The 24-year-old Dutch-Belgian driver came out on top Sunday
at the first-ever Miami Grand Prix, which took place at the Miami International
Autodrome in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Verstappen beat out Charles Leclerc from Monaco after a
gripping back-and-forth between the two men, after Verstappen initially
overtook Leclerc, 24, earlier in the race. But a safety car late in the
competition prompted a restart and, as a result, a closer race than expected in
the last 10 laps.
His first day racing around the new Formula One circuit in
Miami was absolutely horrible. Then he made a mistake in qualifying that cost
him a spot on the front row.
By the time race day rolled around, Max Verstappen had
knocked it all out of his system.
Verstappen was explosive at the start Sunday and used a pair
of aggressive passes to get past Ferrari and current championship leader
Charles Leclerc. Once out front, the reigning world champion controlled the
inaugural Miami Grand Prix for his third win in five races to start the season.
“We still have a few issues we have to solve,” Verstappen
said. “I mean, we are quick, but my Friday was terrible, which is not great.
But there’s a lot of potential.”
The 23rd win of the Dutchman’s career sliced eight points
off Leclerc’s lead in the standings. Verstappen now trails him by 19 points
headed into the Spanish Grand Prix in two weeks. He celebrated on the podium
with Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino, who represented the host Miami
Dolphins in presenting Verstappen with his winning trophy and an official
helmet.
Later, Verstappen, Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. posed for
photographs all wearing helmets.
Verstappen started third after Ferrari locked up the front
row with Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. in qualifying. But in the end, Red Bull
got the best of its new rival for a second consecutive race.
Verstappen pounced at the start to get ahead of Sainz, then
set his sights on Leclerc and used a strong outside pass on the ninth lap to
claim the lead.
Leclerc said the tires on his Ferrari struggled on a hot
South Florida day in which temperatures reached 90 degrees despite brief
intermittent showers.
“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 unchallenged until a late crash between
Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly brought out the safety car and setup a 10-lap
sprint to the finish on the 19-turn, 3.36-mile circuit (5.41 kilometers) built
around Hard Rock Stadium.
Leclerc got a few looks inside in the closing laps but
Verstappen didn’t relent and won by 3.7 seconds.
“I think we were very competitive or at least as competitive
as Max,” Leclerc said. “And after the safety car, I really felt that we had a
shot to actually take back the lead.”
Verstappen also won two weeks ago at Imola as Red Bull
capitalized on a poor Ferrari weekend on Italian home soil with a 1-2 finish
for Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
In Miami, Ferrari settled for second and third for Leclerc
and Sainz, while Perez was fourth. After the race, Perez said he’s started
talks on a new contract with Red Bull but neither side is in a hurry to
complete a deal.
Mercedes showed much improvement with fifth- and sixth-place
finishes for George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. It’s the fourth time in five
races that first-year Mercedes driver Russell has beaten the seven-time
champion.
The race itself wasn’t the thriller the 85,000 in attendance
Sunday breathlessly expected when they snagged one of the hottest tickets in
sports. Promoters never had a general ticket sale because of crushing early
demand and the campus surrounding Hard Rock Stadium was the place to party over
the last three days.
Whether it was at the man-made beach club where musical acts
have entertained since Friday or the “marina” that docked 10 boats on plywood
covered in a decal to resemble rippling water, F1 got the sun, sand and Miami
backdrop it wanted when it agreed to this 10-year deal.
Come race day, the celebrities were out in full force.
Dwyane Wade took selfies on the starting grid and Paris Hilton danced in front
of the McLaren garage; Tom Brady, David Beckham and Michael Jordan posed for a
pre-race picture with Lewis Hamilton, who hosted former first lady Michelle
Obama on Saturday at the track. Serena Williams ducked into Mercedes’ hospitality
and Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny arrived at the venue with Perez and spent
most of pre-race at Red Bull with the Mexican driver.
The Miami event gives the U.S. two F1 races in one season
for the first time since 1984. F1 will add Las Vegas as a third American race
in 2023.
It was a strange event for Haas F1, the only American team
on the 20-car grid. The team split its strategy between Kevin Magnussen and
Mick Schumacher following the late safety car and Schumacher was in position to
score the first points of his career and give Haas its best finish in the
United States.
But Schumacher inexplicably ran into Sebastian Vettel to end
his breakout day. He finished 15th and Magnussen retired one lap from the end.
“It was the hardest race I’ve ever done, it was unbelievably
hot,” Magnussen said.
Schumacher said he was “gutted” he didn’t finish inside the
top 10.
“I think it was our best race so far this year,” he said.
“We were on the road to getting points, but we’ll have to wait some more.”