Las Vegas Grand Prix: The Highlights and Lowlights

The Tops

The victory was still too far away for Leclerc.

For the fifth time this season, Charles Leclerc started from pole position in a Grand Prix. Once again, his promising position on the grid did not allow him to cross the finish line in first place. This new setback must not overshadow the breathtaking performance that the Monegasque driver delivered.

The first corner of the first lap was going to be a premonitory sign of the rest of his race: it would all be decided on the braking points. Max Verstappen didn’t hesitate to delay his braking as much as possible, even pushing Leclerc off the track, in order to take the lead of the race. His unnecessarily dirty and childish maneuver was condemned with a 5-second penalty by the stewards.

The Red Bull driver had initially opened up a gap with his rival, but the degradation of the medium tyres played in favor of Ferrari. On the 16th lap, Leclerc got his revenge and overtook Verstappen on the inside of turn 12 to take back the lead of the race. It was at this turn that all the key moments of Leclerc’s race occurred. On the 35th lap, he executed a superb dive-bomb to snatch the first position from Perez, and two laps later, he once again heated up his brake pads to defend against Max Verstappen. On the 43rd lap, he lost the second position by locking his brakes, but in the very last lap before crossing the finish line, he made a second dive on the Mexican driver to deny the Austrian team of a one-two finish. Leclerc fought like a lion and kept the suspense until the last lap. Ferrari’s return to the fight for the title cannot come soon enough.

Ocon played his cards well in Vegas.

The two trajectories of the Alpine drivers were built as mirrors in Las Vegas. One flew close to the sun in qualifying but got burned on Sunday, the other emerged from the shadows to shine on D-Day.

17th on the grid, Esteban Ocon once again complained about being on the wrong side of the track at the end of the Q1 session. The poor management of traffic by him and his team never put him in a favorable position to establish a respectable time. From the start, the Frenchman made up for lost ground. He took advantage of the chaos and spins in front of him to exit the first corner in 9th position.

If some have reproached Esteban Ocon for not following his team’s instructions to stay behind Gasly, the cleanliness and speed of the battle between the two were more beneficial and effective than having to wait behind a teammate who was starting to struggle. Although he finished behind George Russell, the penalty given to the Brit allowed him to finish in fourth place.

If Ocon was massively helped by the chaos of the first corner, it remains that he managed to steer his ship brilliantly and always move forward. It’s hard to imagine how he could have left Las Vegas with a better result considering his position on the grid.

Stroll wakes up at the end of the season

Asleep for a good part of the season, Lance Stroll wakes up at a curious moment at Aston Martin. Underperforming when the AMR23 was in the forefront, the Canadian has regained a decent level of performance during a drought period for the team in green.

Having only scored 12 points in 9 races (between Canada and Qatar), the American tour has revitalized Lance Stroll. During this American tour, consisting of four races, he brought back 26 points to his tally. This accounts for a third of his total points this season. Who would have believed that starting from 19th position, Lawrence Stroll’s son would make such a comeback to secure fifth place? His race was certainly made easier by the chaos of the first lap and the second safety car, allowing the Canadian to easily keep up with the leaders’ pace once he joined the pack. It may not be enough to make Stroll thrilled behind the microphones, but at least he is proving useful for his team.

The Flops

Unfulfilled promises at Williams

Starting 5th and 6th, expectations were high for Williams. For once, Alexander Albon didn’t carry his team all by himself. It wasn’t an individual feat but a collective success that showed the FW45 felt comfortable on the new American street circuit. The nearly two-kilometer long straight of the Strip perfectly showcased Williams’ qualities on the straight sections.

All these hopes shattered during the race. The British team was hit by the Haas syndrome. The car was degrading its tires way too quickly. Even before the first safety car, Logan Sargeant had started to plummet in the standings. The same phenomenon occurred later for Alexander Albon. Struggling with his ride, the Thai driver eventually cracked, missed a braking point, and eventually lost 3 positions in just one lap to finish in a forgettable 12th position. His garage neighbor finished second-to-last.

While Williams could have taken a significant lead over its rivals, Alfa Romeo, AlphaTauri, and Haas, no points were brought back from Las Vegas. James Wolves’ team will have to eagerly await the end of the season. No improvements have been made to the car since Canada.

Course missed at McLaren

The Woking-based stable didn’t hit the jackpot in Las Vegas. This race in the gambling capital was the first since Canada where McLaren scored so few points. Only one papaya-colored car managed to cross the finish line.

From the third lap of the race, Lando Norris stumbled. He was the victim of a bump. As a passenger in the crash, the British driver ricocheted off the walls of turn 11 before being catapulted into the run-off area of turn 12. If losing their team leader wasn’t tough enough, Oscar Piastri, who started the race on the yellow-banded tires, was forced to switch to a two-stop strategy due to the presence of two safety cars. It’s impossible not to think that better choices could have been made to salvage the Australian’s race, as he had shown an unusually fast pace.

This poor weekend means that McLaren has been caught up in the constructors’ standings by Aston Martin. Stroll’s 5th position and Fernando Alonso’s two additional points allow the green team to arrive in Abu Dhabi with only an 11-point deficit in this battle for fourth place.

A silly mistake that spoils George Russell’s weekend

Driving so late at night didn’t work out for Lewis Hamilton this weekend. The seven-time world champion was below his teammate, and the comparison was harsh in qualifying. While Hamilton failed to make it out of Q2, Russell managed to qualify behind the two Ferraris and Max Verstappen in fourth position. Carlos Sainz’s penalty promoted him to third position on the starting grid.

The main source of frustration for Russell in the race was staying behind Leclerc and Verstappen after the first corner, even though both of them had gone off track. Engaged in a battle with the reigning world champion for the second position, the British driver pushed too hard. He didn’t leave any room on the inside of turn 12. The collision between the two men scattered debris all over the track and caused the deployment of the safety car. There was no damage to the Mercedes, but a 5-second penalty dropped him from 4th to 8th, behind his teammate. The speed was there, but the concentration faltered.

This is not the first time in 2023 that George Russell has made a small mistake that cost him a big result. In Canada, he went too high on the curb and lost control of his car before crashing into the wall, and in Singapore, he was too close to the limit and lost his right rear tire. These accumulated small blunders explain the delay that the former Williams driver concedes to his teammate.