Verstappen Overpowers Perez to Claim Victory in Miami

Max Verstappen was untouchable in the Miami Grand Prix, putting on a masterclass display of racing to take first place and maintain his Championship lead over Sergio Perez.

Sergio Perez had a desirable start, covering off an eager Fernando Alonso into the first corner. 

The rest of the rid managed to avoid any major incidents, bar a few taps here and there, however, with limited grip and tyre temperature, many drivers ran wide throughout the opening lap. 

Turn 1 for Lando Norris proved this, as Nyck de Vries locked up, running into the back of Norris’ Mclaren and causing positional damage forcing him into an early stop. The incident was investigated, however, there was no further action.

Lewis Hamilton made contact with Nico Hulkenberg, prompting complaints over the radio of front-wing damage and tyre degradation concerns.

Oscar Piastri had a dream start, making up an impressive five places on the first lap to go from P19 to P14 after an aggressive start on the soft tyre. Both Mclarens then pitted for hard tyres, dropping to P19 and P18.

Logan Sargeant had a less than ideal start, despite already beginning his home Grand Prix from last place. The Williams pitted on Lap 3 to combat front-wing contact obtained during the race start, and also opting for a hard tyre change.

Max Verstappen temporarily dropped back to P10, however, his recovery saw him effortlessly fly past the Ferrari-Haas battle down the main straight. 

Verstappen made a simple overtake on George Russell, who didn’t put up a fight on Lap 8.

Ten laps into the race, Pierre Gasly who started the Grand Prix in P6 had lost out two positions to both Verstappen and Russell. 

Moving up the ranks continued to prove easy for Verstappen, taking third place on Lap 14, and second place in the following lap.

Leclerc took multiple shots at Kevin Magnussen, failing to make the move stick for a frustratingly long time. The Ferrari was relieved for the Haas when Magnussen came into the pits on Lap 14, pitting for the hard compound tyre. 

For those on the yellow-marked tyres, Lap 18 brought a lot of pit lane action, with Russell and Leclerc opting to swap their graining mediums for the better racing hard tyre. 

Leclerc’s teammate followed suit on Lap 19. Sainz locked up running into the pit entry putting his entry speed under investigation, and eventually, he was handed a 5-second time penalty.

The Spaniard immediately made moves up the grid, emerging from the pit exit crucially ahead of Alex Albon and overtaking both Hamilton and Magnussen for P5. 

Perez’s 2.2-second stop aided him in returning to the top 3, with the Mexican trailing just over 15 seconds behind his teammate at the halfway mark. 

Lance Stroll had an eventful middle stint of the race, being involved in an incident with Russell, and calling to his team for help. 

The audibly frustrated Aston Martin driver’s race was far from that of his teammate, who found himself overtaking Sainz for P4 on Lap 28.

Piastri struggled from a software problem impacting his braking, seeing him trailing his teammate by over 11 seconds in P19, a gap that only grew as his teammate filed through the back markers.

Turn 11 was again the spot for overtaking, with Sainz securing P4 from a yet-to-pit Esteban Ocon. 

Lewis Hamilton was instructed to let his teammate pass, unleashing Russell onto a struggling Sainz who was yet to serve his 5-second penalty. On Lap 38, the move was made relegating the Ferrari to P5.

Building a gap to pit in, Verstappen set fastest laps on fastest laps, extending the distance between himself and Perez to over 16 seconds.  

Leclerc returned to the points, and having played the long game overtook Magnussen to hold around 2 seconds over him in P8. 

Tyres continued to define this race, with a late pitstop from Stroll, and crucially Verstappen stopping for mediums, as more tyre degradation talks filled Mercedes’ radio waves.

As the Dutchman rejoined the track from the pits, his teammate flew past 1.5 seconds ahead. Perez was left an easy target for Verstappen, having no DRS and older tyres. 

A failed attempt into Turn 17 led to a fight down the main straight, with Perez losing out to the Championship leader into Turn 1.

Stroll made a move on Albon which even had his teammate watching on from big screens during his lonely race. The Canadian made yet another overtake on Valtteri Bottas, rubbing salt in the wounds of the Fin who had just lost out to Yuki Tsunoda one lap earlier.

On Lap 54, Pierre Gasly lost two positions, the first stemming from his own Turn 1 lock up, and the second coming from a fast-moving Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton then went on take P6 from Leclerc, exciting fans in the Miami grandstands, before the final lap celebrations began.

Max Verstappen crossed the finish line in first place, 5 seconds clear of his teammate and with the fastest lap point in his pocket, in a complete masterclass of a race from the Dutchman. 

Fernando Alonso filled the final podium place, avoiding threats from Russell in P4. 

Carlos Sainz managed to hang onto fifth place, maintaining an around 8-second gap to the charging Lewis Hamilton behind him.

Charles Leclerc struggled to make his way towards the top end of the grid for the entirety of the race, with a return of P7 from today’s race. 

Rounding out the Miami points finishers was Gasly in eighth place ahead of his teammate, and a well-deserving Magnussen in P10.

Oscar Piastri was unable to be competitive while managing a long brake pedal, leaving him in P19 to cross the line after a sour weekend for Mclaren. 

Results:

Download the full F1 Miami Grand Prix event guide here with track stats and facts and a full event schedule, plus our extensive driver profiles.

2023 Miami Grand Prix schedule (all times AEST)

Saturday, May 6

Practice 1 – 4.00-5.00

Practice 2 – 7.30-8.30

Sunday, May 8

Practice 3 – 2.30-3.30

Qualifying – 6.00-7.00

Monday, May 9

Grand Prix – 5.30

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