Max Verstappen overcame his P9 starting position to win a strategic battle between Red Bulls in Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix, overtaking Sergio Perez on lap 48.
The defending world champion won from ninth on the grid, after losing out on a shot to set a qualifying time on Saturday after making a mistake on his first run, and was denied a further chance by Charles Leclerc’s late-session crash.
He was equipped with the hard tyre compared to Perez, who began the race from pole position on the medium compound, and Checo made sure to stay ahead of fellow front-row starter Fernando Alonso.
Verstappen initially dropped down to P10 at the start as Valtteri Bottas – starting alongside him on the grid – got a better getaway and leapfrogged the Red Bull and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon.
But the two-time champion settled in, quickly dispatching the brace of cars ahead by the end of the second lap. Further quickfire passes on Leclerc and Kevin Magnussen, who were embroiled in a delectable scrap over sixth position, got Verstappen closer to the front of the field.
A series of fastest laps in the early stages then continued to bring Verstappen back into play, and he got a tow from George Russell with DRS to dive past at Turn 17 on the eighth lap of the race as the Mercedes driver complained of vibrations under braking.
Pierre Gasly was next up on the following lap and proved easy pickings at the popular Turn 17 hairpin, moving Verstappen into the top four by the end of lap 10.
It took a comparative age for him to get onto the back of Carlos Sainz, but Verstappen cleared the Ferrari on lap 14 as Sainz had DRS from Alonso ahead to offer a token defence.
Alonso was also dispatched on the next lap with Perez now 3.6 seconds ahead in the lead, but the Red Bull driver reported that the front right tyre was beginning to give up as the mediums began to chafe in the hot Miami conditions.
Verstappen wound the gap down to 2.2 seconds before Perez came in to trade his aged mediums for a set of hard tyres on lap 20, handing the number 1 car the lead, and it became a case of both cars managing their hard tyres.
Perez had the harder job of attempting to close down an 18-second disadvantage to Verstappen, who simply had to maintain the gap prior to his pitstop for medium tyres later in the race.
By lap 32, Perez had the gap down to 14.8 seconds, but Verstappen then began to pick up the pace and managed to ensure the gap could grow once again over the next 13 laps.
Verstappen then eventually called in for medium tyres 12 laps from the end, having extended the gap to 18.3 seconds, but briefly ceded the lead to his team-mate and emerged 1.6 seconds behind once the pitstop was complete.
The pass from Verstappen seemed inevitable, although Perez offered his defence into Turn 17 on lap 47 of the circuit to keep his team-mate behind. Nonetheless, Verstappen stayed close and blasted past into Turn 1 on the next lap to seal the victory, logging the fastest lap on the penultimate lap.
Perez crossed the line 5.3 seconds behind, while Alonso completed the podium 20.9 seconds behind, feeling he had a ‘lonely race’ to third.
Russell worked his way through a number of drivers on the opposite strategy and passed both Ferraris to grab fourth, Sainz behind him in fifth having clung onto Alonso earlier on in the race.
Lewis Hamilton put a late move on Leclerc on lap 55 to rescue sixth from a P13 start, making the opposite strategy work by starting on hards despite getting caught behind Nico Hulkenberg through the first half of the race.
Leclerc meanwhile spent much of the race behind Magnussen and converted seventh on the grid to the same position by the end, ahead of the Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Ocon.
Magnussen completed the top ten, 1.3 seconds clear of a rapidly closing Yuki Tsunoda by the end of the race.
So congratulations to Max Verstappen in winning the race despite starting in the mid-pack. Whatever the starting position, the Red Bull will fly through and win the race. That RB19 car is so fast and thanks to the strategy, the world champion will rise to the top.
Miami Grand Prix, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:27:38.241
2 Sergio Perez Red Bull +5.384s
3 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +26.305s
4 George Russell Mercedes +33.229s
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari +42.511s
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +51.249s
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +52.988s
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine +55.670s
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine +58.123s
10 Kevin Magnussen Haas +62.945s
11 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +64.309s
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +64.754s
13 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +71.637s
14 Alex Albon Williams +72.861s
15 Nico Hulkenberg Haas +74.950s
16 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo +78.440s
17 Lando Norris McLaren +87.717s
18 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri +88.949s
19 Oscar Piastri McLaren +1 lap
20 Logan Sargeant Williams +1 lap
Miami Grand Prix race review as reported by Formula1.com.
Max Verstappen struck back in the 2023 title race by beating Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez to victory during Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix, recovering from ninth on the grid to pass the pole-sitter in the closing stages of an intriguing, strategic race.
Perez had slashed Verstappen’s championship advantage to just six points with a Sprint and Grand Prix double last time out in Azerbaijan, and a topsy-turvy qualifying session at the Miami International Autodrome gave him a golden opportunity to move to the top of the standings.
However, while Perez led the majority of the race on a medium-hard tyre strategy, Verstappen expertly stretched out his initial stint on hards to rise from P9 to P1 via a series of fine moves, and he emerged just behind his team mate with a fresh set of mediums late on.
With 10 laps remaining, Verstappen comfortably cleared Perez to move into a lead that he would not relinquish, meaning the Mexican had to settle for the runner-up spot and lose some of the ground he had made up in the title race.
In addition to a statement victory, Verstappen picked up the fastest lap bonus point to top up his tally and the ‘Driver of the Day’ award, with fans suitably impressed by his charge through the field.
