Max Verstappen storms through the field to take win at F1 Miami GP, Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez second

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen made his way through the field from ninth place on the grid to take a stunning victory in the Miami Grand Prix, as he sealed his third win of the season to extend his driver’s championship lead to 14 points.

His team-mate Sergio Perez finished over five seconds behind in second place. Fernando Alonso achieved his fourth podium finish of the season, as the Aston Martin driver came home in third to round off the top three.

Perez started the race on pole position, with Verstappen being forced to work his way through the pack to stand any chance of competing with his teammate for the victory on American soil.

The two drivers went for different one-stop strategies as Perez started on the medium tyres, and Verstappen on the longer-lasting hards, which proved to be the better all-round racing compound.

It meant that within 15 laps, the defending world champion used the pace of his Red Bull to make his way up into second place past Alonso. Five laps later, and with his team-mate less than two seconds behind him on the track, Perez came into the pits for his only stop of the race, and it became a strategic shoot-out between the pair of them for the victory.

Verstappen extended his opening stint on the hard tyres and stayed out all the way until Lap 45. He came back out of the pits under two seconds behind Perez with just over ten laps to go.

With Perez almost powerless to defend on his worn harder tyres, the Dutchman made the race-winning overtake on Lap 48 around the outside into Turn One and never looked back.

Verstappen crossed the line 5.3 seconds clear of Perez to take the chequered flag and cap off a superb drive.

Meanwhile, an impressive performance from Lewis Hamilton – despite starting in 13th – saw him finish in sixth. His teammate George Russell came home in fourth, as Mercedes took home some important points.

It was a day to forget for Ferrari, with Carlos Sainz finishing in fifth, and Leclerc down in seventh.

DRIVER OF THE DAY – Max Verstappen

A difficult qualifying session yesterday saw the championship leader line up in ninth place for today’s race. A mistake on his first timed run, followed by the red flag that came out for Charles Leclerc’s spin into the barrier meant he started well down on the grid.

With Perez capitalising and starting on pole, it meant the Mexican had a strong chance to take the lead in the championship with a positive result. Verstappen, however, had other ideas despite his lowly grid position, and showed raw pace in the first stint of the race especially to put himself in the best position to take the victory on an alternative strategy to his teammate.

The difference in strategy between the pair of them meant that Perez was unable to defend Verstappen in the dying laps because of his worn hard tyres. Verstappen showed his speed throughout the race and demonstrated why he cannot be written off at any point. A great drive by the Dutchman, who takes home 26 points after also securing the fastest lap of the Grand Prix, as well as his 38th victory in Formula 1.

KEY MOMENTS

LAP 15/57 – VERSTAPPEN MOVES INTO P2 – The Red Bull is looking very quick. Verstappen gets past the Aston Martin with the help of DRS down the second straight on the lap. He is now into P2 after starting ninth! The gap to his team-mate out in front is 3.6 seconds.

LAP 20/57 – PEREZ PITS FROM THE LEAD! – With Verstappen only 1.4 seconds behind, Red Bull opt to call in the race leader to ditch his worn mediums for a set of fresh hards. He rejoins back in P4, 1.5 seconds behind Ocon in the Alpine. With both Red Bull cars on different strategies, it may come down to the latter stages of the race to see who comes out on top for the victory!

LAP 42/57- VERSTAPPEN STILL YET TO PIT – Verstappen is now opting to push as the end of his first stint comes nearer. With the gap at 18.1 seconds, the championship leader is doing all he can to put himself in a good position once he comes into the pits. His engineer has come on the radio to say that he would come back out 1.8 seconds behind his teammate on track after his pitstop.

LAP 45/57 – VERSTAPPEN FINALLY PITS – Verstappen pits from the lead! He comes in and fits the medium tyre. Perez retakes the lead, and is only 1.3 seconds ahead of his team-mate! It is advantage Verstappen, as Perez may be powerless to defend in a couple of laps.

LAP 48/57 – RACE-WINNING OVERTAKE? – After some great defensive driving by Perez to hold off his teammate down the main straight, Verstappen just about has enough into Turn One and makes the move down the outside. A great overtake and that looks likely to seal the win for the championship leader.