Lewis Hamilton said the Las Vegas Grand Prix defied the doubters who questioned whether Formula 1’s newest event would be a success.
F1 spent huge sums adding a new race which incorporated the Las Vegas Strip. The event has been extensively hyped since it was announced early last year.However, the weekend got off to a bad start when practice was disrupted when a broken water valve caused damage to two cars within 10 minutes of the first session beginning. Fans were then forbidden from watching the second session from the grandstands, causing further complaints.
The event ran more smoothly from then on and the race proved one of the more competitive seen this season as Charles Leclerc fought the Red Bull pair for victory. Hamilton also had an eventful but less successful race, passing several drivers but also being involved in two incidents on his way to seventh place.
Nonetheless Hamilton was pleased the race had gone well and said it had proved the event’s critics wrong. “The race was great,” he said. “It was one of the best races.
“So many people, all the media, everyone’s been so negative about this race and about the show and all that. Just let it be and see how it goes. Great race, this is like Baku but better.”
Prior to the race Hamilton expressed the view overtaking would be difficult. However passing appeared to be straightforward for drivers, potentially due to the extension of one DRS zone by 50 metres before final practice.
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One of the strongest critics of the race, Max Verstappen, said he was not impressed by the track and prefers driving at F1’s older venues like Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps. Hamilton said Vegas showed it deserves a place on the calendar.
“So I think really hats off to the people that run the show and I can’t wait to come back and hopefully have a better race here next year.”
“I think Vegas put on a great event,” he added. “Next year’s going to be even bit better. Now we’ve gone through it once there’ll be loads of learnings and really grateful for Vegas for having us.”
Verstappen, who won the race, said it had been fun but “I always expected it to be a good race today.”
“Like I said before, long straights, low speed corners, you don’t lose a lot of downforce – so that has never been my issue.
“But today was fun. That’s the only thing I want to say about it. I think today was fun, I hope everyone enjoyed it. I think the DRS effect was strong, but good. It made fun racing out there.”
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