With the Red Bulls again in a league of their own, it was left to Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin to claim the ‘best of the rest’ spot in third, making it four podium finishes in five races for the new partnership.
George Russell was the lead Mercedes in fourth, thanks in part to team mate Lewis Hamilton moving out of his way on a different strategy earlier in the race, getting the better of Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz in the process.
Sainz was hit with a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pits during his swap of tyres, but there was enough of a gap back to Hamilton and team mate Charles Leclerc to keep fifth position at the chequered flag.
Alpine bounced back from their Baku nightmare with a double points finish, Pierre Gasly leading home team mate Esteban Ocon, while Haas driver Kevin Magnussen rounded out the points-paying positions after his P4 start.
Yuki Tsunoda just missed out on another point in his AlphaTauri, having scored in Australia and Azerbaijan, taking P11 ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll with some defensive driving to the finish line.
Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas ran inside the points early in the race but dropped back to 13th as the various tyre strategies played out, followed by the Williams of Alex Albon, Haas of Nico Hulkenberg and team mate Zhou Guanyu.
McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had quiet races en route to 17th and 19th respectively, having been the only drivers to start on soft tyres. They were split by the other AlphaTauri of Nyck de Vries, with home favourite Logan Sargeant bringing up the rear after an early pit stop for a new front wing.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.verstappen-overhauls-perez-for-miami-gp-victory-as-red-bull-intra-team.2kT6YBUWwBlnM8LXoRdpeU.html
Sergio Perez says a “really poor” medium tyre stint compromised his Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix as he was soundly beaten by Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen.
Perez started from pole with Verstappen down in ninth after the Dutchman failed to set a time in Saturday’s Q3 qualifying shootout.
But starting on the hard compound, Verstappen effortlessly carved through the field on Sunday and kept his tyres alive until lap 45 of 57.
Verstappen’s enduring hard tyre pace allowed him to almost lead by a pitstop when he finally came in for mediums.
Returning to the track just behind Perez after his switch to fresh medium tyres, Verstappen made short work of his struggling team-mate to take his third win of the season.
Perez said his race was lost on his initial medium stint as the yellow-walled tyre performed worse than expected and soon suffered from graining.
“I think the medium initially was really poor. Worse than expected,” Perez said.
“The first stint was really poor with the graining that we had on that initial pace. And that compromised quite a lot of our race because we didn’t have too much of a difference on tyre.”
Perez also conceded that Verstappen put in a masterclass to beat him from ninth on the grid.
“Honestly, I think also Max had a tremendous pace on the hard tyre and I think I’ve got to analyse what went wrong today because we simply didn’t have the pace,” he added.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/perez-really-poor-medium-stint-compromised-f1-miami-gp/10466685/
Fernando Alonso says his Aston Martin Formula 1 squad now wants more after securing his fourth podium finish in five rounds at the Miami Grand Prix.
Starting on the front row alongside polesitter Sergio Perez, Alonso was unable to follow the Mexican in the dominant Red Bull and had to concede another spot to eventual winner Max Verstappen in the sister RB19.
After taking his fourth podium in five grands prix, Alonso conceded his team’s perspective on success is starting to shift.
But he is aware that it would take severe Red Bull misfortune for him to finish any higher.
“I think at the beginning of the year a podium was amazing. Now after four podiums we want obviously more, and at least a second place,” Alonso said.
“But the two Red Bulls are always unbreakable, and they are always super fast. But as I said maybe Monaco, maybe Barcelona we have a possibility.”
Aston’s rivals Mercedes and Ferrari both struggled on race pace, leaving Alonso in no man’s land to finish 21 seconds behind second-placed Perez and seven seconds ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell.
On his cruise to third, the two-time world champion even took the time to compliment team-mate Lance Stroll on a tidy overtake he had spotted on the big screens around the Miami International Autodrome.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/alonso-aston-martin-now-wants-more-after-fourth-2023-f1-podium/10466699/
Red Bull Formula 1 boss Christian Horner believes Max Verstappen would have beaten Sergio Perez in the Miami GP even if they had been on the same strategy.
The two drivers both had the option to run either a medium/hard or hard/medium one-stopper combination.
From pole, Perez was in effect obliged to start on the medium as he couldn’t risk losing out off the line to those around him, while starting ninth after a mistake in qualifying Verstappen had more freedom and opted for the hard.
Red Bull’s simulation numbers suggested that Perez’s strategy would be around three seconds faster over the race distance.
However, Verstappen was able to produce unexpectedly good lap times over his long first stint on the hard tyre, even outpacing Perez on his much fresher set of hards after the latter had pitted.
Having emerged from his own stop just behind Perez on his new mediums, Verstappen wasted little time in hustling his way into the lead.
Horner suggested that Verstappen would have been equally impressive had he run the same strategy as his team-mate, given the form that the world champion displayed.
“I think if he’d been on the other strategy as well the performance would have been very similar today,” he said.
“I think he was obviously frustrated with himself after quali, that he made a mistake, and then obviously didn’t get the chance to rectify that.
“And I think he was confident coming into the race today, and just wanted to do something slightly different.”
Horner confirmed that he was willing to support Verstappen’s choice of strategy, even if it was theoretically slower.
“The strategy obviously is discussed, all the numbers are run overnight, and we weighed up the pros and cons,” he said.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/horner-verstappen-would-have-beaten-perez-on-same-strategy/10466854/