The Latest Breaking News from L Norris

Verstappen overcame a penalty for clashing with Leclerc on the first lap and had to drive around damage picked up in another incident with Mercedes driver George Russell.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc topped a disrupted opening day of running at Vegas that was marred by questions over track safety after the cars of both Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon were damaged beyond repair in a manhole cover strike.

Verstappen grabbed a much stronger launch off the line when the lights went out, and took advantage of a passive Norris to thread his Red Bull down the inside.

All 20 drivers wasted no time getting out as the condensed sprint race format only leaves teams a single hour practice to nail down their set-ups for the entire weekend.

All 20 drivers wasted no time getting out as the condensed sprint race format only leaves teams a single-hour practice to nail down their set-ups for the entire weekend.

The victory gives Verstappen a new record for most F1 wins in a single season, this his 16th 2023 triumph after he scored 15 last year.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen scored pole position in Mexico last year, leading the Mercedes of George Russell. 

With the prospect of breaking his own record for the most wins in a season should he chalk up a 16th success of 2023 in Mexico, Verstappen enjoyed a strong start to the weekend by topping both FP1 and FP2 in his RB19.

After Daniel Ricciardo, Norris, Verstappen and Alex Albon had enjoyed brief spells in the top spot during the opening quarter of the one-hour session, Verstappen seized it again with a 1m19.511s set on the standard 2023 Pirelli C4 mediums rather than the prototype variety he had started on before pitting…