Max Verstappen roars from ninth on grid to win Miami GP

Oct 12, 2023, 03:27 pm

MIAMI -- Max Verstappen recovered from ninth place on the grid to beat Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez to victory at the Miami Grand Prix.

Such was the pace of the two Red Bull drivers that they were in their own private battle for the majority of the race, with Perez leading from pole position as Verstappen recovered quickly from his qualifying mistake Saturday to move up to second place by lap 15.

The two drivers were on differing strategies, with Verstappen starting on the hard tyres and running long while Perez started on the medium compound and pitted relatively early. The two strategies crossed over twice in the pit stops before converging on lap 48 when Verstappen made a clean pass on his teammate for victory at Turn 1.

Max Verstappen, left, overtakes both Charles Leclerc, center, and Kevin Magnussen, right, in the same move as the Red Bull driver sliced his way through the field to claim victory in Miami.
Max Verstappen, left, overtakes both Charles Leclerc, center, and Kevin Magnussen, right, in the same move as the Red Bull driver sliced his way through the field to claim victory in Miami.
Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Perez attempted to defend the position on the previous lap at Turn 17, but with Verstappen now on the faster medium tyres after his pit stop and Perez on much slower 28-lap old hards, there was little the Mexican could do to prevent the pass.

The victory, along with an additional point for fastest lap, gives Verstappen a 14-point difference in the championship after securing three victories from the first five races.

Fernando Alonso secured his fourth podium of the season for Aston Martin after a solid drive from second on the grid. Alonso was passed by Verstappen for second place on lap 15, but barely put up a fight in the knowledge that the Red Bull, with its powerful DRS wide open, was in essentially in a different race.

Carlos Sainz had run as high as third after his pit stop, but his race faded in the second stint and he lost positions to Alonso and George Russell, who overtook the Ferrari to take fourth place on lap 38. To compound Sainz's pain, he was given a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, although his gap over Lewis Hamilton in sixth place at the finish meant he held fifth place once the penalty was applied.

Hamilton passed the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc for sixth place with three laps remaining after both drivers had frustrating races stuck in traffic. Hamilton undoubtedly left Miami as the happier man, making up seven places on his starting position, while Leclerc finished where he started following his qualifying accident Saturday.

The two Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon finished eighth and ninth ahead of Kevin Magnussen, who started fourth for Haas and picked up a single point for finishing tenth.