Max Verstappen wins the Miami Grand Prix

The Dutchman had already advanced to second place in his Red Bull after fifteen laps behind his teammate Sergio Pérez. He took the lead shortly afterwards after the Mexican’s pit stop. Only after 46 laps did Verstappen change tires and rejoin the track behind Pérez, but the difference was small and the superior Dutchman passed his teammate nine laps before the end and then rode unchallenged to victory.

It was Verstappen’s third win this year and the 38th in his career. The Dutchman strengthened his leading position in the championship. He ran out to 14 points ahead of his Mexican rival.

Fernando Alonso turned in another great performance for Aston Martin to finish third on the podium for the fourth time this season. Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri) had a lousy start. He got caught behind Lando Norris (McLaren) and dropped from fifteenth to twentieth and last place. De Fries managed to gain a few more spots in the course and finished eighteenth.

Pérez made a flawless start from pole position and dived into the first corner ahead of Alonso. Verstappen had to let the Finn Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) pass and was briefly tenth after the first lap. Three laps later, his choice of hard tires proved to be the right one and he had already progressed to sixth place, passing both Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Kevin Magnussen (Haas F1) in one fluid maneuver.

After fifteen laps, George Russell (Mercedes), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Alonso (Aston Martin) were also struggling and the hunt for his teammate and title rival began.

On lap 21, Pérez entered the pit lane for his tire change and handed over his first place to Verstappen, who continued unperturbed on the hard tyres. The gap with Pérez then remained about 16 to 17 seconds, so that after 46 laps he could confidently switch to the medium tires. Once in the lead, he also drove the fastest lap of the race, which earned him a bonus point.