Max Verstappen conquers the third victory of the season, and signs the first of Formula 1 a Miami. Great bitterness for the Ferrari who can look at the glass half full after closing with a double podium. A fiery ending caused by a Safety car he shuffled the cards but the Red Bull has given proof of the umpteenth proof of power, a hegemony broken only by the great solidity of the Ferrari that he couldn't do more than that.
They are tired, exhausted, they have given and demanded everything from themselves and from the car. A truly testing race for the riders who arrived at this track with so many unknowns and few certainties. Max e Charles they challenged each other, once again, but one of the two made the difference. Collecting points was essential, especially given the problems at the start of the weekend for Verstappen. We have reached the fifth race and the results lead us to 2 victories for Charles and 3 for Verstappen who, on the other hand, has already collected two withdrawals.
Aston Martin mess
Two empty pitches, no less than two. After qualifying closed positively especially for Stroll, both cars of theAston Martin, due to a technical error related to the fuel temperature, they do not line up on the grid and are forced to start from the Pit Lane to therefore place themselves at the back of the group. A real disaster given the possibility of both of them finishing in the points, with a track that had already given good results yesterday.
The departure
At the race start Max Verstappen immediately shows aggressive taking advantage of the departure of Carlos Sainz from the dirty side of the track, and attacking the Spanish rider from the outside who, with less grip, has nothing to defend his position. On the other hand, the idea of Leclerc, party in Pole. Already from the first lap he begins to grind tenths of an advantage over his direct opponent who needs to get closer in order to take advantage of the DRS. Instead, he loses several positions Lewis Hamilton attacked from behind even by a very ferocious man Fernando Alonso that with the front right touches the rear left of the 7 times world champion, gaining 4 positions at the end of the first lap. Despite the narrow track, everyone manages to keep a safe distance without further complications. After just a few laps Miami claims its first retirement. Guanyu-Zhou he was forced to return to the pits, finishing his race before the other drivers, due to a problem on his own Alfa Romeo C42.
Charles and Max the duel continues
Although outside, at least for the moment, they respect each other, on the track these two exceptional drivers never miss an opportunity to give it to each other. Alerted by the team, about a problem for Leclerc linked to the management of medium tyres, Max Verstappen he approaches cautiously until he gets behind Charles, concluding an overtaking move that the Monegasque tried to return shortly after without success. The tires do not assist the driver Ferrari started with high hopes and ambitions from Pole, and this manifests itself in mixed performances of Leclerc which defines "difficult to drive” his creature, the F1-75, so far great companion of the pilot.
The redhead after the disappointment a Imola she found herself again in great difficulty and all after just 7 laps. Problems that the Ferrari he had sidelined after the last few seasons. Even in pit stops there Red Bull proves to be in better shape, although in recent races the Maranello team has shown that it has taken a big step forward this season. The stop of Verstappen is of 2.4, that of Leclerc 3.2. Eight tenths of a difference. Bad even the stop of Carlos Sainzmore than 5 seconds.
A fiery ending
On lap 41 a contact between gasly e Norris causes the first Safety car of the race, so called by the fans of the red who hoped for unpredictability. The impact left several debris but after 5 laps the race restarted with Verstappen, Leclerc e Sainz sequentially. the french ofAlpha Tauri is forced to retire after contacts with Alonso e Norris. They also retreat Hag for a contact with Schumacher, and Magnussen.
There are two struggles to restart: the one between the unstoppable and the insatiable Verstappen e Leclerc and that of the two other squires Sainz e Perez. The detachment between the couples is always on the edge of the second, which favors the show. A very aggressive defense of Sainz compels Perez at blocking. The Spaniard therefore maintains his position, that podium which after two retirements is worth a victory.
We need updates
It comes out defeated but solid Ferrari. There are not only doubts about one's own race but also about that of the opponents who are proving to be increasingly concrete and faster. However, a double podium is a positive balance and important points to take home. TO Barcelona it will be necessary to start again from updates and aerodynamic developments to catch up on the competition.
Order of arrival
| POS | DO NOT | DRIVER | CAR | LAPS | TIME/RETIRED | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING RBPT | 57 | 1:34:24.258 | 0 |
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 57 | + 3.786s | 0 |
| 3 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | FERRARI | 57 | + 8.229s | 0 |
| 4 | 11 | Sergio Perez | RED BULL RACING RBPT | 57 | + 10.638s | 0 |
| 5 | 63 | George Russell | MERCEDES | 57 | + 18.582s | 0 |
| 6 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 57 | + 21.368s | 0 |
| 7 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | ALFA ROMEO FERRARI | 57 | + 25.073s | 0 |
| 8 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | ALPINE-RENAULT | 57 | + 28.386s | 0 |
| 9 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ALPINE-RENAULT | 57 | + 32.128s | 0 |
| 10 | 23 | Alexander Albon | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 57 | + 32.365s | 0 |
| 11 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 57 | + 35.902s | 0 |
| 12 | 18 | Lance Stroll | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 57 | + 37.026s | 0 |
| 13 | 22 | Yuki tsunoda | ALPHATAURI RBPT | 57 | + 40.146s | 0 |
| 14 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 57 | + 49.936s | 0 |
| 15 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | HAAS-FERRARI | 57 | + 73.305s | 0 |
| 16 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS-FERRARI | 56 | DNF | 0 |
| 17 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 54 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 10 | Pierre Gasly | ALPHATAURI RBPT | 45 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 4 | Land Norris | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 39 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | ALFA ROMEO FERRARI | 6 | DNF | 0 |
* Provisional results. Notes – Verstappen scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.
