The debut of the Miami Grand Prix was noted. A parade of sports stars and an attendance of 255,000 people in total for the three days, framed the atmosphere of the first champion of the circuit. Max Verstappen, Red Bull driver immortalized himself as the first image on top of the podium, with this victory, he has three races coming as leader (so far this season) and is also sub-leader in the Drivers’ Championship.
Ferrari is today the most direct competition for Red Bull, because in the five races completed in the championship, there has been no lack of a driver representing the Italian team on the podium. At the Miami International Autodrome, located in the Hard Rock Stadium complex inside Miami Gardens, Verstappen prevailed at the head of the field, snatching the lead from polesitter Charles Leclerc. The reigning Red Bull champion took second place from Carlos Sainz from Turn 1, and soon began closing in on Charles Leclerc. The Belgian driver won his second Grand Prix in a row, backing up a grand slam at Imola, Italy.
Despite his victory, Verstappen said Red Bull is still plagued by mismatches in the cars and called on the team to resolve them. His teammate, Mexican Sergio Pérez, who finished fourth, suffered a loss of power early in the race in his pursuit of the Carlos Sainz podium.
“We still have problems that we have to solve. We are fast but as you can see my Friday was terrible which is not great if you want to have a good weekend. I also think that Checo had some problems in the race, so we have to be aware of that. We have a lot of potential, but we need to make sure it’s reliable. We just have to put together a really positive weekend with no problems. I think of course at Imola we had that, but it’s still a bit unpredictable, too much,” Verstappen said.
Leclerc retains the lead in the drivers’ championship, but Verstappen has cut it to just 19 points as the paddock prepares to head into the next race in Barcelona. After Verstappen’s second win in a row, Leclerc says Red Bull has the upper hand and it’s up to Ferrari to regain control.
“It will be a long championship. It seems that they had the advantage for two weekends, especially in race pace, and we have to get the advantage back as soon as possible,” said the Monegasque driver.
Leclerc, who completed his 16th consecutive career finish noted that they have been in one position since the start of the season understands that Verstappen can close the gap.
“I quite like this position, but it is also true that the gap is slowly closing. I don’t care what position I’m in, I want to be the most competitive there is. Verstappen was asked the same question, to which he replied: “I like the position I’m in at the moment, knowing the car is fast and at the end of last year they were chasing me and that wasn’t good because I knew I wouldn’t I had the pace and it was going to be tricky. It depends on how competitive you are as well.”