MIAMI (USA). Max Verstappen flies to the Miami track and wins the Sprint race, the second of the Formula 1 world championship season and also wins pole, the sixth out of six races, the 38th of his career. An almost identical script between the fast race and qualifying, with Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari keeping pace and stopping behind the Flying Dutchman and tonight (10pm) he will start on the front row. The other Red car driven by Carlos Sainz improved in qualifying and, fifth in the mini-GP, achieved the third fastest time in the laps for pole. Verstappen’s usual dominance, but with Ferrari still sending positive signals. The Red appeared at ease on the US circuit, but the Austrian team still maintains a certain margin of advantage. Proof is Sergio Perez’s solo fourth place finish. Surprising, however, Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian from RB finished in fourth place at the end of a beautiful duel with Carlos Sainz, defending himself from the Ferrari driver’s attacks for all nineteen laps of the race.
The Spaniard himself, after the checkered flag, approached his opponent’s car with his car and congratulated him. Oscar Piastri tried to take advantage of the duel between the two in the last two laps, taking advantage of the possibility of an error by the pair, but the McLaren driver had to settle for sixth position.
Further back, Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas and Yuki Tsunoda’s RB. Missing from the top positions are the two Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso who were involved, as was Lando Norris, in an accident at the start of the race. Pierre Gasly’s Alpine and Logan Sargeant’s Williams closed the grid in the top ten, also thanks to the penalties that Lewis Hamilton (speeding in the pit lane) and Kevin Magnussen (clipping a chicane and a contact) had to pay. with Hamilton overtaking). Verstappen, although he won, does not appear entirely satisfied: «I didn’t have a perfect start. For this I had to squeeze Leclerc, but we were both clean. The safety car helped me manage that race situation, then thanks to the restart I managed to increase the advantage”, he underlined. «It wasn’t an entirely perfect race, we have some work to do, but now with the new format we can improve the car between sessions. Winning is still nice, I’m happy, this success gives us a few more points in the standings. Lower margin than China? In Shanghai the car was nice to drive, but here it’s more difficult, there are some things to improve.” The drivers’ championship sees Max Verstappen extending his lead with 118 points. The Dutchman – who in his career has won nine of the fourteen Sprints contested in the history of Formula 1 – precedes his teammate Perez who has 91 points. Leclerc is third with 83 ahead of Sainz with 73. Behind him is Norris with 58. The Grand Prix will, however, be different than the Sprint. The single-seaters must have solid grip for several laps and above all they must not wear out the tyres. Much depends, obviously, also on the driving style of the drivers who are ready to challenge themselves.
Roberto Di Lallo
