Verstappen overcomes penalty to win Las Vegas GP

Max Verstappen has won the Las Vegas Grand Prix, converting his front-row starting position into victory.

The Red Bull driver was issued a time penalty for overtaking pole sitter Charles Leclerc while running off the track, however it didn't dent his pursuit to win the Grand Prix.

He also survived contact with Mercedes' George Russell as they battled for position midway through the race.

Leclerc had to settle for second place after a last lap overtake on Sergio Perez to secure his fifth podium of the campaign.

The other Red Bull of Perez crossed the line in third place to ensure he ends the season second in the Drivers' Championship.

Verstappen made to work for victory

Verstappen took the lead on the opening lap of the race after running off the road at Turn 1 along with Leclerc, copping a five-second time penalty as a result.

Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz also came together at the first corner while Fernando Alonso found himself facing the wrong way after losing grip through the turn.

Lando Norris became the first retirement of the race on lap four when he lost his car under braking and hit the wall.

It caused the first of two Safety Cars, with the second one midway through the race changing the face of the race.

Perez pitted at the end of the first lap and rejoined the pack under the first Safety Car. The second Safety Car brought him into contention as he pitted once again and filtered out in a net second place behind Leclerc.

Shortly after the restart, Perez used his fresher tyres to get ahead of Leclerc but found himself back behind the Ferrari driver a few laps later.

A handful of corners later, Verstappen moved ahead of Perez and set off in pursuit of Leclerc.

Verstappen then completed the overtake on the Monegasque driver and stretched out his lead to take the first ever race win at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.

After making a mistake to drop behind Perez, Leclerc made a successful late-race lunge on Perez to reclaim second place.

Esteban Ocon scored a strong result for Alpine as he crossed the line in fourth place, ahead of Lance Stroll who enjoyed a similarly strong Grand Prix.

Russell crossed the line in fourth place but a five-second penalty for contact with Verstappen earlier in the race saw him drop to eighth.

Carlos Sainz was sixth ahead of Hamilton and the demoted Russell. Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri rounded out the top 10.