Formula One hit the Las Vegas Strip for the penultimate Grand Prix of the 2023 season for a rare late Saturday night race. The Strip produced fantastic views of Formula One night racing at its best and street circuit speeds nearing 200 mph.

Not only were the views stunning, the action on the track was impressive with active passing in all areas of the field including up front.

Three time World Champion Max Verstappen claimed a record-extending 18th win of the season and 53rd career victory to move level with Sebastian Vettel in third on F1's all-time list of winners.

Pole sitter, Charles Leclerc, took a 27 second lead on the field with a two stop strategy, finally pitting on Lap 22. A Virtual Safety Car on Lap 27 let Verstappen pit for a new set of tires and lined up Leclerc for an almost guaranteed pass later in the race.

Verstappen, who started on the outside of the front row, took the lead from Leclerc on Lap 37 of 50.

Leclerc finished the Las Vegas Grand Prix two seconds behind the 2023 World Champion.

"I didn't leave anything on the table today and the team executed the race perfectly, so I am satisfied with our performance," said Leclerc. "Unfortunately, we had just pitted five laps before the Safety Car and I struggled to get our used Hards back up to temperature at the restart. That's where Max (Verstappen) and Checo (Perez) gained an advantage on fresh tyres and unfortunately, that cost us the win."

"That was a great race. The speeds around here are insane. Long fast straights, lots of slip stream and big breaking zones, Las Vegas was not short on excitement. Max revels in a race like that," said Christian Horner, Red Bull Team Principal, playfully adding, "I think [Max] may have changed his mind about Vegas."

Verstappen's Red Bull partner, Sergio Perez, finished third and also gave Red Bull a one-two finish in the 2023 Driver's Championship with his performance on the track.

Perez took second from Leclerc on Lap 43 of 50; only to give it back to Leclerc on the final lap of the race. It was the second time in as many Grand Prix's that Perez has lost the second place position on the final lap of the race.

To his credit, Perez clawed his way back from the rear of the field after some race start contact required the native of Mexico to pit on Lap 2 for a new front wing.

"Checo was brilliant today as well. Coming from a nose change at the back of the field, making his way up to eventually lead the race," said Horner. "He was so unlucky to lose out on second place but it was enough to see him secure second place in the Championship and we are extremely happy for him and the team."

"We were pushing flat out to the end and on the final lap, I tried to help Checo to give him a bit of slip stream, it's a shame we couldn't convert the one-two in this race but it's great that we've secured the one-two in the Championship this year," said Verstappen.

Alpine's Esteban Ocon and Aston Martin's Lance Stroll had two surprise finishes with Ocon finishing fourth and Stroll finishing fifth. Stroll was one of the few drivers that started the Grand Prix on soft tires.

"That was a fun race! I gained 10 positions in the first corner with a lot of other drivers going wide, moving up from P19 to P9, so it immediately felt like it was all to play for," said Stroll, adding, "From that point, we were on the front foot and attacking throughout the race with a quick car. We made some good strategy calls, pitting under both Safety Cars, and then I was able to pass a few cars into Turn One to secure P5. "

"It was a chaotic start and we managed to keep it clean and gain eight positions on lap one," said Ocon. "After that, we had to be patient, execute a clean race and managing the tyres was really the key. I made some good overtakes along the way and to finish fourth at this amazing venue is really a great result."

Leclerc's teammate, Carlos Sainz, finished sixth with the Silver Arrows of Mercedes Racing's Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finishing seventh and eighth, respectively.

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonzo (P9) and McLaren's Oscar Piastri (P10) rounded out the top 10.

Lando Norris, after launching a hard hit into the barriers on the early race re-start, was taken to the University Medical Center for further checks before being discharged.

Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap

1	Verstappen	Red Bull	50	1h 29:08.209
2	Leclerc		Ferrari		50	+ 0:02.070
3	Perez		Red Bull	50	+ 0:02.241
4	Ocon		Alpine		50	+ 0:18.665
5	Stroll		Aston Martin	50	+ 0:20.067
6	Sainz		Ferrari		50	+ 0:20.834
7	Hamilton	Mercedes	50	+ 0:21.755
8	Russell		Mercedes	50	+ 0:23.091
9	Alonso		Aston Martin	50	+ 0:25.964
10	Piastri		McLaren		50	+ 0:29.496
11	Gasly		Alpine		50	+ 0:34.270
12	Albon		Williams	50	+ 0:43.398
13	Magnussen	Haas		50	+ 0:44.825
14	Ricciardo	AlphaTauri	50	+ 0:48.525
15	Zhou		Alfa Romeo	50	+ 0:50.162
16	Sargeant	Williams	50	+ 0:50.882
17	Bottas		Alfa Romeo	50	+ 1:25.350
18	Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	46	+ 4 Laps
19	Hulkenberg	Haas		45	+ 5 Laps
	Norris		McLaren		2	Accident

(image provided by Aston Martin F1 Media)