Six talking points from a memorable Miami GP

A world champion made to sweat

He’d endured a disaster of a Friday practice and could only qualify on the second row on Saturday, but it didn’t take long for Verstappen to grab the Miami GP by the scruff of the neck on Sunday. Red Bull’s world champion used the outside line at turn one to snatch second place from Carlos Sainz Jr., then hunted down poleman and leader Charles Leclerc. On lap nine he made his move at turn one and the points leader simply had no answer to a Red Bull running in low-downforce trim, which only extended its clear straight-line advantage.

But just when it seemed Verstappen would stroke it home, the right rear wheel of Norris’s McLaren connected with the slow-moving AlphaTauri of Gasly, ripping the Pirelli tyre straight off the rim and spinning the orange car around. A Virtual Safety Car, which quickly became a full safety car interruption, gave Leclerc fresh hope. And when racing resumed with 10 to go, he charged after the Red Bull. Getting into range wasn’t too much of a problem, but the Red Bull’s advantage on the straights gave Verstappen the edge just when he needed it the most, thwarting his title rival from landing a telling blow. But boy, was it tense. The champ blew his cheeks, looked hot and bothered and perhaps a tad relieved when he removed his helmet. Nevertheless, Verstappen’s third win of the year leaves him now just 19 points behind Leclerc, which at this stage of such a long season is nothing. His old rival can feel the champion’s breath on his neck.

Perez powers down

It was hard to know where to look during those final laps. As Leclerc chased Verstappen, so too did Sergio Perez go after Sainz. The Mexican was hobbled by a power-sapping sensor failure that left him short of about 25PS (18kW) – not an insignificant amount. But the timing of the VSC becoming a full safety car allowed him to make a second pitstop for medium Pirellis where the two Ferraris and Verstappen had to remain out on their aging hards. Suddenly, it was looking good for Checo who in theory could now have found himself with the pace to win. If only it hadn’t been for that power drop, he might have had a shot.

As it was he had one desperate lunge at Sainz into turn one, the Spaniard doing well to see him coming and give him room to make the corner. Perez ran too deep to keep his Red Bull ahead and Sainz was straight back into third, which he would hold to the flag to join Verstappen and Leclerc on the (distant) podium. Checo, in fourth, was left to ponder what might have been.

Russell calls it right to beat Hamilton

Another thrilling fight in that finale was the one that developed between the Mercedes-AMGs, and just as in Australia George Russell used a well-timed safety car to gain an edge over Lewis Hamilton, then used it to beat him. Russell kept up his remarkable record of always finishing in the top five this year with a canny drive and beautifully executed race from a lowly 12^th on the grid. Running from the start on the hard tyres, his pace improved as the race continued and he radioed in it was worth hanging on for his one and only stop, in case of a VSC or safety car. Lo and behold, his old mate Norris delivered.

Losing less time in his stop than he would have done, Russell emerged just behind Hamilton as the pair ran behind the impressive Alfa Romeo of Mercedes old boy Valtteri Bottas. When the Finn ran wide and almost into a wall, the Silver Arrows were past and now engaged in what was an unequal duel: Hamilton on his aging hard tyres against Russell on his fresh set of mediums. The first attempt involved George briefly running off course (even if Hamilton had left him little choice), so he duly gave the position back in case a penalty came his way. But at the second attempt there was no holding him back, a DRS-assisted move around the outside gaining him a hard-earned fifth. Hamilton rued how the strategy had worked against him, but it was Russell’s lowly grid slot that allowed him to throw the dice – and once again his number came up just when he needed it.

Anguish for Schumacher and Vettel

The friendship between Mick Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel found itself stretched in Miami, on a day when both had driven well – only for their races to come together in an unhappy conclusion. Schumacher looked set for a points finish in one of his best F1 drives so far, until he made a lunge at Vettel’s Aston Martin at turn one. The older German had been through the mill, he and Lance Stroll both starting from the pitlane because of a rare fuel cooling issue. But Vettel had pulled a few decent moves and kept himself in the game, until his young pal torpedoed his race. Schumacher claimed it was surely his corner on the radio – but that was optimistic, to say the least. He owes Vettel an apology.

Another point for Albon

As Bottas secured an excellent seventh, Esteban Ocon rose from the back to finish a fine eighth for Alpine as team-mate Fernando Alonso found himself docked five seconds for a clash with Gasly at turn one. The Spaniard reckoned Gasly turned in on him, but like Schumacher his interpretation stretched the reality and he deserved the penalty that came to him. It left him ninth, just a couple of tenths ahead of Alex Albon, who scored his second point of the season for Williams after another accomplished performance. The Thai is making the most of his second chance in F1 in impressive fashion.

Miami makes a splash

The last word has to go to the venue. The fake marina was tongue-in-cheek and daft as anything ever seen at a race track, and the roll-call of vacuous celebrities must have set an F1 record. But what really counted was the circuit itself, built in the car park that surrounds the city’s American Football stadium. The quality of the surface and concerns about turn 14 where both Sainz and Ocon crashed in practice were serious wrinkles, while the tighter section was, suitably enough, termed ‘Mickey Mouse’. But overall the layout provided a decent challenge, especially in the heat and, thanks to that timely safety car intervention, eventually delivered a memorable race. So a perfect weekend? No, far from it. But F1 will consider the first Miami GP a loud and clear hit. It was a decent start, if nothing else, from an event that had a great deal riding on it.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.