Max Verstappen fought back from a five-second penalty and dropping to fifth to win a 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.
Verstappen, his team-mate Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc swapped and re-swapped places throughout as they fought for the podium positions.
Verstappen moved into the lead with 16 laps to go but Leclerc passed Perez back on the final lap to secure second.
Russell charged back to fourth on the road with a series of late passes – including a move into Turn 14 on Esteban Ocon on the last lap – but his penalty after colliding with Verstappen dropped him to eighth in the final results.
Ocon, who had battled by team-mate Gasly a few laps after the second safety car in a tough but fair intra-Alpine scrap, therefore got fourth back, with Stroll fading only to fifth after his earlier gains – the Canadian like Perez also making use of a stop under the second safety car.
Sainz recovered from his Turn 1 contact, damage and first stop under the VSC to finish sixth, with Hamilton ending seventh having had a bruising race that included contact with Piastri in the midfield action just before the first round of pitstops.
Alonso also battled back to finish ninth on an effective one-stopper after his lap-one incident and pitstop later on that tour, while Piastri came home in the final points-paying position.
