Red Bull took a convincing double victory in the F1 race in Miami. Valtteri Bottas’ promising qualifying session did not have a successful continuation in the race today.
The F1 race in Miami was completely dominated by the Red Bull drivers from start to finish. Max Verstappen drove after yesterday’s unlucky qualifying to a convincing victory today ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez. Started the race from the second starting grid Fernando Alonso drove an intact race, and finished third.
Verstappen, who leads the World Series, started the race from the ninth starting grid with harder tires, which was reflected in his weak start. However, he quickly moved up to fifth in the first few laps. The pace of the reigning world champion was in a class of its own, as the Dutchman moved up to second after only 15 laps.
Verstappen drove no less than 45 laps with his harder tire compound. Perez entered the pits significantly earlier, allowing Verstappen to increase the gap to his teammate. During the Dutchman’s pit stop, Perez momentarily rose to the top of the race. However, Verstappen quickly passed his teammate on fresh tires.
At the end of the race, Verstappen still drove the fastest lap of the race. The Dutchman continues to lead the World Championship ahead of his teammate.
– We had a good little fight with Perez at the end, but fortunately everything went nicely, Verstappen expressed his mood at the finish line.
Red Bull’s superiority in the early season is indicated by the situation in the Manufacturers’ World Series. The team leads the World Championship with 224 points. Second is Aston Martin with 102 points. Verstappen leads the drivers’ World Championship with 119 points, ahead of Perez, who has 105 points.
Bottas’ slow pace continued, the Mercedes perked up
Valtteri Bottas the race started strongly, when the Finn rose from the tenth starting grid to eighth. However, the Finn was not able to hold on to his position for longer than the first few moments. 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.
Bottas drove through the race in places from tenth down, and was finally 13th at the finish line. Bottas’ best finish of the season so far is the eighth place in the opening race.
Having failed miserably in the time trial yesterday Lewis Hamilton the race progressed in the shadow of the top drivers, but the seven-time world champion eventually rose to sixth from thirteenth on the starting grid. However, he lost to his teammate To George Russellwho finished fourth and lost the podium finisher by a good six seconds.
The challenging early season of the Ferrari drivers continued when Carlos Sainz dropped from the third grid to fifth and Charles Leclerc came seventh. Sainz was fighting for a podium position, but he finally fell out of the fight in the last 20 laps. The Ferrari driver seemed to have problems with keeping the tires.
During the weekend in Miami, the slippery track and the poor grip of the tires spoke volumes from the start. There were no interruptions in the competition, and not even any dangerous situations.
Miami F1 race, final results:
1. Max Verstappen’s Red Bull
2. Sergio Perez Red Bull + 5.133
3. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin + 26,059
4. George Russell Mercedes + 32,487
5. Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari + 41.321
6. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes + 50.853
7. Charles Leclerc Ferrari + 51.827
8. Pierre Gasly BWT Alpi + 52.789
9. Esteban Ocon BWT Alpi + 56.289
10. Kevin Magnussen Haas +1.00.385
11. Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTau +1.02,879
12. Lance Stroll Aston Ma +1.03,328
13. Valtteri Bottas Alfa Rom +1.08,599
14. Alexander Albon Williams +1.09.946
15. Nico Hulkenberg Haas +1.10.714
16. Guanyu Zhou Alpha Rom +1.14,501
17. Lando Norris McLaren +1.22.289
18. Nyck de Vries AlphaTau +1.25,438
19. Oscar Piastri McLaren +1 lap.
20. Logan Sargeant Williams +1 lap.