F1 RACE RESULTS DRIVER
While Leclerc held station in the lead, Verstappen was just over a second behind, with Hamilton – now complaining of damage after the Lap 1 tap from Alonso – breezing past the Alpine driver for P7 on the run up to Turn 11 on Lap 3.
F1 RACE RESULTS DRIVERS
Amid the stifling heat, four drivers (Stroll, Vettel, George Russell and Ocon) began on hard compounds, while the other 16 started on mediums.Īt the start, Leclerc had a terrific launch while Sainz lost out to Verstappen going into Turn 1, Hamilton falling to eighth after a Turn 1 lock-up and Fernando Alonso jumping from 11th to seventh – making slight contact with Hamilton in the process. Now it was just time for lights out in the Sunshine State.įerrari painted the front row red thanks to pole-sitter Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, with row two belonging to the Red Bulls – Max Verstappen ahead of Sergio Perez – while Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas would share row three with former Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton.ĭRIVER OF THE DAY: Verstappen gets your vote after holding off Leclerc in MiamiĪston Martin encountered pre-race fuel temperature trouble, both Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel starting from the pit lane to avoid a penalty from the FIA – while Esteban Ocon would begin from the back for Alpine having crashed in FP2.īushels of ominous clouds looming, concrete walls closing in, 18 drivers lined up on the grid. Swaying palm trees, A-list celebrities, the biggest Marina this side of Dade County – the Miami Grand Prix weekend was always destined to be a showstopper. But neither Perez nor Leclerc could make headway, and the win – narrow as it was over the Ferraris – would be Verstappen's. Perez attempted to pass Sainz on Lap 52 but locked up, both drivers avoiding contact, while Leclerc was under half a second behind Verstappen in the chase for the lead. It was equally difficult for Sainz, who was being hounded by medium-shod Sergio Perez for the final podium place. The Lap 47 restart saw Verstappen lead away but struggle to build up a gap to Leclerc. Perez took the opportunity to pit for new mediums from P4, emerging there, with hard-shod Verstappen, Leclerc and Sainz ahead. That was until the Lap 41 caution, a VSC-turned-Safety Car triggered by a clash between Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris, which sent the McLaren driver into a spin as his right-rear tyre ripped off. READ MORE: Verstappen elated with 'comeback' win in Miami – but calls on Red Bull to iron out 'hit and miss' weekends It seemed that Verstappen would cruise to victory in front of Miami Gardens’ marina… The Ferrari driver lost the lead to his rival on the main straight at the start of Lap 9 of 57 and pitted from mediums to hards on Lap 24, causing Verstappen to react with his stop two laps later. Red Bull’s reigning champion took P2 off Carlos Sainz into Turn 1 at the start, and soon began to close in on Leclerc. Max Verstappen won the first ever Miami Grand Prix, having pried the lead off Ferrari’s pole-sitter Charles Leclerc early in the race, and defended it in an enthralling late-race battle.
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