2023-05-08 09:05:00
Starting ninth, the reigning double world champion made a superb comeback to win the Miami Grand Prix, the fifth round of the season.
Le Point Auto with AFP
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CThis is called dominating your subject. Badly qualified, Max Verstappen, already winner of the first edition of the Miami Grand Prix in 2022, managed to get ahead of his Mexican teammate Sergio Pérez, who had nevertheless started in pole position and was favored by the Floridian public, and the Spanish veteran Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin). “It’s a great victory. I didn’t have any problem at the start and afterwards we had a very good rhythm, so I was able to come back. When I took the lead, I tried to widen the gap before returning to the pits. Then, I had tires in better condition, so I was able to overtake Checo (Pérez, editor’s note). It was a good battle with him, ”said the championship leader.
14 points lead in the championship
“Mad Max”, who had started from the fifth row, was quick to show off the superiority of his RB19: he was already fourth after 9 laps and took second place on 15e round. He then took the lead on 21e lap when Pérez returned to the pits and delayed his tire change as much as possible in order to have a sufficient lead to hope to emerge ahead of his teammate. Verstappen finally stopped at 46e lap and came out just behind Pérez, but he took the lead two laps later and never let go. A week after a disappointing weekend in Azerbaijan, where he took second place in the Grand Prix and third in the sprint, the Dutchman set the record straight. Thanks to his third victory of the season and the fastest lap in the race, he increased his lead in the World Championship over Pérez by eight points to bring it to 14 units (119 points against 105).
Overwhelming dominance of Red Bull
By achieving its fourth one-two finish in five races, Red Bull confirmed its overwhelming dominance and still left only the crumbs to the competition. At the wheel of his Aston Martin, Alonso again had a great race to clinch another podium, his fourth of the season. His Canadian teammate Lance Stroll, who missed qualifying, finished 12e after starting in 18e position. Mercedes, struggling in qualifying, made up for it during the Grand Prix with the fourth place of the Briton George Russell and the sixth of his compatriot Lewis Hamilton, who had nevertheless left in 13e position. Ferrari, which had finally won its first podium of the season in Baku last weekend, limited the damage by placing its two single-seaters in the top 7. Spaniard Carlos Sainz finished fifth despite a five-second penalty for a speeding in the pits, while Charles Leclerc took seventh place. “The car lacks consistency and speed in the race. It’s difficult for the drivers to gain confidence and adapt to the settings and the car, because you never know how it will react,” lamented the Monegasque.
Gasly and Ocon finish 8e et 9e
The French Alpine team, which had not scored any points in the last two races, reacted well in Miami: the Frenchmen Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon indeed won the 8e et 9e squares. “We did our best. I made a great start to fourth and tried to keep pace with Sainz and Alonso but they were quicker […] I couldn’t keep my sixth place after the pit stop but we have to remember the positive. Both cars scored points and we took a big step forward this weekend,” said Gasly. Dane Kevin Magnussen, who had taken a surprising fourth place on the grid, completes the top 10 and takes a point for his Haas team, which was playing in front of its home crowd and its partners in the United States. The next race, the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, will take place in Imola (Italy) in two weeks, then the drivers will continue with Monaco and Barcelona (Spain) over the following two weekends.
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