Viva Las Vegas! Max Verstappen finally cracks a smile as he channels his inner Elvis by SINGING his way across the chequered flag at the Las Vegas Grand Prix… despite moaning about the race all weekend!
- RACE REPORT: Max Verstappen chalks up his 18th win of the season in Las Vegas
- Red Bull drivers donned Elvis Presley-inspired race suits for the Sin City race
- Fans were left in hysterics at Verstappen singing his way across the finish line
Max Verstappen showed off his singing voice as he channelled his inner Elvis Presley at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
As the Dutchman cruised across the finish line, with pop star Justin Bieber waving the chequered flag, his Red Bull engineers played Elvis’ hit ‘Viva Las Vegas’ through the team radio.
Verstappen, who has spent much of this weekend moaning about the off-track focus in Vegas, claiming he felt ‘like a clown’ during Wednesday’s opening ceremony, was swept up in the moment as he decided to sing along.
‘Viva Las Vegas! Viva Las Vegas!’ Verstappen sang, before chuckling to himself as he waved to the crowd.
He is then told to head to the pits, with one Red Bull staffer joking they should ‘call him Elvis’, which Verstappen soon dismissed: ‘Don’t do that!’
WATCH BELOW
Max Verstappen, wearing an Elvis-inspired race suit, sang his way to Las Vegas GP glory
The Red Bull world champion broke into song at the chequered flag to the surprise of fans
F1 fans were totally caught off guard by Verstappen’s singing, but many absolutely loved it.
‘Verstappen singing again on the radio, this should become a new tradition,’ one fan wrote.
Another said: ‘If that was just Verstappen singing Viva Las Vegas that was hysterical’
‘He loves a race like that,’ team boss Christian Horner told Sky F1.
‘Even though he was on the end of a penalty. When he came back… the way he fought. I think he changed his mind about Vegas.’
Vegas put on a spectacle for it’s first return for F1 racing there since the 80s – but Verstappen was finding it hard to warm up to.
Nonetheless, he soon found his groove as the weekend came along and organisers will have been delighted to have seen the Dutchman singing his way to glory at the end, clad in a special Elvis race-suit.
Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Perez, who finished third, raced under the lights in specially designed race suits emulating the styles of the ‘King of Rock and Roll’ Elvis Presley.
Perez was dressed in red while Verstappen donned a striking white suit (capes not included).
In the cool down car Verstappen (middle) even joked about heading to a nightclub post race
After the race, the Elvis suits will go on display at Elvis’s mansion – Graceland in Tennessee
‘As we gear up for the first ever Grand Prix in Las Vegas, it’s only fitting that we pay tribute to the most prolific Las Vegas icon, Elvis Presley,’ said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.
‘Elvis left his mark on Vegas and the world, becoming synonymous with the glitz, the flash, and the energy of the strip, something we are hoping to replicate as we take to the track on Saturday night.’
With Verstappen’s win now secured, the suits will now be transported to Elvis Presley’s mansion – Graceland, in Memphis, Tennessee – where they will be displayed.
The top three, which included Charles Leclerc finishing second, were escorted to the podium in a Rolls-Royce Phantom, only adding to the Vegas touches.
Leclerc asked what the drivers were planning to do to celebrate.
‘Straight to the nightclub!’ Verstappen said.
His tone showed a marked improvement from the grumpy Verstappen that stalked the grid in recent days.
‘Monaco I think is Champions League,’ Verstappen declared on Saturday after qualifying third. ‘This is National League.’
He added that people come to Sin City to get ‘s***-faced’ rather than for the motor racing
The famous Las Vegas strip has been turned into a $500million race track for the event
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