Max Verstappen secured a dramatic victory at the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Sunday, in a weekend filled with controversy in Sin City.
The Dutch driver, who has already clinched this year’s championship, tallied his 18th win out of 21 races with only one round left to go.
Verstappen faced a five-second time penalty during the race and also managed to navigate collisions with Charles Leclerc and George Russell.
Ferrari’s Leclerc overtook Sergio Perez on the final lap to claim second place, while British driver Lando Norris was sent to the hospital following a third-lap crash at 180mph.
Lewis Hamilton finished in seventh place.
However, much of the attention surrounding the race was off the track, with the event encountering several issues over the weekend.
Billed as the most expensive race in Formula One history, fans were left disappointed on Thursday when only eight minutes of racing were witnessed during the practice session due to a loose manhole cover causing damage to Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari, bringing the session to a halt.
It took over five hours before cars were allowed back on the track, and by that time, fans had been asked to leave.
Just hours before the race began, organizers were hit with a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of 35,000 fans who were only able to witness a few minutes of the event.
On Saturday, Verstappen compared the flashy, celebrity-laden event to the fifth tier of English football, stating after qualifying: “Monaco is Champions League and this is National League.”
He further expressed, “When I was a young child, it was the emotion of the sport that I fell in love with, and not the show. As a true racer, the show shouldn’t matter.”
Verstappen had criticised the organisation of the race. Pic: AP
The event was teeming with celebrities in and around the paddock, with notable figures such as Kylie Minogue, Justin Bieber, and John Legend making appearances.
The Formula One season will conclude next weekend, with the final race scheduled at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit.
Verstappen and his Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, have already secured first and second place in the championship, while Hamilton is in third place.
Red Bull will claim the season’s constructors’ trophy.