Miami, Florida. Home of the sun, sea, Miami Dolphins and William's driver; Logan Sargeant. This past weekend the city, also known as Vice City, played host to Formula One as it arrived in the States for the first time this season. And, with the weekend back to the normal format that we all know and love, it didn't stop Formula One Management and Liberty Media in
managing to irk many fans across the globe with one of their "clever" ideas. However, that's a conversation for a later date.
Onto the action and qualifying ended with a varied top ten after Ferrari's Charles Leclerc found himself colliding with the barrier on his flying lap. This was perfect for Red Bull's Sergio Perez as he embarks on his championship battle with teammate Max Verstappen. The Mexican was on pole with Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz making up an all Hispanic top three. Verstappen, who never managed to set a time before Leclerc's untimely incident, found himself starting in 9th.
The following day and the drivers were all lined up on the grid ready to go. The formation lap comes to an end it's light's out and away we go!
Perez get's a tidy start and leads Alonso and Sainz into the first corner. Kevin Magnussen, in the Haas, drops down the order after starting in 4th. Alpine driver, Pierre Gasly, is the big winner here as he finds himself in 4th. At the back of the field, Lando Norris goes wide after he's tagged by Nyck de Vries in the Alpha Tauri. Besides that, everyone is through without incident.
Lap 3 and Sargeant is pitting for Williams. He's given a new front wing and a set of hard tyres which suggests he's going long. Magnussen is starting to come back through the field and gets past Leclerc for 6th. However, he's not there for long because with the help of DRS, Verstappen picks of both Magnussen and Leclerc in one impressive swoop. Race stewards decide that the first lap incident involving Norris and De Vries needs no further investigation.
The McLarens of Norris and Oscar Piastri pit on lap 6. Both drivers started on the soft tyres and unfortunately the strategy seems to have failed them. At the front, Perez is pulling away from Alonso in second. However, he's not getting as far ahead as people would expect of the Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton gets on the radio to his Mercedes team and is concerned that the car wont make it to the end of the race. Up and down the field, drivers are starting to complain about tyre wear. More pit stops could be happening soon as tyres are degrading faster than predicted.
Lap 9 and it's now George Russell complaining that his Mercedes has problems. "Big vibration on the brakes" he tells the team. And, it gets worse for Russell when Verstappen gets past him for 5th. Verstappen seems to be on a mission as he quickly disposes of Gasly as well. The Dutchman is up to 4th. Russell follows Verstappen through, demoting Gasly down to 6th. Leclerc and Magnussen are still jostling for position with some excellent racing. Esteban Ocon is waiting in the wings, however. Waiting for a mistake to be made.
Verstappen catches up to Sainz and picks him off quickly. Four seconds now separate the two Red Bulls. On Lap 15, Magnussen dives into the pits, starting off the chain reaction. He switches to hards, as does Gasly, De Vries and Valtteri Bottas. Sainz, now in 4th, is closing in on Alonso who now sits in P3. He's been passed by Verstappen. Ferrari decide to bring Sainz in to try the undercut on Alonso. He come's back out in 7th, in the middle of a DRS train headed by the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg.
There's movement down at Red Bull with Perez entering the pits for a set of hard tyres. Verstappen takes the lead. However, it's not all plain sailing for him as he starts to sound concerned over his upshifts on team radio. Sainz manages to get past Hulkenberg and break away from the DRS train. Unfortunatley, he's being investigated for speeding in the pitlane. Lap 24 and Russell reckons he has damaged his front wing after a battle with the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll. An incident which gets noted in the stewards room but has no further investigation. Russell's front wing is ok and he passes Stroll with ease. Alonso finally switches onto the hard tyre. Ferrari's undercut has worked as Alonso returns to the track behind Sainz. But only a few laps later, Alonso returns the favour and passes Sainz.
Things are starting to become clear. This race will be a two Bull race between Verstappen and Perez. Perez is currently on fresher hard tyres but Verstappen is yet to pit. He tries to discuss strategy with his team. However, they tell him to focus on driving. He starts to set consistent fastest laps. At Mercedes, Hamilton is told not hold up his teammate and let's him through at Turn 12. Sainz, who has battling with Ocon, is slapped with a 5 second penalty for speeding in the pitlane.
On Lap 37, besides Verstappen, there are still drivers out there who are yet to pit. Yuki Tsunoda dives down the pitlane and makes it one less. Magnussen and Leclerc are still battling it out for the final point paying positions. A battle that has been raging all afternoon. By Lap 39, Leclerc is back in front and starts to pull a gap to the Haas driver. Sainz, in the other Ferrari, is struggling with the hard tyre. He also has his penalty to come at the end of the race. To rub more salt into the wound, he is passed by Russell.
Surprisingly, all twenty cars are still running. There hasn't been a single yellow flag, Virtual Safety Car or Safety Car. Everyone is really behaving themselves this afternoon. We're into Lap 43 and we're still waiting for Verstappen to pit. Perez has lost time to his teammate. Surely this race is now Verstappen's to loose? And, it looks as if Perez knows this as he starts to pump in some fastest laps. Verstappen finally comes in on Lap 46. He switches to the mediums and Perez takes the lead. Verstappen, however, returns to the track 1.5 seconds behind his teammate.
Ten laps to go and Verstappen is right on Perez's tail. He has a look here and there, but decides to make the move on the start/finish straight. He's back in the lead. Alonso, currently in 3rd, has had a relatively lonely race. Russell is behind enough that it shouldn't effect the Spaniard who is on course for another podium this season.
A battle seems to be brewing between Magnussen and Bottas for the last point. However, it hasn't come to fruition. Tsunoda, on fresher tyres, quickly gets involved and passes Bottas for 11th. Leclerc has made some progress and, using DRS, gets past Gasly for 6th. Hamilton follows him through and then challenges Leclerc, himself. He makes the move and demotes Leclerc back to 7th.
On the penultimate lap, Verstappen has stretched his lead to 3 seconds and his trying his hardest to nab the extra point for the fastest lap. A feat which he achieves on the last lap. The chequered flag is waving and Verstappen has done it, from 9th on the grid. Perez finishes 2nd with Alonso making up the podium positions. Russell is 4th and Sainz holds onto 5th as Hamilton, in 6th, couldn't get within 5 seconds to the Spaniard. The final points go to Leclerc, Gasly, Ocon and Magnussen.
I think as F1 fans we understand that not every race will be exciting and, unfortunately, Miami was anything but.
It's now back to Europe for the next round of the Formula One World Championship. Let's hope that once we get back onto proper race tracks, the racing will be all that more exciting. See you then!
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