World No.3 Jon Rahm decided to quit Rory McIlroy’s new league earlier this month which led to initial rumours that the Masters champion could sign up for LIV Golf

This season, James Hinchcliffe, driver of the Indianapolis 500, is summarizing the weekend’s heroes exclusively for F1.com following each Grand Prix. These are his choices from the first-ever Grand Prix in Las Vegas.

Esteban Ocon, P4
On a weekend when the Alpine had unexpected speed, the Frenchman’s race was expertly performed. Due to difficulties during qualifying, he began the race in 16th place, which is obviously upsetting considering that his teammate is already on the second row.

He did a good job of avoiding the chaos at Turn 1 and eliminating one or two more cars to gain nine spots before Lando Norris’ safety car was deployed.

After the race restarted, Ocon skillfully struck a compromise between tire degradation and lap time, allowing him to extend his first stint by many circuits and advance the field. This took some dexterity and caution to ensure you had enough tires to push at the conclusion of a stint, but it was easier to accomplish at Vegas due to the lower temperatures that permitted drivers to push harder than in a high-deg track like Brazil.

In order to contextualize this achievement, Pierre Gasly began 12 spots higher and on the exact same strategy, was over taken by his teammate on lap 35.

His fifth on the road became fourth after George Russell’s penalty, and it was a welcome reward for a team that had to change a chassis after that bizarre drain cover incident in FP1.

Lance Stroll – P5

Following practice, neither Aston Martin driver demonstrated the speed that was anticipated, and Stroll was further hindered by a five-place penalty for a yellow flag infraction during the third practice session.

Stroll, who was starting from the bottom position in the race, decided to take a chance and go with the less preferred soft tire in the hopes of getting a head start and an early Safety Car, or VSC, to change to a more suitable tire.

As they had hoped, Stroll navigated the mayhem at Turn 1 to emerge an incredible ten places ahead of the field, putting on hard tires and into the pits beneath the Norris Safety Car. Because of the lower temperatures, the over-cut was less of a penalty—possibly even an advantage—than it would have been in most races, and Stroll’s excellent middle stint let him finish in P7 following his last stop.

He managed the tyres and executed some amazing moves despite using the same rubber as many around him, finishing an impressive, if quiet, fifth place. From beginning to end, the Grand Prix was flawless and error-free.

Charles Leclerc – P2

Leclerc will be devastated that he was unable to turn a pole position into a victory once more, but his effort was worthy of a winner.

It all began with him keeping his composure after getting run off the road at T1. Before the first stop, he pushed to keep the Red Bull player in reach, knowing that Max Verstappen would receive a penalty. In addition, he handled his mediums more skillfully and overtook Verstappen before the first stops.

It’s the first time in who knows how long that Verstappen has been bested in a straight up fight over a stint. Then the race was going Leclerc’s way until a Safety Car brought the field together and – crucially – brought Verstappen from 15 seconds behind the Ferrari man to under four when the restart took place.

His back-and-forth battle with Sergio Perez in the final stint was nail biting stuff, and the last lap pass for second was the stuff of legend. He did everything possible to maximise his day and finished closer to Verstappen across the line than anyone else has managed this year.

George Russell – P8

Running in the top five, Russell was enjoying his race until he made contact with Verstappen, which caused damage to his Mercedes. It then, for some reason, turned into a terrific race.

He came out in ninth place after stopping under the Safety Car, as many others did, and many assumed it was probably as high as he would go with his sick car.

About ten laps remaining, he passed Alex Albon for eighth place after spending the majority of the following stint in the lead. Inspired by a radio communication from team manager Toto Wolff, he went on to overtake the leading cars, resulting in an incredible final lap battle to the line for fourth with Ocon, whom he narrowly defeated on the last lap.

With a damaged car and limited time, his last 10 laps of that Grand Prix were simply sublime. It’s a real shame the penalty incurred for the Verstappen contact robbed him of the deserved final classification and dropped him four places back down to eighth.

Oscar Piastri – P10

McLaren had an odd weekend from beginning to end. However, Piastri’s performance should be the only thing to take pride in following a spectacular drive from grid position 18.

He started on the hard tires, one of the few, and made excellent use of the over-cut. He was up to sixth before his first stop because to his extraordinary tire management skills, which he maintained while still making passes on time.

He was committed to a two stop plan at the critical moment, which occurred when the team fitted another set of hards. Many were able to pull in for a free stop when the Safety Car emerged somewhat after halfway, but the rookie was unable to maintain a set of mediums and had to remain outside.

His actual ability was revealed as he ran fourth on the road with lap speeds to match, but the mandatory late stop dropped him to P10 at the finish, with an additional point for the fastest lap just for good measure. Even while it wasn’t the team’s ideal outcome, it was still a really strong drive.