2023-11-19 17:28:28
by Flavio Vanetti
The track and the show deserve 10, Verstappen arrogant version, Ocon great comeback (9), Ferrari 8.5: it almost took Mercedes (4) in second place among the constructors
In the homeland of the game, the F1 Alien couldn’t help but… make fun of his opponents. Max Verstappen, who if not him in the night of Las Vegas and his unique setting? By hook and by crook, canceling penalties and even damage to the car, the tri-campeon wrote 18 (i.e. first places in 21 GPs, without forgetting the 3 hits in the sprints) and equaled Sebastian Vettel’s record of successes . But together with him he wins the challenge of bringing the Circus back to the glamorous resort of Nevada: a completely different thing compared to the precedents of 40 years ago.
READ the coverage of the race in Las Vegas HERE
Las Vegas track: 10
Let’s start right here. The lifting of a manhole cover which ruined Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon in rehearsals was the only blemish on a weekend characterized by continuous show, with inevitable kitsch touches but also with the suggestion of a place where it’s good to be. It is no coincidence that Forbes has already qualified this GP as the number 1 event in the world sporting scene, even superior to the football Superbowl. Perhaps it is an exaggeration to think that it is the new frontier of F1, because the model cannot be replicated elsewhere (the imagined lights and roulette among the cows and geese of Spa-Francorchamps?). But Liberty Media can speak of success, also because the track, capable of offering a lively race, with overtaking and little trains, was a pleasant surprise.
Max Verstappen: 53
And Sebastian Vettel, who was raging at Red Bull when he started, is also caught: third place all time among the multiple winners now shared by Seb and Max at 53. But the latter will perhaps disengage already from Abu Dhabi and continue his journey in the cosmos, chasing Schumacher and Hamilton. Verstappen was as usual harsh, excessive (ask Leclerc accompanied off the track at the start), arrogant (Send them my regards he said referring to the stewards who had sanctioned him), fast, implacable even with a car damaged in the collision caused by Russell. The Alien has long since invented the theory of everything applied to F1.
Charles Leclerc: 10
Perez may have been an idiot to let himself be pushed in like that at the last minute, but Leclerc’s overtaking for second place alone was worth the entry ticket. After the pole on Saturday, Charles confirmed his feeling with Las Vegas, also rebelling against the bad luck of the safety car coming out which, for a change, penalized him first of all (he had recently made a pit stop; he couldn’t return, unlike the others, and in the final the tires were less fresh). After the insult of the accident on the formation lap in Sao Paulo he had a surplus of determination: he channeled it as best he could.
Esteban Ocon: 9
He also failed in free practice, but in the comeback the Frenchman from Alpine even did better than Sainz who started further up the grid: fourth place finish against the Ferrari driver’s sixth. He also outclassed teammate Gasly (5) , who was on the second row. Finally, the spat with Verstappen in qualifying is worth remembering: Max may have called him a stupid idiot, but Esteban didn’t hesitate to say he was absolutely crazy.
Ferrari: 8,5
Horned and beaten by the FIA for the conceptually absurd penalty inflicted on Sainz, it was able to react with a display of quality (let’s not forget the 1-2 in qualifying) and, above all, team performance: this is how Mercedes, who in Brazil seemed to have armored second place among the Constructors is once again in doubt because Ferrari is now only 4 points behind, with the idea that they can overtake in the epilogue in Abu Dhabi. Las Vegas is one of the tracks on which the SF-23 performed best: the only flaw was the performance of the hard tyres, lower than the Red Bull.
Lance Stroll: 8
It confirmed Brazil’s fifth place and the impression that it has emerged from the competitive coma into which it had fallen in a disappointing summer. Pap Lawrence, his employer who has been pissed off by his son’s performance for months, puts away the carpet beater.
Sergio Perez: 7.5
In the chaos of the start, the Mexican was hit by debris which immediately forced him into the pits to change the wing (but it went well: it was a Virtual Safety Car regime). Then he made a strong comeback. It would have been a 9, but the rating must be drastically lowered due to the dozing on Leclerc’s attack which sent second place to hell (with the aggravating circumstance that Verstappen had helped him this time, slowing down to let him get into his wake). The arithmetic gives him joy – the title of vice world champion consolidated with a GP to spare – and a slap: Verstappen has more than double the points won by him (549 against 273).
Oscar Piastri: 7
Here and there flashes of clear talent, ultimately ruined by a wrong choice by McLaren which was slow in allowing him to separate the two compounds and prevented him from finishing, as he would have deserved, better than tenth place. So the team deserves 4 (we also need to understand the reasons for the serious mechanical damage that made poor Norris crawl against the barriers, risking his neck).
Carlos Sainz: 6/7
He turns at the start (hitting Hamilton) and an error which, added to the penalty, replaces the seat belts in the cockpit with an annoying hair shirt. Carlos could have just given it a shout out (with a nod to the FIA), but instead he had the merit of doing everything he could… within the limits of what was possible. The sixth place brings fresh hay to the Cavallino farm for the fight in the Constructors’ World Championship.
Mercedes: 5
Again insufficient, indeed basically poor. Russell had more, but the wrong closure on Verstappen was another rookie mistake and not a candidate for the title of top driver (score 5). Hamilton, on the other hand, remained lost in a chaotic race: touched by Sainz at the start and then by Piastri (Normal race accident, but I felt the rear move and had to do a very slow lap), the seven-time world champion discovered how difficult to extract performance from this Mercedes W14.
Fernando Alonso: 5
He makes a mess at the start, exaggerating his enthusiasm, and never recovers much (ninth place). Better Stroll this time: Las Vegas didn’t digest it.
The Americans: 5
In the glittering show of the location, the high notes of Made in America on the track are missing. Logan Sargeant (Williams) deceives himself in qualifying but retreats in the race (penultimate), the Haas confirm that the stars and stripes team deserves last place: the Danish Magnussen only shows up in the first part, the German Hulkenberg ends up betrayed by the single-seater .
Yuki Tsunoda e Vallteri Bottas: 4
It wasn’t a day for the Japanese driver from Alpha Tauri, while Iceman-2 slipped from the fourth row of qualifying to last place (17th) among the classified. In Las Vegas they will name an attraction after him: the Finnish Shrimp.
Fia: 0
A manhole on the track blows, two cars end up damaged, Sainz even risks physical damage and in the end who pays? The driver and the team. The regulation clearly contemplates a black hole (to be eliminated quickly), but common sense should compensate for what the rules do not provide for.
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November 19, 2023 (changed November 19, 2023 | 1.37pm)
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