Valtteri Bottas dropped from fifth to seventh in the seven laps before the end. According to the Finn, the grip ended as soon as Alfa Romeo ran out of the driving line. George Russell saw grip concerns as a safety issue.
9.5. 01:22 • Updated May 9th. 01:39
Finnish driver of Alfa Romeo Valtteri Bottas was seventh in the Miami F1 race. Bottas was long in the fifth place until Lando Norrisin and Pierre Gaslyn the crash brought a safety car to the track. Guaranteed to come to Mercedes Lewis Hamilton and George Russell reached the position of Bottas.
On the 50th lap, seven laps before the end, Bottas made a mistake and drove the bend wide. Bottas also hit the track wall, but was able to continue the race. The Finn dropped from fifth to seventh in the situation. Hamilton and Russell came over.
Bottas still started the race strongly and managed to start from the fifth square. Above were the drivers of only two top teams, Red Bull and Ferrari.
– One brake took a long time. When you get off the line here, it’s really bad grip. The car just steers. Couldn’t really do anything. Then the car hit the wall, Bottas described to Viaplay.
The coating of the track has been a big topic of talk at the Miami Novelty Race. Attempts have also been made to fix it during the race weekend.
– I just had to try to stay on the line. Justin slipped a little at the wrong time. That’s what it’s like. However, pretty good points, Bottas pondered.
However, the Finn was happy with his strong and good car. Bottas has now been in five of the four races with points and even among the top eight.
– It was a pretty tough race. The heat made the race challenging. The car had a higher temperature than the body. Forced to start warming up. Fortunately, the drinking systems are working, Bottas said.
George Russell, who started in 16th place, finished fifth with Mercedes when he was still past Hamilton. Russell was one of the beneficiaries of the safety car when the British had time to visit the depot to change fresh tires. Bottas admitted he wondered how the young Briton would come from behind hard. Russell felt sympathy for Bottas when the Finn drifted off the track.
– It was very annoying for him. The asphalt on this track is terrible. As one ring goes wide, it slides out of the track. That’s a bad thing for racing. This is also a bit of a security concern. When you come to the depot, it slides off the track. Something has to be done about this, Russell muttered with Viaplay.
Verstappen’s show: “Incredible gp!”
In the race, Red Bull took the show style Max Verstappen. The Dutchman started behind Ferrari drivers in the third box, but immediately passed Carlos Sainzin.
In the ninth round, Verstappen swept past the tire sufferer Charles Leclercista.
Verstappen held first place until the checkered flag, although Leclerc’s pace improved towards the end. With the safety car, another Red Bull driver Sergio Perez got to get fresh tires, while the top three didn’t make it to the depot. However, Perez could not get past Sainz, even though he went close a couple of times.
In the track interview, Verstappen showed that he had given his all in the race.
– It was a really amazing gp, very physical. I’m really happy with the win here in Miami. A truly amazing Sunday for us, Verstappen glowed in a track interview.
Verstappen also got an extra point for the fastest lap of the race.
– We had difficulties with medium tires at the beginning. We were competitive with hard tires. Red Bull had an advantage today. Congratulations to them, Leclerc said.
– We have to keep working. Hopefully we will be able to take a step forward in the next race. The championship battle will be tight.
Carlos Sainz could not compete without pain after Friday’s rehearsals.
– I still had neck pain, but it had to be controlled. We were able to keep the podium ranking. It was a reasonable investment.
Sainz admitted problems with the car’s driveability, tires and heat in Miami.
– It wasn’t an easy race. In the end, we got what we deserved.
STATUS OF THE WORLD SERIES 08.05. (5/22)
1. Charles Leclerc MON Ferrari 104
2. Max Verstappen NED Red Bull 85
3. Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull 66
4. George Russell GBR Mercedes 59
5. Carlos Sainz ESP Ferrari 53
6. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes 36
7. Lando Norris GBR McLaren 35
8. Valtteri Bottas FIN Alfa Romeo 30
9. Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine 24
10. Kevin Magnussen DEN Haas 15
11. Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren 11
12. Yuki Tsunoda JPN AlphaTauri 10
The F1 season will continue in two weeks in Barcelona.