The reigning F1 World Champion, Max Verstappen, raced superbly to take the win at the inaugural Miami Grand Prix. The Dutchman took the lead away from the Reds of Charles LeClerc and Carlos Sainz in the early stages of the race. It was only the safety car phase, 16 laps before the finish that could have altered Verstappen’s dominance on the quick Miami track, but Max kept his cool and got the job done.
The Race
A hot and sweltering Miami GP is behind us, and if you can get away from the fake marina and yachts, there was a lot that unfolded at one of the F1’s many new circuits. We saw some critical battles for the victory, podiums, and team upgrades at the race.
After failing to clinch the top spot in Saturday’s Quali, come race day, Max Verstappen dominated against his main championship contenders on Sunday.} Even the sassy Charles Leclerc couldn't keep the Dutchman's immense pace.
Max started from P3. After destroying Sainz at the start within the first few corners, Verstappen soon set his sights on LeClerc. The Monegasque was softer in his defense and the Dutchman managed to get past and take the lead by Lap 9. From there on, the race was honestly quite monotonous.
Things got a lot more interesting from lap 39 onwards when Alonso bumped Gasly from behind, causing damage to the Frenchman’s car. A few laps later, on lap 41, Lando Norris was caught out by a slow-moving Galsy, spinning out and retiring the McLaren. It began with a VSC followed by a full-on safety car. This played out perfectly in Mercedes driver, Russel’s favor who was indeed looking for a cheap pitstop.
On the restart, Carlos Sainz restored confidence in the car and held off Perez on much fresher medium tires. The Mexican tried to attack with a new set of tires at the end of the home straight with an impulsive braking action.
In the closing phases of the race, Sebastian Vettel collided with Mick Schumacher at turn one leading Aston Martin to retire. Further up the field, both Silver Arrows drivers continued to struggle but managed to avoid mishaps and finish third behind Perez's Red Bull. Valtteri went wide which cost him two positions to the Mercs.
With just a handful of laps to go, LeClerc was gunning it and with the added benefit of DRS, the Ferrari was within striking distance of Max, but the Dutchman managed to keep his composure and didn’t make any rash decisions. Charles backed off in the penultimate lap and Verstappen went on to take the win for the bulls, after 57 gut-wrenching laps at the Hard Rock Stadium.
Mercedes finished the fifth weekend of the season with a two-point haul, with George Russell fifth and Lewis Hamilton sixth. Russell stunned everyone this weekend by outperforming seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Where Things Stand
We’re heading to Spain next with Charles Leclerc leading the championship with 104 points, while Max Verstappen is second with 85. Team, Sergio Perez is in third place with 66 points. Red Bull will obviously also be vying for the constructor's championship this season and the Reds are currently only six points ahead of Ferrari.
You can catch the highlights in the video below:
