Ferrari report: Charles Leclerc P2, Carlos Sainz P6 in 2023 F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix. Ferrari race report from the 2023 F1 Las Vegas GP.

Here is our full text transcript from the 2023 Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix:

The waiting is almost over! It’s race day in Las Vegas, which means we will shortly be seeing Formula 1 cars going wheel-to-wheel down The Strip. To add spice to the occasion, pole-sitter Charles Leclerc appears to be in with his best chance of a 2023 victory having stormed to pole position yesterday. World champion Max Verstappen is looking for a record-extending 18th win of the season from second, but would appear to have a major task on his hands. Further back, Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz will be looking to work their way through the field. Get ready for a special night/morning!

Pit lane open! The drivers, including pole-sitter Charles Leclerc, are on their way to the grid.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur on Sky Sports F1: “I hope for him that (he can win). From the beginning of the weekend we have good pace, very consistent. It means that we have to put everything together. We know that the race won’t be easy with the graining and we have to stay aware of it, but let’s have a look first on the launch and Turn 1, but we can be confident.”

ky Sports F1’s Danica Patrick: “The cream rises to the top and there will be some drivers we aren’t used to. I’m sure Max will have a good race but I think Ferrari will be super strong. I’m excited to see how far Carlos Sainz can come from 12th. I think these long straights are going to make for some fun, entertaining passes.”

Interestingly both Verstappen and the Ferrari drivers have no new softs left, so they are probably going to start on the medium tyre to try and go medium-hard. But, third-place driver George Russell does have a new set of softs and if he uses that at the start, he can jump Verstappen, especially as the world champion’s grid slot is on the dirty inside line which now has a load sand and dust on it after Oscar Piastri’s old parade car had an oil spill.

Tyre temperature is the phrase of the morning, or night if you’re in Las Vegas. A one-stop will be possible if you can keep the tyres in the right operating window, so they stay alive. If that happens, they won’t degrade too much. However, find yourself out of that window and the tyres will grain. You will be in big trouble if that happens and two pit stops will be required. So it’s not so much linear degradation for this race, it’s more about the tyre temperature.

The top nine cars are on the mediums, with Lewis Hamilton in 10th on the hards. Zhou Guanyu and Oscar Piastri in 17th and 18th are also on the hards, with Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda on the back row on the softs. Everyone else is on mediums. Polesitter Charles Leclerc leads the 20-driver field away for the formation lap under the Las Vegas lights as local time tips to 10pm.

It’s go go go for the Las Vegas Grand Prix! Verstappen gets a good launch and he dives down the inside of Charles Leclerc to take the lead! They both run wide but it’s Verstappen ahead. George Russell keeps third place and Pierre Gasly is still in fourth. It looks like Lewis Hamilton hasn’t got away well. Lap 2/50: The Virtual Safety Car has been deployed and Sergio Perez pits. Also into the pits come Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas. The marshals are collecting debris at Turn 1 after the Sainz, Alonso and Hamilton incident.

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Lap 3/50: The VSC ends and Leclerc gets a poor restart as Russell is a lot closer to him then the Ferrari driver is to Verstappen.

SAFETY CAR: Norris crashes out! Lap 4/50: Lando Norris is out of the Las Vegas GP. It’s a big crash down at Turn 12. He’s OK and out of the car thankfully. Lap 5/50: The Safety Car is still out there after Norris’ big crash. Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz came into the pit lane for new tyres when the Safety Car came out. Lap 6/50: We are about to go racing again after this dramatic start. Will the drivers have been able to get enough temperature into their tyres running at this controlled speed?

Lap 8/50: Max Verstappen is given a five-second time penalty for forcing Charles Leclerc after the track. He will serve that at his first pit stop. Lap 8/50: Having lost ground to the spinning Alonso at the start, Lewis Hamilton is up into 11th with a nice move around Yuki Tsunoda at the restart. Nico Hulkenberg in 10th is next up for him as he tries to get back into the points.

Lap 11/50: Verstappen is still two seconds ahead with Leclerc, Russell and Gasly all lapping at the same pace as the leader.

Lap 16/50: Leclerc is really pushing on here and gets within DRS range of Verstappen. Sky Sports F1’s Karun Chandhok from race control says: “Verstappen has been complaining about his tyres saying he’s really struggling.” And Charles Leclerc is back in the lead from Max Verstappen as he coasts by on the Las Vegas Strip. This is great pace from Ferrari. Lap 17/50: And Verstappen pits immediately for a set of hard tyres. He serves his five-second penalty before the crew change his tyres and he comes back out in 11th place. Advantage Leclerc.

Lap 17/50: This is bad news for Lewis Hamilton! Rear-right Mercedes tyre tagged front-left McLaren as Hamilton made a move down the inside of Piastri and the two made contact. Both cars have damage as a result, with Hamilton now dropping all the way to 19th place after pitting for new tyres in what was also a slow stop. Stewards have looked at it and said no further investigation is required.

