Miami GP: Verstappen secures second win in Florida from 9th on grid
7th May 2023Despite a ninth-placed start, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took his second win in Miami to edge out his championship lead to 14 points over his teammate, Sergio Perez.
How the race unfolded…
It was a great start from Perez who managed to swipe over to the right to defend his race lead from Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. When the pack filtered through the opening corners, the top three remained unchanged, with Perez ahead of Alonso and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
However, slightly further back, Alpha Tauri’s Nyck De Vries locked up in the braking zone and couldn’t avoid the gearbox of McLaren’s Lando Norris. The two ventured out onto the escape road and returned to the track in 19th and 20th with Norris out in front of De Vries.
The stewards noted the incident but no further action was deemed necessary.
On lap three, Williams’ home hero, Logan Sargeant, peeled into the pit lane to obtain a new front wing and a set of hard compound tyres. Three laps later, Norris peeled into the pit lane before Piastri followed suit. The two McLaren ditched their soft tyres for the hard compounds.
By lap eight, Verstappen continued his charge towards the front of the field. After he dispatched a number of drivers, the Dutchman sat in sixth place. However, he soon dispatched Mercedes’ George Russell with a move down the inside of turn 17. A lap later, the world champion repeated the same move on Alpine’s Pierre Gasly to sit in fourth, only Sainz and Alonso separate him from Perez.
It wasn’t long before the current championship leader, Verstappen, sat behind his teammate in second place. The #1 Red Bull slipped past Sainz into turn 11, just before the technical section in the second sector, and looked to make a move down into turn 17 on Alonso. However, the Dutch driver waited until the weaved straight between turns seven and 11 to get passed the Aston Martin.
Sainz and Alonso soon pitted from the race as the two Red Bull’s raced off ahead. However, Perez soon pitted himself to discard his mediums on lap 20 which allowed Verstappen to inherit the race lead. The Mexican returned to the circuit in fourth after a steady 2.2-second stop.
Ferrari’s Spaniard, Sainz, was slapped with a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. It was seen when the Spanish driver pulled into the pit lane he had locked up in a bid to attack the pit entry line as fast as he could.
Alonso was the last driver to pit from the race – on lap 25 – to exchange his worn mediums for the hard compound tyres. Alonso left the circuit in third and returned in fifth behind Sainz. Three laps later, Alonso dove down the inside of Sainz into turn 11 to regain his track position.
On lap 38 of 57, Verstappen, Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) were yet to pit from the hard compound tyres. Hamilton was part of that list but the world champion pitted on the said lap to exchange his hards for the mediums. The seven-time world champion returned to the circuit in the same place he started: 13th.
Ocon finally pitted on lap 40 to leave Verstappen (first) and Stroll (seventh) to be the only drivers to pit. The Alpine driver returned to the circuit in 11th between Hamilton (10th) and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas (12th) who had just fought for track position into turns 17 and 18.
Stroll finally pitted at the end of lap 42, to swap his hards for mediums, and returned to the track in 15th. Verstappen was now the only driver yet to pit from the race, the Dutchman remained out in front with 18 seconds in hand over his Mexican teammate who sat in second.
Despite the worn tyres, both Verstappen and Perez traded fastest laps as the two tried to edge each other out to benefit track position. On lap 46, the Dutch driver finally peeled into the pits to put on the medium compounds on. When Verstappen returned to the pits, the Dutchman was one second and a half behind Perez when the two were up to racing speed.
With a performance difference in tyre compounds, Verstappen put his teammate under pressure but it wasn’t until lap 48 that the Dutch world champion returned to the front of the order. Perez put in his best effort to defend from Verstappen into turn 17 and attempted to fight back into turn one, on lap 48, as the two tip-toed through the corner – careful not to trip over each other.
However, under better traction with the faster tyre, Verstappen pulled away to cement his lead.
On the final lap, the top three remained unchanged, Verstappen was out in front with over four seconds in hand over Perez and Alonso who rounded out the podium place.
Further down, Sainz remained in fifth place after his five-second time penalty was enforced. The Spaniard was situated amongst the two Mercedes, sandwiched between both Russell (fourth) and Hamilton (sixth).
Podium:
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull
- Sergio Perez, Red Bull
- Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
That’s all for the article: Miami GP: Verstappen secures second win in Florida from 9th on grid!
What did you think of the race, were you shocked Verstappen won from ninth on the grid? Let us know in the comments!
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Miami GP: Perez on pole in shocking mixed up grid
- Miami GP: Live coverage of FP3
- 2023 Miami GP: FP1 Live Coverage
- EA F1 23 to release June 16 featuring Las Vegas Circuit and return of Braking Point
- F1 Race Report: Perez becomes first two-time winner in Azerbaijan!
- FIA to reconsider protocols after close encounter with Ocon in Azerbaijan GP
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
