Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Despite starting ninth, Max Verstappen rockets to the front to win in Miami
Thanks to a wobble during his first run during Saturday’s third qualifying session, and a late red flag due to a crash by Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen was forced to start ninth in Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix.
No matter.
Verstappen picked his way through the field, rocketing to the front on a set of hard tyres. He moved into P2 by Lap 15, and when race leader Sergio Pérez came into the pits on Lap 20, Verstappen pulled into the lead.
Thanks to his quickness on the track and pit stops from the rest of the field, Verstappen extended that lead over his teammate — and challenger atop the Drivers’ standings — Pérez. It would be enough, as Verstappen pulled away from his teammate, and the rest of the field, to win the second Miami Grand Prix.
That makes two wins in two chances for Verstappen, who won last year’s inaugural Miami Grand Prix.
Pérez finished second, as the Bulls finished 1-2 for the fourth time in five races this season. Fernando Alonso continued his impressive start to 2023 with his fourth third place finish — and fourth podium — of the campaign.
To get a sense of how impressive Verstappen was on Sunday, at one point he posted the fastest lap of the race. It came on Lap 35, as he was running on 35-lap-old hard tyres.
Verstappen finally came into the pits on Lap 45 to make his mandatory tyre switch, but if anything that only strengthened his position. He was able to switch to the medium compound and, combined with the lower fuel load at that stage of the race, made his RB19 even faster.
If that can be believed.
He came back onto the track behind Pérez, and just 1.620 seconds behind his teammate. With just over ten laps to go, Verstappen was on the attack. Red Bull versus Red Bull for the victory in Miami, and for the top spot in the Drivers’ Championship.
Unfortunately for Pérez, he was on hard tyres that were 25 laps old, and Verstappen was on the new mediums.
On Lap 48, Verstappen was back into first place. The two Red Bulls were side-by-side at the start/finish line through Turn 1, but eventually, Verstappen’s ability to find more grip on the circuit was enough, and Verstappen pulled into the lead.
Here’s a look from Verstappen’s vantage point of the move on Pérez:
He finished the lap by setting a new fastest lap of the day.
As noted, the Red Bull duo finished 1-2 for the fourth time this season, and to get a flavor for how dominant the RB19 has been this year, Alonso was over 20 seconds behind Pérez in third place.
Can one of the other teams find an answer for the Bulls? We have been wondering that this entire young season.
At the moment, it feels like we might be wondering that well into 2024.
