Martin Brundle seriously impressed with ‘outstanding’ driver during Las Vegas GP

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Martin Brundle has admitted that he was seriously impressed with Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc during the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

It was a thrilling race on the streets of Sin City, and Martin Brundle and David Croft were commentating for Sky Sports F1.

There was plenty of discussion at the start of the race over an incident going into turn one.

Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were neck and neck going into the corner and although the Dutchman emerged in front, he was given a five-second penalty for his troubles.

However, there were plenty of changes for the lead throughout the Grand Prix, with Leclerc overtaking the Dutchman on track before the first round of pit stops.

The key moment of the Grand Prix was caused by a collision between Verstappen and George Russell which brought out the safety car.

Red Bull twisted, bringing in both drivers to change onto fresher hard tyres, while Ferrari kept Leclerc out.

Ultimately, the five extra laps Leclerc had driven on the hard compound cost him in an extremely tight battle with Verstappen.

Brundle admitted that Leclerc’s drive in Las Vegas was incredibly impressive.

The Monegasque driver admitted he got ‘very unlucky’ during the safety car phase by not pitting, but he has to be happy with his effort on track.

His move to claim second place off Perez on the final lap of the race was one of the best moves of the season from the 26-year-old.

Brundle impressed with Leclerc in Las Vegas

Speaking after the chequered flag had been waved by Justin Bieber, David Croft said: “Despite starting on pole and failing to win for the twelfth time in a row, he very much deserves driver of the day there.

“That was a super move on Sergio Perez on the very last lap, he came from a long way back.”

Martin Brundle added: “He did, I completely agree with that driver of the day, he was simply outstanding today.

“But not quite outstanding enough [for the win].”

The Formula 1 fans watching on agreed with Brundle that Leclerc was the driver of the day in Las Vegas.

There was plenty of scepticism around whether this would be more of a show than a race this weekend.

However, the track really delivered and the decision to award Las Vegas a 10-year contract looks like a good one right now.

Even if there was some last-minute panic about whether an oil spill on the grid could make a difference, it certainly didn’t affect Verstappen’s launch off the grid.

Leclerc will ultimately be pleased to have finished on the podium again even if that race win still eludes him.

He’ll hope his fortunes change in Abu Dhabi, otherwise, he’ll be waiting until 2024 to stand on the top step of the podium once again.