Formula 1: Max Verstappen overhauls Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez to win Miami GP
May 08, 2023
Miami [US], May 8 : Max Verstappen advanced his way to victory at the F1 Miami Grand Prix 2023, despite having begun P9 on the grid, in doing so the Dutchman declined his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez a chance at leading the championship.
Perez had cut Verstappen's lead in the championship to just six points with a Sprint and Grand Prix double in Azerbaijan last time out, and a wild qualifying session at the Miami International Autodrome gave him a great chance to overtake Verstappen.
Due to a mistake by Verstappen in qualifying, pole-sitter Perez had the opportunity to win, which would have given him the championship lead. However, the Dutchman delivered an electrifying drive to win by five seconds and increase his lead to 14 points.
Max Verstappen made a mistake on his first flying lap, putting him in P9. The Dutchman, though, performed a masterful display in Miami, tearing through the field on his Red Bull RB19. The two-time world champion made the most of his form throughout the course of the weekend and outperformed his teammate Sergio Perez.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished in positions P6 and P4, respectively, as Mercedes surprised many with their surprising level of speed in the main race compared to qualifying. In contrast, the Ferrari drivers struggled in Miami as a result of their tyre degradation issues.
Fernando Alonso placed third overall and will frequently be found standing on the podium in 2023. The Spaniard avoided Carlos Sainz's Ferrari and finished the race alone under Miami's cloudy sky.
"It was a good race. I stayed out of trouble at the beginning and then just had a clean race, picked the cars off one by one. Then I could stay out really long on the hard tyres and that's where I think we made the difference today," Formula 1.com quoted race winner Verstappen as saying.
"I had a good little battle with Checo at the end. We kept it clean and that's the most important - it's a great win today. Yesterday was of course a bit of a setback, today we just kept it calm, kept it clean, and for sure winning a race from P9 is always very satisfying," Verstappen added.
