LAS VEGAS — A crash-marred Las Vegas Grand Prix saw Max Verstappen overcome a time penalty and win his 18th Formula 1 race of the season Saturday night.
Verstappen overcame a five-second penalty after race officials ruled he forced Charles Leclerc off track in passing for the lead early in the race.
The penalty was added to Verstappen’s first pit stop.
The Red Bull driver romped back through the field but damaged his front wing in a collision with Mercedes driver George Russell.
A yellow flag ensued and Verstappen pitted for fresh tires, which allowed him to romp past teammate Sergio Perez and Leclerc to take the victory.
“It was a tough one,” Verstappen said. “I tried to go for it [with Leclerc] at the start. I think we both braked quite late, then I just ran out of grip and we ended up a bit wide, so the stewards gave me a penalty for that.
“Of course, that put us a little bit on the backfoot, I had to pass quite a few cars, then the Safety Car [came out] again. At the point already there was a lot going on in the race. Once we had the message to the end we could go flat-out.
“You could clearly see with the DRS around here it was very powerful, so even when you would take the lead, if the guy behind would stay in the DRS, he would still have an opportunity to come back at you. I think it created quite a lot of good racing, so it was definitely a lot of fun.”
Leclerc finished second for Ferrari, with Perez claiming the final spot on the podium.
Esteban Ocon finished fourth for Alpine, while Lance Stroll was fifth for Aston Martin.
Carlos Sainz came home sixth in the second Ferrari, while Lewis Hamilton took seventh for Mercedes.
