© Oracle Red Bull RacingThe Highs And Lows Of Las VegasA look back at the wins and losses from Sin City
WhenitwasannouncedthatFormulaOnewasgoingtobechargingdownthestripfortheLasVegasGrandPrix,everyonewasexcited.Apartfromtworacesin1981and’82,LasVegashadn’tbeenonthecalendar,sotobeabletoracedownoneofthemosticonicstreetsintheworldwasathrillingprospect.
When it was announced that Formula One was going to be charging down the strip for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, everyone was excited. Apart from two races in 1981 and ’82, Las Vegas hadn’t been on the calendar, so to be able to race down one of the most iconic streets in the world was a thrilling prospect.
Although this wasn’t a low for the Bulls as such, it was a tough start for the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix as FP1 had to be abandoned after just nine minutes of action. The session was cancelled after Carlos Sainz stopped his car on track due to a drain cover lifting and smashing into the underside of his car. It caused a huge amount of damage and Sainz’ Ferrari needed a new chassis, power unit and many other components. Esteban Ocon also suffered damage due to the same reason. So, the FIA cancelled the session, to ensure the track was safe for the remainder of the weekend.
In Q2 Checo completed two flying laps, his best time being 1:33.855, which seemed enough to secure a spot in Q3, so the Team kept the Mexican in the garage. However, the track was evolving quicker than the Team was expecting, so Checo started sliding down the timesheet and before he was able to get back on track, Q2 had ended and Checo would be starting the Grand Prix from P11.
DamageandPenaltiesCouldn’tHoldMaxBack
What Verstappen's In Vegas Stays In Vegas© Getty Images
It seemed as if it wasn’t going to be Max’s day at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The Dutchman began in P2 behind Charles Leclerc and as they turned into turn one Max braked late, and was deemed to have pushed Charles off track, with the stewards awarding him a 5 second penalty.
Max was able to take the lead from Charles, but radioed in that his front wing was damaged. He was able to maintain pace though and when he pitted the Team decided to stick with his damaged wing. He served his penalty and returned to the action in P10, before slowly making his way back up to the front. On lap 37 he wrestled the lead away from Leclerc and went on to claim his 18th win of the season despite the penalty and broken front wing.
Things didn’t look great at the start for Checo. At turn one Fernando Alonso spun causing cars around him to take evasive action, Checo was unable to avoid a collision and went into the back of Valtteri Bottas causing significant wing damage.
We're In Vegas Baby© Getty Images
Checo had to pit for a new nose cone and found himself down in P18 when he re-joined the action, but was soon back on the attack. He was fighting so well that by lap 22 he was leading the race. He pitted on lap 26, but returned to the action in second, behind Charles Leclerc. However, a charging Max was on his way and although he tried to give his teammate a slipstream to help Checo take P2, the Mexican Minister of Defence ended up third raising a total of 15 positions during the race.
The Bulls hit the track for Free Practice One at 18:30 local time (02:30 UTC). Make sure you head over to our race hub for all the exclusive Oracle Red Bull Racing Content!
