F1 Las Vegas GP Race Notes: Leclerc Masterclass, Perez Locked P2 in Standings

Rindi Putra
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F1 Las Vegas GP Race Notes: Leclerc Masterclass, Perez Locked P2 in Standings

F1 Las Vegas GP Race Notes: Leclerc Masterclass, Perez Locked P2 in Standings

This year's inaugural Formula 1 event in Las Vegas presents a lot to discuss. Apart from being held in the middle of the iconic city of Las Vegas, this race also presents various kinds of controversies outside of the race. But this time we will just focus on the race which can be said to be quite entertaining. The following are the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix race records.

Dominated by a long straight line, this race presents overtaking action on a straight line and also tests the courage of who can be 'the last to brake'. The cold circuit conditions also add to the challenge because the racers have to maintain the temperature of the tires and brakes so that they continue to work optimally.

The highlight for me personally was the neat performance of Charles Leclerc who was able to steal second place from Sergio Perez. Leclerc's attacking style reminds me of Daniel Ricciardo when he was still racing for the Red Bull team.

World Class performance from Charles Leclerc

Even though he has added to the record of "only winning pole or not", Charles Leclerc's performance at the Las Vegas GP is really worth watching, especially for those of you who like overtaking with the late braking method, Charles Leclerc's performance in this race was very satisfying.

It is not surprising that the audience chose Charles Leclerc as "Driver of the day" in this Las Vegas Grand Prix race.

Nothing more we could have done. Shame for the safety car but I enjoyed this race. See you in Abu Dhabi 🤍

- Charles Leclerc via. X

Even though he managed to achieve pole position, it is no longer a secret that the Red Bull car is still better than the Ferrari, therefore, Leclerc really deserves the DOTD title because he was able to provide fierce resistance until the end of the race to the two Red Bull drivers.

Charles Leclerc's performance in Las Vegas reminds me of Daniel Ricciardo's performance when he raced for Red Bull where he was often nicknamed "the master of late braking".

Max Verstappen is still on a different level

Even though he received a 5-second penalty due to an incident on the first lap, it didn't make Max Verstappen weak in the slightest, he still came out as the race champion. Even in radio communication, Max seemed relaxed when he received the news of the penalty and seemed confident that he could compensate for the penalty.

Not only did he have to compensate for the five-second penalty, Verstappen also had to adjust his racing style after his car received damage (front wing damage) after colliding with George Russel's car on lap 25.

Even with conditions like that, Verstappen was still able to stay away from the other racers behind him. It looks like Max Verstappen has to be given ballast so he can be chased by other racers. Hehe... Even though Max won the race again, in this race Max had to work harder.

Let's gooo guys!!! 💪 Another amazing result @redbullracing 👏

Had a lot of fun out there today, great racing! 🙌 See you next year Vegas 🎲🎰

- Max Verstappen

A high-risk strategy for Tsunoda

From several graphs about the Las Vegas GP, there are interesting things about tire selection strategies and pit stop times. Yuki Tsunoda, who started with Soft tires, always made a pit stop or changed tires a few laps before the safety car appeared.

F1 Las Vegas GP Race Notes: Leclerc Masterclass, Perez Locked P2 in Standings
Image source: Formula Data Analysis

This is interesting because Tsunoda's pit stop strategy is like closing his eyes to the racing conditions which change every moment. When other teams were willing to wait for the moment (safety car), Yuki Tsunoda replaced the tires prematurely and not once, but twice.

Yuki Tsunoda himself confirmed during an interview that he chose an unreasonable strategy because his car was basically slow in Las Vegas. Therefore, he must be willing to take risks from a strategic perspective.

Not a good weekend for us. Our pace wasn't as strong here as other races, so I wanted to try a completely different setup to get closer to the top 10 for qualifying. In the end it didn't work so my race wasn't competitive, but I'm happy that I got to try something at least

- Yuki Tsunoda

From this, it can be seen that Tsunoda was committed to the undercut strategy, and after the race was over it was discovered that the undercut strategy was very ineffective and even detrimental. Plus, you lose the moment to change tires when the safety car comes out.

Sergio Perez locked 2nd position in the drivers' standings

After almost being overtaken by Lewis Hamilton in the drivers' championship position, Sergio Perez can finally breathe a sigh of relief because he managed to lock in second place in this year's drivers' standings.

After failing to score points in Mexico, Sergio Perez's position in the drivers' standings is increasingly threatened by Lewis Hamilton, who appears consistent even with a less competitive car. But in the end, Perez secured the title thanks to the points he achieved in Las Vegas.

What a great comeback! We were close to winning, but we had too much downforce which reduced our top speed. Great job by Max and Charles. I'm very happy to have secured the runner-up spot after such a tough season.

- Sergio Perez

After the Las Vegas GP, Sergio Perez managed to collect 273 points, 41 points different from Hamilton who had 232 points. With this result, Sergio Perez has officially locked in second place and Hamilton has locked in third place in the 2023 F1 drivers' standings.

Solid performances from Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon

At this Las Vegas Grand Prix, we were presented with very solid performances from Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon. Starting from 19th position, Stroll managed to keep climbing and finished in fifth position. This is also inseparable from the pit stop strategy taken.

Stroll entered the pit (changed tires) only in safe conditions, that way he didn't lose too much time. Apart from that, Stroll's performance as a racer also looks very good. Even though it is rarely shown on live broadcasts, Lance Stroll has done very brave overtakes several times.

Almost the same as Stroll, Esteban Ocon started from behind P-16 but was able to finish in fourth position which was an extraordinary achievement. Because in previous races, the fourth position was usually filled by the winning teams.

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Rindi Putra
Rindi Putra
Graphic Designer & Technology Junkie Graduated with 'International Trade Management' Major | 2 Years of Professional career on International Shipping Company & 3 Years career on Local Fashion Brand Company | 10 Years (and still counting) as Digital content creator. Feel free to connect with me on Social Media Twitter/Instagram: @rindiputra

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