The Las Vegas Grand Prix did not get off to the best of starts, attracting a fair share of negativity but, when the chequered flag ended the race, all that was forgotten.
Even Max Verstappen, who won the race, his 18th this season, was a happy bunny in the end, even channelling his inner Elvis with "Viva Las Vegas" on his cool-down lap.
Funny how a hard-fought win changed the triple Formula 1 Champion's mood in Vegas, after being grumpy since the start of the weekend, delivering his best impression of Grumpy Cat.
As for the weekend itself, it was a great show, and the folks Stateside sure know how to put on a great one. Now that doesn't mean I changed my mind about the fake beaches and marinas of Miami, but F1 delivered a great authentic Las Vegas Show last weekend, if authentic is the best word to describe it.
As for the racing, it was also exciting, Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, and Sergio Perez delivering a proper fight up front, while further down the grid, others were having their mini wars as well, which meant the spectacle overall was nice.
The cold weather of the Las Vegas night gave the teams and drivers another challenge, which was to switch on the tyres, something Fernando Alonso clearly failed miserably at on the opening lap of the race.
But the elephant in the room remains that rogue drain cover that ruined Carlos Sainz's car and weekend, not to mention the fans that were denied FP2 which was delayed for over two and half hours as all the drain covers were inspected and fixed, meaning the organizers could not ensure enough staff were available to service and secure the crowds.
This tells us that the Las Vegas GP organizers should maybe consider revising their timetable for future events, and the drive for the post-race interviews next to the Bellagio was an overkill to be honest. But being one of the initial skeptics about the Las Vegas GP, I have to admit that overall it was a positive weekend.
As for the talks about ticket sales that were not up to the expectations... Well, that's Formula One Management and Liberty's problem, after all, it's their $500-Million that they spent...
Now for our takeaways from the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Sainz, Ferrari, and that pesky drain cover
GrandPrix247's Kevin Melro wrote a detailed technical piece regarding the failed drain cover and the causes behind it, while Editor-in-Chief Paul Velasco penned an Outside Line about the accountabilities in this incident, so I won't be addressing that here.
I want to focus on the effect of that incident on Sainz's race, especially since Ferrari were in top form last weekend, with both Red cars locking up the front row in qualifying, Leclerc on pole.
The fact that the Spaniard was still hit with the ten-place grid penalty for getting an extra power unit with all its ancillaries for no fault of his own is ridiculous.
F1, the FIA, and all of us should be grateful Sainz was ok after the incident with the drain cover which broke his monocoque, that is what matters after all, the driver's safety, but the fact that there was no real effort made to try and exempt him from the penalty was not right.
I am sure if he wasn't given the penalty, other teams would have cried foul, as I do not buy into the words of solidarity some of them said after the Ferrari driver's punishment. They had nothing to lose showing they are nice, but I bet that, had there been any serious chance of Sainz not getting the penalty, things would have turned ugly.
Aside from the sporting consequences, one cannot underestimate the financial impact on Ferrari in the era of F1 cost cap. The Scuderia can afford to fix their car, but that is money which won't be spent somewhere else.
Dealing with such a situation is not straightforward, but keeping things as they are now is also not right. F1, the FIA, and the teams should look into developing the regulations so such situations are dealt with properly.
Not only did Ferrari and Sainz lose out, the sport and the fans also lost out. Imagine if it was Sainz and Leclerc fighting the Red Bulls in the race, not only Leclerc...
Leclerc couldn't stop Verstappen despite his best efforts
Leclerc was imperious in qualifying in Las Vegas translating his strong form all weekend into pole position, and Sainz took second, further proof of the SF-23's performance on the Strip. And while Verstappen was naughty in his first-lap lunge onto Leclerc, it was clear that a five-second penalty would not put a dent into the Dutchman's chances of winning the race.
Verstappen was not bothered by his penalty and put his foot down to emerge from the race victorious despite Leclerc's best efforts as he fought both the Red Bull cars. While Perez, in better form recently, also tried to deny Leclerc second place, but failed. The Monaco Kid's second-place securing pass on Perez was simply fantastic, the Mexican totally oblivious to it.
Ferrari couldn't have done more to challenge Red Bull in Vegas, the latter still quite far ahead to be threatened, but Verstappen had to work harder than he has most times this year to get his 53rd career win.
We can only hope that along with Mercedes and McLaren, Ferrari can take to fight to Red Bull in 2024, that is if Adrian Newey doesn't have another ace up his sleeve to make the RB20 even better than the RB19.
Las Vegas Quick Hits
- It was a subpar weekend for McLaren, given their recent resurgence, struggling with their MCL60, and while Oscar Piastri recovered to score points, the rookie looking quite racy on Saturday night.
Lando Norris was lucky to walk away unharmed from his crash. He said his car bottomed out, and Andrea Stella revealed a bump at the crash location along with cold tyres caused his driver to lose the car. It was simply not McLaren's weekend. - An uncharacteristic error from Alonso at the start ruined the race for him, as well as some of his rivals.
- It was a decent weekend from Lance Stroll, in the other Aston Martin, his second in a row. Can the Canadian keep the momentum going into 2024?
- After outqualifying Lewis Hamilton this weekend, George Russell threw his efforts into the bin after his crash with Verstappen, while Hamilton tried his best to drag W14 to finish seventh on a weekend of struggle for Mercedes.
- Alpine seemed to be in a good place this weekend, strange given they are down on power compared to their rivals with the Las Vegas track requiring serious power unit grunt.
- After a rare third-row lock-out for the start, Williams will be ruing missing out on points in Vegas and not capitalizing on their slippery FW45 around the Strip.
- Perez secured second in the 2023 F1 Drivers' Championship after his third position in Las Vegas. Maybe this will silence the voices saying Red Bull will sack him...
In all cases, it's Checo's best finishing position in the Championship over the course of his career... Congrats!
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