Lap 18/50: George Russell also pits now and is ahead of Verstappen. It’s not going well for Red Bull in Vegas.

Lap 22/50: A very impressive opening stint from Charles Leclerc as the Ferrari finally pits for the first time. Not a great service mind you – 3.9s – but it’s enough to stay ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz in what stands as third place. He is three cars and three seconds ahead of Verstappen. Lap 22/50: Russell can see the Red Bull of Verstappen getting bigger in his mirrors as he’s forced to follow Alonso for the first half of the lap. He overtakes Alonso on the long run to Turn 14 which puts him in fifth. Verstappen follows through by going down the inside of the Aston Martin driver at Turn 1 and sets about attacking Russell.

Lap 25/50: The second Ferrari goes from fourth to sixth as Russell and then Verstappen breeze past down the straight with DRS. Lap 25/50: Verstappen makes a cheeky move on Russell down the inside at Turn 12. The pair make contact and it looks like Russell comes off worse. Verstappen’s car is “OK” according to Red Bull. Lap 27/50: We have a Safety Car for debris and most drivers are in the pit lane apart from Charles Leclerc!

Lap 28/50: That collision between Verstappen and Russell is under investigation by the stewards. The marshals have swept up the track very quickly and the Safety Car is coming in at the end of this lap. Get ready for more fireworks.

Lap 29/50: We are back to green flag conditions in las Vegas and Oscar Piastri aggressively dives past Pierre Gasly at Turn 4 to take third. What a move! Verstappen tries to join the party as Leclerc leads Perez up front.

The verdict from the stewards’ is in – and they have found George Russell at fault for causing a collision with Max Verstappen in that move a little while ago. The Mercedes driver, who runs ninth, has a 5-second penalty. If he pits again, he’ll serve it then. If not, it’ll be added to his final race time. With Lewis Hamilton down in 17th, this is turning into a very bad race for Mercedes with constructors’ championship rivals Ferrari set to heavily outscore them.

Lap 30/50: Perez is staying with Leclerc and when DRS is enabled after another lap, he might soon be in the lead. The Safety Car has really helped him here. “Perez in the strongest position of the leading runners,” says Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle.

Lap 32/50: Perez now has DRS and gets close into Turn 14 but gets a swapper in the middle of the corner. This is a great battle for the lead and Leclerc is going to have to get his elbows out now.

Lap 33/50: And Sergio Perez has got the job done! Down the Strip, the Red Bull takes the advantage of DRS and slipstream and gets the job done nicely on the brakes on the inside for the left-hander at the bottom. Perez leads the Las Vegas Grand Prix – from 11th on the grid. Lap 33/50: Here comes Verstappen…he goes up the inside of Piastri into Turn 14 and takes third place. Leclerc is a second up the road and Perez isn’t exactly getting away quickly.

Lap 35/50: Hello, hello – what happened there for Sergio Perez!? We said Charles Leclerc was staying within DRS range – and the Ferrari now gets past at the bottom of the Strip!

“Perez thought about turning in but it was too late,” says Martin Brundle. “He just cruised up and passed him!” To make matters worse for Sergio, Max Verstappen is now on his tail in the sister car…

Lap 36/50: Well, the last two laps haven’t gone too well for Sergio Perez. At all. Lead lost, now second place lost, as Max Verstappen breezes past down the Strip. The Dutchman offers some help over team radio by suggesting they can work together to reel in Leclerc. But it’s now definitely advantage Max again here. Lap 37/50: Wow. Another lead change and Verstappen goes up the inside of Leclerc at Turn 14. Leclerc actually brakes later but Verstappen rolls his car into the corner and has the inside. What a race so far!

Lap 40/50: Alex Albon was running in the points but goes wide at Turn 4. Carlos Sainz takes advantage as do Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. It feels like those three drivers have been fighting for the same piece of track since the start.

Lap 43/50: Oh Charles! He couldn’t quite slow down in time for the left-hander onto the Strip, running slightly wide as a result, and Sergio Perez gleefully slipped by to take second second place. Red Bull run one-two, with Leclerc now down into third.

Lap 47/50: They inadvertently met at the start, when the Aston Martin spun in front of the Mercedes, and now Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton are together again into the closing laps. No contest here for pace at this stage of the race as Mercedes powers past on the straight. That’s eighth for Hamilton, which will become seventh after team-mate George Russell’s 5s penalty is factored in.

Lap 48/50: Leclerc is back within one second of Perez and is fighting back. Perez hasn’t got second place fully secured yet.

Perez passed on last lap again! Max Verstappen wins the Las Vegas Grand Prix and Charles Leclerc fends off Sergio Perez at the line by 0.171s! What a race.