GARDENS OF MIAMI, Florida — Max Verstappen Used an easy to maintain Sunday drive Red Bull undefeated during the season, as the two-time reigning Formula 1 champion went from ninth place to victory at Miami Grand Prix.
Red Bull have won all five races so far this season, and teammate Sergio Perez’s second-place finish in Miami was Red Bull’s fourth 1-2 finish this year. Verstappen has three wins this season, while Perez, the pole sitter at Miami, has two.
The victory was the 38th of his career for Verstappen, who tied Sebastian Vettel for the most wins for Red Bull. At this rate, he will surpass Vettel’s record by the end of what many critics are already complaining is a dull season dominated by Red Bull.
“I just call him (expletive) adorable,” Verstappen said on his radio. “It was a good race, a good race all around, so thank you very much. It was really, really good, also for the team, again”
Red Bull boss Christian Horner praised Verstappen’s poise during the 57-lap race that gave him his second consecutive victory in Miami.
“Well done, Max. It was a powerful central stint, really impressive on the hard tire and thanks for running clean with your teammate” said Horner.
Red Bull has said it will allow Verstappen and Perez to run cleanly for the championship, and Perez looked poised to take the championship lead in Miami from pole. Verstappen was demoted to the starting ninth place as qualifying was disrupted before his last qualifying attempt by an accident by Charles Leclerc.
But the Dutchman had no trouble driving across the field. He moved from ninth to sixth in the first four laps, using a two-car pass in one corner to gain ground. He was fifth on lap nine, fourth on lap 12 and finally behind Perez on lap 15.
Verstappen took the lead when Perez pitted on lap 20 and held a lead of nearly 18 seconds with 15 laps to go. When he finally pitted, Verstappen rejoined second, but only 1.6 seconds behind Perez.
It took him minutes to pass Perez for the win, taking the lead in a wheel-to-wheel battle with nine laps to go. Although Verstappen has already won from a lower starting position, he becomes the first driver since Niki Lauda at the 1984 French Grand Prix to win from ninth.
The victory also came on the anniversary of the 2016 announcement that Verstappen would be promoted from the junior team at Red Bull ahead of that season’s fifth round.
Perez finished second, a full 5.3 seconds behind Verstappen.
“I tried, I gave everything,” Perez said as the crowd chanted his nickname “Checo! Checco! Checco!”
Fernando Alonso was third for Aston Martin but finished 26 seconds behind. It was the fourth podium in five races for the resurgent Spaniard.
“It wasn’t easy, it’s never been easy, but it was a lonely race,” said Alonso.
George Russell was fourth for Mercedesfollowed by Carlos Sainz Jr. of FerrariAND Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, who drove from 13th to sixth place. Leclerc was seventh, while Alpine riders Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were eighth and ninth.
American team Haas driver Kevin Magnussen finished 10th to score a point for the second time this season. Haas used the Miami race to highlight all of its American sponsors, including Chipotle, which promised 10,000 free burritos if a Haas driver scored a point on Sunday.
Logan Sargeant, the first American on the grid since 2015, finished last in his home race. Sargeant was born and raised less than 20 miles from the Fort Lauderdale Speedway. He started last.
The sold out crowd of 90,766 included Jeff Bezos, Tom Cruise, Elon Musk, Serena and Venus Williams and Roger Federer, while LL Cool J handled the driver introductions. The drivers came out with a new song by will.i.am called “The Formula” created especially for Sunday’s race. The song, which is a collaboration with Lil Wayne, was performed by a symphony.
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