Miami Grand Prix: Max Verstappen wins after an incredible comeback, another double for Red Bull

After Saturday’s qualifiers, which were disrupted by Charles Leclerc’s mistake, who hit the wall and prematurely ended the final session and Max Verstappen’s chances of improving his time after making his own mistake, Sunday is now dedicated to the Miami Grand Prix. Sergio Pérez is in pole position, followed by Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz and… Kevin Magnussen, the surprise of the day. Leclerc starts in seventh position and Verstappen in ninth. It is also worth noting Mercedes’ poor performances during this weekend, with Lewis Hamilton starting in thirteenth position.

We have a good start from Perez, who immediately takes a small lead over his direct pursuers. His teammate Verstappen lost one position at the start. Gasly gained a position, as did Russell and Leclerc. Magnussen is the big loser, having lost four places and dropping to 8th position. Oscar Piastri also had a very good start, moving up to 14th position.

At the back, Logan Sargeant enters the pit lane as early as the 3rd lap, after having suffered damage to his front wing. Lando Norris and Nyck de Vries made contact at the start, but without consequences. Lewis Hamilton was also hit, and is concerned about damage to his car, while his engineer assures him that everything is fine.

The Impressive Speed of Max Verstappen

On his side, the reigning world champion is consistently setting the fastest laps and has risen up to 5th position, thanks to the unmatched speed of the Red Bull, unbeatable when the DRS is engaged. He effortlessly gained an advantage over Leclerc, Magnussen, and Russell. His next victim, Pierre Gasly, will quickly falter and will also be overtaken by Russell.

While his teammate climbs the grid with insolent speed, Sergio Pérez seems to step up the pace and slightly widens the gap with Alonso, reaching 2.8 seconds by the 12th lap. It is worth noting that the Dutchman is on hard tires, while the top three are on mediums. Meanwhile, in the midfield, Charles Leclerc is struggling to overtake Magnussen’s Haas. Is this a sign of weakness from Ferrari?

To hammer the nail in, Verstappen calmly overtakes Carlos Sainz and is now on the podium. The next lap, he takes Alonso’s position and is now directly behind his teammate. It’s a real stroll in the park for the Red Bull driver. “My instinct tells me that this will be a very uneventful race,” Russell had said on the radio a few minutes earlier…

On lap 18, more and more drivers are going into the pits: this is notably the case for Charles Leclerc and George Russell, who are opting for the hard tires. Could they have been inspired by Verstappen? Bad news for the Monegasque: he comes out behind Magnussen in 15th position and finds himself at the back of a long DRS train.

At the front, the Dutchman seems unstoppable and closes the gap with his teammate: he is now only 1.4 seconds behind the Mexican. When the latter enters the pit, Verstappen takes advantage and becomes the race leader. Carlos Sainz locked his wheels at the pit entrance and therefore missed his braking point. He is now under investigation for speeding in the pitlane. He will receive a 5-second penalty. Alonso eventually enters the pit on lap 25, putting on the hard tires like the rest of the grid, and comes out in 5th place, behind Sainz.

Internal struggle at Red Bull

At lap 28, the gap between Verstappen and Perez reaches… 16.6 seconds. But the Dutchman still has to go through the pits. Just like Esteban Ocon, who is in 3rd position at that time, just before being overtaken by his former teammate’s Aston Martin. Meanwhile, as the race becomes quite monotonous, Leclerc complains about the jolts in his car. On the other hand, George Russell is not having a bad race: he has passed his teammate after an order from his team, as well as Esteban Ocon, and is now chasing Carlos Sainz for the 4th place. He will easily overtake him on lap 38. The Ferraris seem to be struggling: further back, things aren’t improving for Leclerc either, as he battles with Magnussen, who keeps him behind, just outside the points. A series of overtakes ensues between the two drivers. The Monegasque will eventually come out as the winner, but at the cost of precious lost seconds.

With thirteen laps to go, Verstappen has a lead of over 18 seconds on his teammate, but he still hasn’t made a pit stop. He finally comes in on lap 46 and switches to medium tires. He rejoins just behind his teammate, 1.2 seconds adrift. If the Mexican wants to win this race, he will have to hold on for 11 laps: that seems challenging, considering how fired up the Dutchman is. We then witness a nice little internal battle at Red Bull – for a few seconds, let’s be realistic – as Verstappen quickly passes Perez, once again benefiting from the DRS. The positions change, and the second Red Bull driver becomes the hunter for the final laps.

On the other hand, Leclerc finally improves his starting position and overtakes Gasly to move up to 6th, just behind his teammate. Lewis Hamilton also passes the Frenchman, who appears to be struggling. The seven-time world champion then sets off in pursuit of the Monegasque, passing him 2 laps later and injecting new life into the end of the race. No improvement for Ferrari’s beloved child in the end.

After an unparalleled domination, Max Verstappen crosses the finish line and wins the Grand Prix of Miami ahead of his teammate Sergio Pérez. Fernando Alonso once again steps onto the podium.

The ranking of the Miami Grand Prix