The Formula 1 weekend begins with yet another victory for Max Verstappen but in a modest way less dominant than usual. The world champion in fact wins the sprint race in Miami but without ever managing to shake off completely Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari from the exhausts. The Monegasque gets behind Sergio Perez’s second Red Bull while Carlos Sainz hard to overcome a tough Daniel Ricciardo and has to settle for fifth place. Great race for the Italian-Australian driver, who scored points for the first time this season. The Florida weekend continues tonight starting at 10pm with the qualifying session deciding the starting grid for the actual Grand Prix.
Thrilling start, Norris out
The first thrill of the Miami GP sprint race even takes place before the alignment lap. In fact, at the exit of the pits, Ocon’s Alpine touch the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and gets a 10 second penalty. When the cars line up on the grid, there is a moment of concern with smoke coming out of the rear of Verstappen’s Red Bull but it is not a significant problem. The calm doesn’t last long, however, since once the traffic lights go out, it happens really everything on the track.
Leclerc starts well on the dirty side of the track and immediate attack against the world champion, who however manages to keep first position. Daniel Ricciardo is instead Fantastic and manages to get Perez behind him. Lando Norris’ sprint race lasts, however very little: at turn 2 the English driver is already out and is forced to throw in the towel. With the McLaren stopped on the escape route, the race direction is forced to let the car in safety cars: good for Alonso, who had a puncture after a contact with the Mercedes. Truly a start chaotic for this sprint race.
Verstappen doesn’t run away
After two laps, the safety car returns and we can start again: Leclerc tries to immediately get under Verstappen but is unable to get within range of the Drs. Behind him, however, despite really doing everything, Ricciardo cannot resist the comeback of Perez, who passes it on the fifth lap. Carlos Sainz is also very threatening, as he managed to avoid suffering any consequences during the chaotic start and would like to aim for the podium. The Spaniard tries a couple of times to overtake the Australian rider but doesn’t find the right opening, losing precious seconds. In front, however, Max Verstappen he doesn’t shake it off Leclerc’s Ferrari, still just over a second away.
Halfway through the race the Ferrari driver is still in Ricciardo’s exhaust while his teammate has to watch your back from Perez’s comeback, about two and a half seconds. Sainz has big problems in overtaking the Australian, who defends himself stubbornly while the race direction makes it known that Norris will be investigated after the end of the sprint race for having crossed the track. Verstappen lets the wall know he has less grip compared to qualifying, which explains why Leclerc remains just over two seconds behind. In the rear, battle with white weapons between Magnussen and Hamilton, who touch each other while Sainz, still blocked by Ricciardo, sees Piastri’s McLaren recover.
Max wins but Charles is there
With five laps to go, the race management believes that Magnussen took advantage of an off-track exit and he penalizes of 10 seconds. The Haas driver is overtaken by Hamilton the following lap but the lead situation risks changing shortly. Max Verstappen, in fact, It’s not that competitive as in previous races and loses tenths of a second to Leclerc, who almost reached him in the exhaust. In the long run, however, the world champion stretch as much as necessary to prevent the DRS from making an attack by the Monegasque possible: two laps from the checkered flag, the Dutchman is around 2.5 seconds away, while Perez is unable to close the gap on the Ferrari driver.
Disappointment instead for Sainz, still stuck half a second behind Ricciardo, who could score points for the first time in the season. The final laps see the leading positions more or less crystallized and a worrying little train behind them, where the Ferrari Spaniard had to resist a couple of attempts from Piastri, who got closer lap after lap. In the end, however, the Ferrari driver resisted and had to settle for fifth place.
Max Verstappen therefore wins, with Leclerc taking the lead given up at the end and comes 3 seconds behind: Sergio Perez’s second Red Bull completes the podium.
