Verstappen claims back-to-back sprint wins ahead of Leclerc and Perez

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took back-to-back sprint race wins after the Dutchman claimed the win at the Miami Grand Prix Sprint Race, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. 

Verstappen has claimed yet another sprint race win at the Miami Grand Prix as the triple world champion led the race from start to finish.

Throughout the entire race, Verstappen looked to be in complete control and never looked to be in a position where his lead would be under threat, managing the gap to Leclerc behind.

The only hitch, which was out of Verstappen’s control, was the safety car restart which was a result of Lando Norris’ (McLaren) spin at the opening corner. 

Retirements

When the lights went out, McLaren’s Lando Norris was spun out by the two Aston Martin’s and Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. As Norris couldn’t get his car moving again, race control was forced to deploy the safety car. 

After Norris retired from the race, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll soon retired as a result of the collision with his teammate Fernando Alonso. 

Top 10 

After securing the lead and handling the restart with perfection, Verstappen cruised out in front relatively unchallenged from those behind. 

Leclerc and, Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez finished the race in second and third – in the same positions they started. 

RB’s Daniel Ricciardo completed the race in his best finishing position this year, up in P4, having successfully defended the position against Ferrari’s fierce Carlos Sainz, in P5.  

Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda completed the remaining point-scoring positions in P6, P7 and P8. 

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Williams’ Logan Sargeant completed the top 10, in ninth and 10th respectively. 

Bottom 10

China’s Gunayu Zhou, Sauber, led the bottom 10 drivers in P11 but he had Mercedes’ George Russell and Williams’ Alexander Albon for company in P12 and P13.

Zhou’s teammate, Valtteri Bottas and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon completed the top 15 with nearly a second between the two drivers, in P14 and P15. 

The latter was hit with a 10-second time penalty, before the race, for an unsafe release from his garage as he collided with Leclerc in the pit lane, on their way to the grid.    

Hamilton was riding in the final point-scoring position (P8) by the time he took the chequered flag.

However, the Mercedes driver was slapped with a post-race drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane, adding 20s to his race time, this dropped the seven-time world champion down to P16. 

Alonso separated Hamilton from Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, in P17, as the Dane stood as the last driver to complete the race. 

The Haas driver was slapped with three 10-second time penalties throughout the race for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, and a handful of incidents with Hamilton. 

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Verstappen claims Miami GP sprint pole as Norris falters
• Visa Cashapp RB bring vibrant one-off livery to F1 Miami GP
• Ferrari dawn new livery ahead of Miami GP
• F1 technical legend Adrian Newey set to leave Red Bull Racing in 2025
• Hulkenberg leaves Haas at end of 2024 F1 season for Sauber
• Verstappen dominates to secure first-ever Chinese GP victory

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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.

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.