WATCH: Verstappen Pushes Leclerc Off Track In First Lap Of Las Vegas Grand Prix

Sunday, 19 November 2023 at 07:30

Updated at Sunday, 19 November 2023 at 10:06

Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc had a very hard fight in the opening lap of the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix.

With the Ferrari and Red Bull drivers next to each other on the grid, it was expected that we'll see a hard fight going into Turn 1 at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, and the expectations were met.

Ferrari were supposed to have a front-row lockout, but because of Carlos Sainz's grid penalty, the Spanish driver was dropped to the 12th position, and Verstappen was promoted to second place next to Leclerc.

With the Dutchman having a better start than his Monegasque opponent, the three-time World Champion almost managed to get side-by-side before Turn 1, and when both cars were already turned, Verstappen was seemingly leading.

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However, it appeared that the Dutch driver has misjudged the corner, as he pushed Leclerc off the track, and the pole-sitter had no chance to respond to the move as he was already wide off to defend himself.

The move wouldn't be very controversial, had Verstappen stayed on the race track, however, the 2023 World Drivers' Championship victor didn't manage to do that, as both of his wheels left the track.

Leclerc immediately requested the position back, as according to the Ferrari driver, he was pushed wide and the position should have been returned immediately. On his radio, he said:

"This needs to be addressed now. It is a joke, if he keeps the position. He wasn't in front at the apex, and he pushed me wide, so he needs to give that position back.

— Charles Leclerc

On the other hand, Red Bull's race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase and the team thought that their driver was ahead, as he informed him via radio, with the Dutch driver agreeing.