance Stroll was fifth for Aston Martin, while Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton fought up from 12th and 11th on the grid to take sixth and seventh places.
Hamilton’s team-mate Russell was eighth, serving a five-second penalty for the collision with Verstappen mid-race at Turn 12, while Fernando Alonso was ninth for Aston Martin after a spin at the first corner, which gave him damage and a first-lap pit stop.
Formula 1 bosses reportedly invested upwards of £500m into the Vegas race – which included building a pit building on a plot of land the sport bought in the centre of the Nevada city.
The investment – which will take in the region of three years to be repaid – already proved worthwhile as the drivers staged arguably the best race of the season.
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