MIAMI GARDENS, United States — World champion
Max Verstappen resisted a late attack from series leader Charles Leclerc of Ferrari
to claim an accomplished victory for Red Bull in sweltering conditions at the
inaugural Miami Grand Prix on Sunday.
اضافة اعلان
In a physically exhausting race for the drivers and teams at
the
Miami International Autodrome, the 24-year-old Dutchman produced a mature
performance to make the most of superior straight line speed in a largely
processional race until a late Safety Car intervention.
His second win in succession and third of the season enabled
him to trim Leclerc’s advantage to 19 points in the drivers' championship.
Leclerc has 104 and Verstappen 85. It was the 23rd win of the Dutchman’s
career.
"It was an incredible
Grand Prix, very physical as
well, but I think we kept it exciting until the end," said Verstappen,
interviewed by retired American driver Willy T. Ribbs after the race.
When Ribbs suggested he looked ready to "get into a
boxing ring", Verstappen retorted: "I think I’ll stick to racing, but
I appreciate boxing a lot. It felt a bit like that out there in terms of how we
feel now.
"I’m incredibly happy with winning here in Miami and it
was an incredible Sunday for us."
Leclerc said he felt that the
Red Bull was clearly a faster
car than his Ferrari in a hot and punishing race.
"It was such a difficult race, physically," said
Leclerc. "We struggled quite a bit with the medium tires, especially in
the first stint, and was overtaken there. That made our race a bit more
difficult from that moment onwards.
'Step up'
"On the hard tire, we were very competitive and towards
the end I thought I could get Max at one point, but today they had the
advantage in terms of pace."
He said he hoped
Ferrari would make a 'step up' with
upgrades for the Spanish Grand Prix later this month, but added that he had
enjoyed the atmosphere generated by a sell-out crowd that was sprinkled with
celebrities.
"It was fun and it's amazing to see so many people
again," he said. "I keep saying it, but it's great to see so many
Ferrari fans in the grandstands.
"Now, we need to keep pushing. Upgrades will be very
important throughout the year and I hope that we can do a step up from the next
race onwards."
Verstappen came home 3.786 seconds ahead of Leclerc with
Carlos Sainz third in the second Ferrari after holding off a late charge from
Sergio Perez. George Russell finished fifth after recovering from 15th on the
opening lap to come home ahead of Mercedes team-mate, seven-time champion Lewis
Hamilton.
"I did the best I could. It’s a good result for the
team," said Hamilton, who had spent the buildup to the race rowing with
the sport's governing body about how much jewelry he wears.
In a tactical race of attrition and many minor incidents,
Russell made the most of a late Safety Car intervention when McLaren’s Lando
Norris collided with
Pierre Gasly’s Alpha Tauri to take a ‘free’ pit stop for
new tires.
The final ten laps produced more action than the previous 47
including another accident when Mick Schumacher of Haas collided with
fellow-German four-time champion Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin.
Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo finished seventh ahead of
Esteban Ocon and his Alpine team-mate two-time champion Fernando Alonso and
Alex Albon who was a fine 10th for Williams.
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