The Ferrari driver, who was in the fight for the World Series victory, palmed his hand – in Finnish terms, a flash of light was seen

The Red Bull duo dominated the Miami F1 race on Sunday. Max Verstappen rose from the ninth grid to victory when Sergio Perez certainly drove second. Fernando Alonso was third, as usual at the beginning of the season.

After a promising qualifying session on Saturday Valtteri Bottas the competition was quiet. In the end, the Finn was 13th.

Urheilu’s F1 expert Jukka Mildh wraps up the most delicious talking points of the glamorous Miami F1 race weekend.

What solved it?

The race in Miami was held under changed conditions from last year, as a new surface had been laid on the track. The surface was different compared to a year ago. However, this did not slow down the pace of the Red Bull duo that dominated the early season.

– Red Bull’s car was completely superior in very difficult conditions, Mildh sums up.

Verstappen started the race with harder tires. According to Mildh, this was a risk, because it was not known exactly how the tires would behave.

– He drove 45-46 laps with those tires, during which he did an incredible 20-lap “stint”. Because he ensured that he could overtake Perez after his own pit stop, Mildh estimated.

What spoke?

The balance of power behind Red Bull has changed for the current season. In the race in Miami, several tight battles and overtaking situations were seen in the background of the front. According to Mildh, the pack is mixed this season, which also made Sunday’s race interesting.

– We have been waiting to see how the car concepts used in the second season will perform in overtaking. The race in Miami showed that cars are capable of driving a tight race. It seems that we are going in the right direction, the expert opens the situation of the royal class.

The Red Bull duo has been at their own level in the early season, but after them, the positions and pace of the Aston Martin, Mercedes, and Ferrari drivers have varied more. For example, the Ferrari and Mercedes drivers are in the 4th-7th places in the World Cup battle. only 22 points apart.

What about Bottas?

Valtteri Bottas the race started strongly, when the Finn rose from the tenth starting grid to eighth. As the race progressed, it became clear that Alfa Romeo’s speed is still not enough to fight for the top positions in the race.

– Unfortunately, there wasn’t much speed today. Yesterday was clearly a better ride in one lap, but the race pace wasn’t quite enough for the top ten. Yesterday’s pace was positive, but today perhaps showed the pace of where we really are, Bottas commented to Viaplay after the race.

In qualifying, Bottas’ speed raised promises, which, according to Mildh, showed that the track was suitable for the Finn. However, four World Cup points from five races is a poor balance. The team will get new parts for the next race in Imola, which may ease the situation.

– Alfa Romeo still has a lot of development work ahead of it. The balance of the early season is certainly disappointing compared to expectations, the expert sums up the team’s start of the season.

Surprise

He finished eighth Pierre Gasly drove a clean race in Miami. As a team, Alpine has been in trouble from time to time in the first race weekends of the season, and according to Mildh, there are still discussions about internal changes in the organization.

– Gasly drove a very strong race. I would consider it a surprise, he says.

Gasly had a strong start to the race. He could challenge Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso during the opening rounds. During the race, however, Alpine’s pace slowed down a bit. Charles Leclerc mixed Lewis Hamilton passed the Frenchman in the final laps, much to Gasly’s chagrin.

– We had to save fuel in the last laps, so Charles and Lewis passed me quite quickly. I’m a little disappointed, but there were a lot of good things in the race, because we managed to challenge Mercedes and Ferrari, Gasly said after the race.

The French driver has eight World Championship points after the race in Miami. With another Alpine driver With Esteban Ocon there are six points in the pile.

A flop

According to Mildh, Charles Leclerc’s weekend was a big disappointment. The Monaco driver was even called Verstappen’s number one contender for the World Championship this season, but the early season has shown something completely different.

Leclerc crashed out in the final section of Saturday’s qualifying sessions, dashing dreams of the best starting positions.

– Something happened in Leclerc’s performance, which caused a dip in his normal level. He is a very good time trialer, says Mildh.

Leclerc, who started the race seventh, was not able to show top speed in the race either, but finished in the same place. Here, Mildh sees a big difference to Verstappen, who dominated the race, even though he only started from the fifth row.

– There was a significant difference in how Verstappen controlled the race. Basically, however, these two were champion candidates for this season, the expert concluded.

What next?

The World Series continues next in Europe on tracks much more familiar than Miami. In less than two weeks, there will be a race in Imola, Italy, from where the caravan will move every week to Monaco and Spain. Mildh believes that Red Bull’s control will continue, and that the fight for the championship will be fiercest between team mates.

– Yes, this will go on for a long time under Red Bull’s command. Clearly, the team also allows Perez and Verstappen to fight openly against each other, which is still possible at least at this stage of the season and a very good thing, Mildh analyzed.

Aston Martin’s, and above all Fernando Alonso’s, strong early season has convinced the expert. This makes it difficult for the successful teams of recent years to reach the top three.

– For example, it is really difficult for Mercedes to rise to the top, but I still expect quite a lot from the first races in Europe. And we also have to wait to see if Ferrari will join the fight, Mildh anticipates.

After five races, there is no reason to wait for the momentum of the duo, which also dominated the Miami street circuit, to slow down.

– Red Bull is so superior in all aspects of the car this year that it will be difficult to catch them during the season, predicts Mildh.