Red Bull finishes 1 & 4, Ferrari 2 & 3, and Mercedes 5 & 6 in maiden Miami GP.
MIAMI, Florida—Max Verstappen avoided a last-minute challenge from Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc on Sunday afternoon to win the inaugural Miami Grand Prix at the Miami International Autodrome. Verstappen’s victory margin was three seconds. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. took third.
Max Verstappen: We still have a few issues we have to solve. I mean, we are quick, but my Friday was terrible. But there’s a lot of potential.
For Leclerc, the problem wasn’t trying to catch Verstappen with degrading tires. “We struggled a little bit after five, six laps with the front tires, and then we struggled and basically lost the race in that stage,” Leclerc said. “Losing the lead and then losing quite a bit of race time because of the degradation, we need to look at that and be on top of it for the next race.”
Verstappen went into second at the start of the race, just behind Leclerc until lap nine, when the Red Bull driver flew past the Monegasque and kept the lead for a good portion of the race, extending his lead to almost eight seconds. It wasn’t until an accident between McLaren’s Lando Norris and Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly on lap 41 did when virtual and regular safety cars gave Leclerc the best chance to overtake Verstappen for the lead.
But Verstappen was in control again on lap 47 when the safety car period ended, and he regained the lead over Leclerc, extending his lead by over two seconds before the checkered flag gave Verstappen his third victory of the season.
It was a day of what might have been for both Sergio Perez (Red Bull) and Valtteri Botas (Alfa Romeo). Perez had a shot at a podium spot, but it was not to be. He passed Sainz Jr. near the end of the race only to overshoot the curve at turn one and give the place back to his Spanish rival. Despite this mistake, Perez finished fourth. Valtteri Bottas lost his shot at finishing higher when he overshot a turn late in the race and finished seventh.
A third driver found himself in difficult straights. Fernando Alonso (Alpine) finished the race in ninth but was soon relegated to 11th place when it was discovered that he had cut a corner too short, which gave him an advantage.
While those three drivers experienced disappointment, a fourth, Esteban Ocon (Alpine), made lemonade out of lemons. After starting the race last, Ocon fought hard, beginning on hard tires, and finished the day in eighth.
Meanwhile, Mercedes’s hopes that were bolstered by Russell’s best time on Friday did not come to pass. But at least they were consistent with both drivers finishing in the top ten, Russell in fifth and Lewis Hamilton in sixth. Williams’s Alex Albon and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll rounded out the top ten.
Four drivers retired from the race. Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guangu left with a technical issue on lap seven. The collision between Norris and Gasly put both out of the race. Sebastian Vettel collided with Haas Mick Schumacher, putting the four-time world champion out just laps before the end of the race.
Formula One now moves back to Europe with its regular schedule of spring races in Barcelona in two weeks, and then iconic Monaco is on tap over the Memorial Day weekend.
