F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix results, highlights as Max Verstappen wins Sin City race for Red Bull

Max Verstappen claimed yet another victory in Formula 1, taking the chequered flag at the highly anticipated Las Vegas Grand Prix. The world champion had to earn the win, though, fending off Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez during the race.

The new Las Vegas Strip Circuit drew plenty of criticism this weekend but it delivered an exciting grand prix and was undoubtedly a visual spectacle.

Proceedings got off to a contested start when Verstappen pushed Leclerc off-track as he took an early lead — a move that later saw him receive a five-second time penalty.

An early, heavy crash for Lando Norris brought out the first safety car of the race, with the McLaren driver later taken to hospital for precautionary checks.

Leclerc then fought hard and managed to regain the lead at Lap 17. A second safety car later put Perez into contention, with the Mexican sitting in P1 on multiple occasions but unable to hold the position.

Once Verstappen served his penalty, he only had one thing on his mind: a victory. The Dutchman charged his way through the field and finished the evening with a well-deserved first-place trophy in his hands.

It was an engaging race outside of the podium places, too.

Fernando Alonso spun out at the first corner but powered back to finish ninth. Esteban Ocon put in an impressive drive, securing a P4 finish despite starting in P16. Oscar Piastri was also strong from the rear of the grid, clocking the fastest lap of the race as he squeezed into the points late.

It was a disappointing evening for Williams, though, with both of their drivers dropping out of the points following an impressive qualifying performance.

The Sporting News followed all the action live from the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix below.

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F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix results, standings

F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix live updates, highlights: As it happened

*Race is 50 laps.

MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS: An impressive victory from the world champion, winning despite multiple lead changes and a time penalty.

It was a thrilling final lap too, with Leclerc overtaking Perez in the dying stages to secure P2. 

He never gave up 💪

Charles Leclerc's incredible last-lap overtake on Sergio Perez for second place! 🤯😮‍💨#LasVegasGP #F1 @ScuderiaFerrari @Charles_Leclerc pic.twitter.com/xHWOCghqwA

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 19, 2023

A hat tip to Piastri as well who snagged the final points position and secured the fastest lap of the race in the process.

Lap 48: Tsunoda appears to suffer a mechanical issue and limps off down one of the escape roads. No need for a safety car.

Lap 45: Gasly is really struggling on his hard tires and is now on the verge of dropping out of the points. Piastri, meanwhile, has seven seconds to make up as he looks to squeeze into the top 10.

Lap 44: Error from Leclerc! The Ferrari driver locks up on a left-hand turn but manages to avoid colliding with the barrier. Perez sneaks through into P2 and Verstappen continues to build on his lead.

Lap 43: Amid the multiple lead changes, Alonso has worked nicely up the grid since his opening lap spin-out. The veteran currently sits in the last point-paying position.

Lap 40: Leclerc is keeping himself within DRS range of Verstappen. This isn't over yet. Elsewhere, the Alpine duo of Ocon and Gasly — who sit in P5 and P6, respectively — have been ordered to stop duelling. 

Lap 37: Verstappen takes the lead! He powers past Leclerc down the straight and now has clean air in front of him. 

Lap 36: Perez — who was in a commanding position a few laps ago — has now been overtaken by Verstappen and finds himself in P3. 

Lap 35: Ignore that last update... It appears that Leclerc does have the pace, passing Perez to re-take the lead!

Lap 34: Verstappen is on the prowl now. He is two seconds off the lead and only needs to pass Leclerc, who doesn't appear to have the required pace.

Lap 32: Perez takes the lead! He powers past Leclerc down the Strip with the help of DRS. The Mexican is a street circuit specialist, but can he hold on for a memorable victory?

Lap 29: Piastri executes another confident overtake as we get back underway, squeezing past Gasly into P3. Meanwhile, Russell has been handed a five-second penalty by the stewards following his collision with Verstappen.

SAFETY CAR: Debris from the incident between Verstappen and Russell has seen the second safety car of the race called. Perez pits, meaning Leclerc re-takes the lead.

Lap 25: Contact between Verstappen and Russell! The Dutchman dives down the inside and debris goes flying, including a chunk of his front wing. Both drivers are carrying on.

Lap 24: After being stuck behind Zhou for a period, Verstappen is starting to charge through the field. He's three seconds behind Leclerc but will need to overtake Russell and Sainz first.

Lap 22: Leclerc pits for hard tires and comes out in P3. Perez takes the race lead for now.

Lap 18: Hamilton and Piastri make contact, with both drivers picking up some damage and consequently entering the pits. Race control decides no action is necessary.

LAP 17/50

Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri make contact!

The Mercedes driver picks up a puncture and Piastri damage to his car #LasVegasGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/SDDg5T5tfi

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 19, 2023

Lap 17: Leclerc takes the lead! The Monegasque driver sails past Verstappen, who heads straight to the pits and serves his five-second penalty.

Lap 16: Things are getting interesting at the front now... Leclerc is on the gearbox of Verstappen as he looks to seize back the lead.

Lap 15: Sargeant is beginning to struggle now, dropping down to P9. 

Lap 11: Gasly sets the fastest lap of the race, clocking a 1:39.005. The Frenchman sits in fourth and has built a comfortable gap to the Williams duo behind him.

Lap 10: Piastri is flying here. The Australian began the race in P18 but now finds himself in P8 courtesy of the safety car and some nice overtakes.

Lap 8: Verstappen has been handed a five-second penalty for pushing Leclerc off the track on the opening lap. Ferrari would have likely preferred a position swap though, with the Red Bull driver already two seconds ahead...

Lap 6: The safety car is in and we're back racing. Verstappen gets away smoothly as Piastri makes a confident overtake on Tsunoda to get himself into the points.

Lap 5: Race control has noted the opening lap incident involving Verstappen and Leclerc.

SAFETY CAR: Norris loses control of his McLaren, sliding down the track and slamming into the barrier. He has reported that he is okay on the radio. With a full safety car called, the majority of the grid is pitting now. 

LAP 4/50

⚠️ SAFETY CAR ⚠️

Norris is out of the race and in the barriers, he jumps on the radio to say "I'm okay" #LasVegasGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/hYjo1rkUAR

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 19, 2023

Lap 2: A virtual safety car has been called, with Perez and Alonso pitting immediately.

LIGHTS OUT: We're underway in Las Vegas! Verstappen gets away well and muscles himself onto the racing line and into the lead, appearing to push Leclerc off the track. There's a tangle in the middle of the grid too with Alonso spinning out and finding himself in last place. 

10 mins to lights out: Donny Osmond performs The Star-Spangled Banner to a rapturous round of applause. Not far away now.

15 mins to lights out: Unsurprisingly, the grid is full of celebrities ahead of the race.

Shaquille O'Neal, Kylie Minogue, Gordon Ramsay, Zlatan Ibrahimović and will.i.am are among some of the famous faces in attendance.

The stars have come out to play in Las Vegas! ⭐️#LasVegasGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/2dNfeHkfpd

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 19, 2023

30 mins to lights out: Leclerc and Verstappen are likely to be battling it out for the win this evening, but we can't discount the potential for a shock result.

Last night's qualifying tossed up some surprises, with both Williams drivers — Albon and Sargeant — earning a spot on the third row. Ahead of them, Gasly will begin from P4 for Alpine in his equal-highest grid position for 2023 and is absolutely capable of a podium. 

Since the Las Vegas Strip Circuit is a street track, there is also the possibility for a red flag to cause chaos and shake up the grid further.

45 mins to lights out: Tonight's race is a late one, scheduled to start at 10:00 p.m. local time. Notably, Americans on the east coast will have to tune in at 1:00 a.m. to catch the action live despite living in the same country.

Las Vegas Grand Prix CEO Renee Wilm explained the decision: "That was actually a compromise to make sure we are broadcasting at a time when our European fans can get up with a cup of coffee and watch the race six, seven in the morning, very similar to how we [in the US] watch the European races.

"So that was actually a very important component of planning out our sequencing for the race weekend."

1 hour to lights out: Murphy's law is in full effect in Vegas this weekend, it appears. One of the classic cars used in the drivers' parade has seemingly had an oil leak, creating quite a mess on Leclerc's grid spot.

Oh no. There’s been a lot of something leak onto the grid from the classic cars used for the driver parade. Plenty of clean-up work going on #F1 #LasVegasGP pic.twitter.com/6zZTIzJ7fP

— Chris Medland (@ChrisMedlandF1) November 19, 2023

1 hour 30 mins to lights out: The drivers' parade has been done in true Vegas fashion, with iconic UFC announcer Bruce Buffer introducing the racers to the crowd. Not sure that Perez was the biggest fan, though...

Well, that definitely wasn't awkward.#LasVegasGP

🎥: @F1pic.twitter.com/Dls73bJQCF

— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 Australia (@sportingnewsau) November 19, 2023

2 hours to lights out: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Ferrari were dominant in qualifying last night, with Leclerc taking pole. Can the Monegasque driver secure his first win of 2023 tonight? Teammate Sainz recorded the second-fastest qualifying time, but it will be Red Bull's Verstappen who joins Leclerc on the front row with the Spaniard required to serve a grid penalty following a controversial incident in practice.

F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix starting grid

*Serving a five-place grid penalty

**Serving a 10-place grid penalty

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