Verstappen, Red Bull are in class of their own with second straight win at Miami Grand Prix
MIAMI — The inaugural Miami Grand Prix last year ushered in a new era for Formula One. The second edition of the race Sunday proved it’s all here to stay.
It’s true of both the sport in its new Miami Gardens home — the crowd around Hard Rock Stadium was again gigantic and loaded with star power — and the grand prix’s only ever champion. Max Verstappen defended his crown at the Miami International Autodrome and turned a potentially dramatic race into an uneventful one by blitzing the competition to win by more than five seconds.
The 2022 Miami Grand Prix served as the first win for Verstappen on his way to a second straight world championship.
The 2023 Miami Grand Prix erases any questions about whether the Dutch superstar still a class above everyone else in his sport.
“The key was just the general pace,” Verstappen said. “Today was a very good day.”
Verstappen, who drives the No. 1 car for Red Bull Racing, started all the way down in ninth place after a snafu in qualifying kept him from putting in a fastest-lap time and still he was into the lead within 20 laps, and eventually overtook Mexico’s Sergio Perez with 10 laps to take the lead for good.
Verstappen, who has now won 3 of 5 races in the
2023 Formula One World Championship and 18 of the last 23 across the last two years, has long been dominant, driving the fastest car from the front of the pack and fending off all competition. In this race, he had to come from behind and he made it look just as easy.
“I had a clean race,” Verstappen said, “picked the cars off one by one.”
Verstappen, 25, moved up from ninth to sixth in the first four laps, then jumped to fifth on Lap 8, fourth on Lap 10, third on Lap 14 and second on Lap 15. He and Perez, his teammate, effectively held the top two spots for the rest of the race, with Verstappen passing him once on Lap 20, then again on Lap 48 after he pitted.
Verstappen was the fastest driver from start to finish and finished in 1:27:38.241 — more than five seconds clear of everyone else. Perez, who drives the No. 11 for Red Bull, finished second in 1:27:43.625 — 5.384 seconds behind Verstappen. No one else led a lap.
“Winning a race from P9 is always very satisfying,” said Verstappen, who became only the fifth driver to ever win when starting from ninth.
The gap between Red
Bull and every other constructor is massive right now, as those two have combined to win each of the first five races in the 2023 Formula One World Championship.
TN