A second safety car stint in the Vegas race occurred to clear debris from the track after Max Verstappen and George Russell clashed on lap 25 of 50 – the Mercedes driver picked up a five-second penalty and he admitted to not seeing the Red Bull driver’s lunge at Turn 12.
While the safety car gave Sergio Perez a cheap second pitstop, as he pitted from the lead for fresh hards to return in second place behind Leclerc, Red Bull also pitted Verstappen for new hard tyres and he came out in fifth.
Leclerc, who had only made his first pitstop five laps earlier, was kept out by Ferrari as he attempted to make his one-stop strategy work.
But, with the pack backed up behind the safety car, the Red Bulls were able to attack Leclerc, with Verstappen going on to win while the Monegasque beat Perez with a final-lap overtake to claim second place.
While pleased with his best result since the Austrian GP, Leclerc felt victory could have been his without the safety-car intervention.
“Mixed emotions, on one hand I am extremely happy with today’s performance,” Leclerc reflected.
“We didn’t leave anything on the table and, until the very last corner of the last lap, I gave it my all and managed to get that second place. But, on the other hand, I’m disappointed, as I really believed that without the safety car the win was ours.
Source: Autosport