Verstappen rides in Miami, overcomes Pérez and wins after starting ninth

Driver Max Verstappen won the Miami GP this Sunday (7) with a show of overtaking after starting in 9th. The Dutchman’s teammate, the Mexican Sérgio Pérez finished second and the Spaniard Fernando Alonso, of Aston Martin, closed the third podium.
With the victory, Verstappen shot at the top of the championship and recorded 119 points to Pérez’s 105. It was a great victory for the Dutchman, who had started in the middle of the pack due to a mistake by Charles Leclerc in qualifying.
Verstappen started 9th and did not face much resistance to win his third race of the season. The Dutchman made seven overtakes and took the lead after Mexican Pérez stopped in the pits. When Verstappen changed the tyres, Pérez took the lead again… only to lose it shortly after with another big pass by the defending champion.
Verstappen beat Pérez in strategy. He delayed his pit stop as long as possible, and when he had to pit, he came back glued to his teammate. With medium tyres, faster and less worn out, Verstappen saw no resistance to overcome the Mexican, who could only hope.
The rain that fell on the circuit on Saturday increased the fear of skidding on Miami’s new asphalt. But with the track dry, the pilots had no difficulty in starting. Pérez kept the lead and opened up an advantage for Alonso. Interestingly, the race did not have any retirements.
Verstappen put on a show of overtaking and had no difficulty recovering from the misfortune of qualifying. Starting 9th, he gained five positions in the first ten laps. By lap 16, he was already in second. And that’s even using hard tyres, which underperformed the others.
On lap 30, Pérez pitted, and Verstappen took the lead. On lap 46, it was the Dutchman’s turn to stop and give the lead to his partner. But she didn’t last two laps. With new tires, the current champion easily overtook the Mexican to win the race.
Alonso had a great race and stayed safe in third position. Unable to compete with Red Bull, the Spaniard was also not threatened by competitors and reached his fourth podium in the championship with ease.
Carlos Sainz took a five-second penalty for speeding in the pits. The ferrarista started third and fought for the podium.
The next race will be the GP of Emilia-Romagna, in Italy, on May 21st.