Really happy, no, he wasn’t. How often. Max Verstappen still had the next eight World Cup points in his pocket. “It wasn’t perfect,” said the Formula 1 world champion in the Red Bull after winning the sprint race as part of the Miami Grand Prix on Saturday.
Over 19 laps (100 kilometers), Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc came second, while Mexican Sergio Pérez came third, to the delight of the local Latin American community. Rhinelander Nico Hülkenberg (Haas) collected two points in seventh place. “We have to improve for the race,” Helmut Marko, head of motorsport at Red Bull, told Sky broadcaster: “According to Max, the rear of the vehicle is too unstable.”
Mercedes malaise continues
On Friday, Verstappen raced to pole position after just one training session on the track at the Miami International Autodrome. Behind them, Leclerc, Pérez and, surprisingly, Daniel Ricciardo started from fourth place in the Racing Bull. Nico Hülkenberg started the second of six short races of the year in tenth place. The Rhinelander had left both Silver Arrows behind him in qualifying: in front of a fantastic backdrop in Miami Gardens, the Mercedes nightmare continues, George Russell started in eleventh place, Lewis Hamilton in twelfth.
When the brakes were braked for the first time after 176 meters on the 5.4 kilometer long track around the Miami Dolphins football stadium, Verstappen had to stretch to turn right in front of Leclerc. “The clutch didn’t grip well when driving off,” reported the Dutchman. But he maintained first place. Ricciardo managed to pass Pérez for third place. Things got so turbulent behind that that the race management ordered the safety car onto the track. What happened?
Chaos am Start
In a chain reaction triggered by Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso steered his Aston-Martin into stablemate Lance Stroll’s racer at the beginning of turn one. Lando Norris was hit again – the McLaren driver spun off the track and was eliminated. Stroll brought his battered car back to the pits, but the damage was too great and the Canadian gave up.
Alonso also radioed an SOS: “I have a puncture,” the Spaniard reported on the radio and immediately knew who the culprit was: “Hamilton came charging like a bull!” The frustrated record world champion’s maneuver was cocky, although he felt differently: “There was a gap inside and I used it,” said Hamilton.
The route commissioners considered the chaos to be normal and did not impose any penalties. After two laps behind the safety vehicle, the excitement had subsided, the cold-formed carbon was swept up and the chase began again. Even Alonso’s supposed puncture turned out to be a perceptual error on the part of the Spaniard, who still finished last, while Hülkenberg was relegated to seventh place.
Verstappen complains, Sainz despairs
It didn’t take long for Sergio Pérez to return the favor and take back third place from Ricciardo. Verstappen drove ahead at the front, but after six laps he had pulled away and from then on remained out of Leclerc’s reach. A bitter duel began in midfield between Hamilton and Kevin Magnussen in the second Haas.
The future Ferrari star Hamilton complained about his slow Mercedes: “I’m very slow on the straight.” So this year he’s radioing as if on a continuous loop. When he was within striking distance, Magnussen repeatedly defended himself with forbidden means and received one time penalty after another.
Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz, with his Ferrari, which had blue accents this weekend, was desperate to overtake Daniel Ricciardo, which he was unable to do until the end. Ricciardo’s fourth place is a much-desired sense of achievement for the Australian, who is fighting for his future in Formula 1.
Verstappen complained over the radio about the “terrible” balance of his superior car: “Zero grip on the rear axle!” Well, it was enough to keep Leclerc more than two seconds behind him and race towards victory: “The first win of the weekend,” was radioed into the cockpit. The next one will follow on Sunday (10 p.m. CEST in the FAZ live ticker for Formula 1 and on Sky).
Although Helmut Marko warned: “We were able to keep Ferrari in check, but I think McLaren is our competitor in the main race. We have to improve,” said the 81-year-old, referring to Verstappen’s complaints about the Red Bull’s unstable driving behavior.
Hamilton flashed
Hamilton’s fight with Magnussen provided entertainment, from which Hülkenberg benefited as he was able to gain a cushion that saved him seventh place. Meanwhile, Hamilton’s colleague Russell was unable to get past Zhou Guanyu (Sauber) or Logan Sargeant (Williams): only twelfth place for the Brit. Hamilton was flagged off in eighth place, Magnussen came last with a total of 35 penalty seconds for unfair defensive maneuvers.
But in the case of Hamilton, the race management also had the final word: he was flashed when the safety car led the field through the pit road because of the sweeping work. The drive-through penalty due was converted into twenty extra seconds, which were added to Hamilton’s final result. The point was gone, 16th place for Hamilton.
With his sprint victory, Verstappen was able to extend his lead in the championship: He leads with 118 points ahead of Pérez (91) and Leclerc (83). The Grand Prix takes place over 57 laps on Sunday.
Verstappen in pole position
Max Verstappen won qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix. The world champion, who had already won the sprint race a few hours earlier, set the fastest lap on Saturday at the Miami International Autodrome in 1:27.241 minutes. The Ferrari duo around Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished second and third.
Leclerc was 0.14 seconds short of the Dutchman’s best time in the Red Bull, whose teammate Sergio Pérez came fourth. Rhinelander Nico Hülkenberg finished a strong ninth in the Haas. Record world champion Lewis Hamilton qualified eighth in his Mercedes. For Verstappen it was the seventh pole position in a row across the season. (sosi.)
