Las Vegas GP driver ratings: Max Verstappen hits the jackpot under the lights

Max Verstappen secured his sixth win of the season after gaining control of the Las Vegas GP on lap one and kept his title hopes alive.

On a day where he could have greatly increased his Championship lead, Lando Norris made a mistake in the opening lap which the Dutchman duly capitalised on, prior to the McLaren driver’s disqualification. Here’s how we rated all 20 drivers from the race in Nevada.

Driver ratings for the Las Vegas GP

Max Verstappen – 9.5

Was rather gifted the lead by Norris but once in front, Verstappen controlled the race with all the craft of a 69-time race winner.

From that opening lap, there never looked like a time when anyone but Verstappen would be the victor and even after Norris was told to ‘go and get’ the Red Bull, Verstappen simply found a different gear.

Job done and his faint hopes of title bid remain alive for now.

George Russell – 8

Vegas has often been a happy hunting ground for Russell and Mercedes and he followed up his win from last year with a podium this time round.

He was a beneficiary of Norris’ run-off in Turn 1 and tried to attack Verstappen but that appeared to cost him as he pitted earlier than the other frontrunners and could not hold on when Norris was the aggressor him late on.

Had he had more pace, Russell may have got back to P2 on track after Norris struggled with an issue in the closing laps, but gained it after Norris was disqualified.

Kimi Antonelli – 8.5

An excellent display of tyre preservation from Antonelli who somehow made hard tyres last almost the entire length of the race.

Starting from 17th, Mercedes needed a strategy curveball if Antonelli was going to finish in the points but it is one thing planning it and it is another executing it.

The youngest driver on the grid duly did that, keeping Piastri behind him late on despite a tyre disadvantage, and had it not been for a false start infraction, he would have finished fourth.

That did not matter though as both Norris and Piastri ahead of him were disqualified, promoting him up to the podium.

Charles Leclerc – 7.5

Would it be crazy to suggest Ferrari had the second-quickest car on the grid? Not based on Leclerc’s pace which makes his qualifying all the more frustrating for the Tifosi.

Leclerc started ninth and after surviving the chaos of the opening lap, he began to make his way up the order.

Unfortunately for him, and as a result of his starting spot, he got caught in a DRS train behind Piastri and Antonelli and had to settle for sixth until the post-race promotion.

Carlos Sainz – 8

Sainz’s best work came in quali as he was third fastest but from then, it always felt like he would be battling to stay that high up.

In the end, Williams just didn’t have the pace of those around them and Sainz sunk down to seventh. But a bit of luck came his way as the McLaren issue saw him rise to fifth.

Isack Hadjar – 7.5

It was back-to-back P8s for Hadjar and it threatened to be even better at one point.

Hadjar was part of a shifting top 5–10 spots but could not keep the likes of Piastri behind. In the end, he slipped to eighth but it is still more points scored in an impressive rookie campaign. He was later promoted up to sixth.

Nico Hulkenberg – 7.5

His team-mate’s kamikaze move early on meant Sauber’s hopes fell to Hulkenberg and he converted on a good quali to finish where he started until the DQs.

Lewis Hamilton – 7

Hamilton qualified last and yet Ferrari believed their car had the pace to make points salvageable, something he did achieve.

It was not the easiest race, not least after Albon drove into the back of him, but Hamilton did make it into the points, even if only in the final spot.

After he made it into the top 10, he seemed to hit a wall and could not get close to Hulkenberg up ahead.

Esteban Ocon – 6.5

Ocon certainly kept Hamilton frustrated for a number of laps but the pace difference between the two cars meant it always looked likely that he would finish outside of the points.

Still, it was a good showing to rise from P13 to P11 and that went to P9 after the DQs.

Oliver Bearman – 6.5

Was part of a Hamilton-Alonso-Bearman train at one point and then produced an excellent overtake to get by the Spaniard.

Late on, he was asked to move aside for Ocon on mediums which meant P12 was all he could hope for. That was until the disqualifications saw him move into the points.

Fernando Alonso – 6

A real lack of pace for Aston this weekend with Alonso qualifying 13th and finishing in the same spot.

Pit opportunities meant he was battling with Hamilton at one point but his former team-mate had the pace advantage to leave him behind. Alonso then lost a spot to Bearman which ultiamtley cost him a point.

Yuki Tsunoda – 3

What more is there to say about Tsunoda’s Red Bull career? While his team-mate in the same car was winning the race, Tsunoda spent more time in danger of being lapped than ever competing for the top spots.

His qualifying was poor, ahead of only Hamilton, and in the race, he made little improvement.

P14 on track and his dreadful year continues.

Pierre Gasly – 5

A long straight like Vegas meant it was always going to be a difficult evening for the underpowered Alpine and Gasly did his best with the tools provided.

The Frenchman qualified 15th but finished only ahead of his team-mate, a crash-involved Lawson and the three retired cars.

More on the Las Vegas GP from PlanetF1.com

? Brutal Norris ‘doesn’t know the rules’ verdict in Verstappen ‘game’
? Oscar Piastri highlights FIA penalty double standards ahead of crunch meeting
? Lewis Hamilton makes damning Ferrari claim in ‘worst season ever’

Liam Lawson – 4

You could never describe Lawson’s races as dull as the Kiwi always seems to find one way or another to be involved in an incident.

This time it was in the very opening lap when he forgot he has a brake pedal and slammed into Piastri.

If he was lucky to avoid a penalty from the stewards, his punishment was damage and he was one of two cars lapped.

Franco Colapinto – 3.5

Another race and another flat performance from Colapinto. Like Gasly, he struggled with straight-line speed but still managed to finish behind Lawson who had damage.

Did not finish

Alex Albon – 4

It was a day where everything seemed to go wrong for Albon who avoided a false start breach, only to crash into the back of Hamilton and pick up a penalty.

That gave him damage and then he pitted to retire midway through the race. To make matters worse, his radio was broken so he was relying on the old-fashioned method of signs by the side of the track for any kind of information.

Gabriel Bortoleto – 2

It’s been a promising season for rookie Bortoleto but in Vegas he produced his most brain-dead mistake so far.

Starting 18th, he dived into Turn 1 with way too much speed and crashed into a helpless Stroll. It was an incident that retired both cars and he has been given a grid penalty for the next race.

Lance Stroll – N/A

Suffered the first lap one retirement of his career but there was nothing he could have done about it as he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time when Bortoleto came flying through.

Disqualified

Lando Norris – 8

It was Norris’ race to win but his desperation to keep Verstappen behind cost him.

When the lights went out, the McLaren driver went uber aggressive with his defence, pulling wide to the left to block Verstappen but did so with such speed that he could not make the first corner.

From there, it was a recovery drive and he did manage to pass Russell but never got close to Verstappen.

Was then disqualified for excessive plank wear.

Oscar Piastri – 6.5

Another thoroughly underwhelming race from Piastri who qualified P5 and only moved up due to the mistakes of others.

Like his team-mate, he had a bad start after Lawson crashed into him but if Norris had the pace to recover, Piastri never really made significant inroads up the order. At one point, he was overtaken by both Hadjar and Leclerc in quick succession but even if he did get past them again, he should really have done better against a rookie driver on very old tyres.

Was then disqualified for excessive plank wear.

Read next: Las Vegas GP: Viva Max Verstappen as Lando Norris pays for Lap 1 mistake