Max Verstappen wins first Miami GP in front of all-star crowd to close gap on Charles Leclerc as Hamilton finishes 6th

WELL, at least the Miami Grand Prix looked nice.

The celebrities all came out too, as F1’s hosted their first GP in the city after what feels like weeks of back-slapping and endless Miami Vice references.

This was the race that F1’s owners, Liberty Media, have been craving, as they looked to capitalise on the sport’s boom in popularity in the United States.

But building a fresh circuit around the Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium and an enviable guestlist, containing the likes of six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan, David Beckham, NFL star Tom Brady, actor Matt Damon and singer Pharrell Williams, does not necessarily equate to a good race.

F1 has failed in The States in the past, most notably because the tracks had all served up rather dull racing.

That wasn’t going to be the case for Miami though, was it?

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Sadly, it was always going to be hard for F1 to live up to this much hype, as Sunday’s GP failed to match the excitement of the other ‘new’ track, the Saudi GP earlier this year.

But it was a smash for Lando Norris which sent one of his wheels rolling down the track, which stopped Verstappen’s third victory of the year from being a complete procession.

A battle with Charles Leclerc over a few laps gave this race some much-needed excitement at the end.

The Dutchman made an excellent start from third place on the grid and was able to get past Carlos Sainz, who was starting on the dirty side of the grid in second place.

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The Red Bull man split the two Ferraris while Sergio Perez held on to fourth place after pressure from Valtteri Bottas.

But it was not a good start for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, who were both leapfrogged at the start.

Russell sank to 15th while Hamilton was passed by Fernando Alonso, but only after the Spaniard had clattered into the back of his Merc.

Hamilton did squeeze back ahead but was radioing his team to complain that he felt his car was damaged.

Out in front, Verstappen started to close in on Leclerc and eventually made his move on lap nine.

With the added benefit of the DRS, Verstappen swooped past the Ferrari man into the first corner.

Leclerc compounded his misery a lap later when a mistake dropped him even further behind.

The flurry of pitstops did little to disrupt the order as Verstappen held his advantage over Leclerc while Sainz dropped even further behind.

On lap 41, Norris was clipped by Pierre Gasly and sent into a spin that dumped him out of the race.

The subsequent safety car closed up the gap between Verstappen and Leclerc but when the race did resume on lap 47, the race leader was able to maintain his advantage.

Verstappen blasted away from the Ferrari while Perez did his best to get past Sainz.

Behind them, the Mercedes duo were trading places after getting past Bottas.

But Leclerc started to fight back, as he looked to have gained a second wind while behind the safety car.

He pressed the Red Bull man for a handful of laps before he eventually conceded the fight, allowing Verstappen to take the chequered flag.

Verstappen, who had started third, also scored a bonus point for setting the fastest lap.

It was some turn around after suffering reliability problems in practice.

He said: “Awesome job guys. Good recovery from the weekend.”

Leclerc was second, Sainz third and Perez fourth. Russell pipped Hamilton to fifth place.

Verstappen, who looked shattered after the race, said: “It was an incredible Grand Prix and very physical as well.

“We kept it exciting until the end. I’m incredibly happy with winning.”

Leclerc added: “It was a very difficult race physically. I struggled with the medium tyres and got overtaken and that make it hard for us.

“But Red Bull had the advantage in terms of pace.

“We need to keep pushing, upgrades will be important throughout the year, but it has been exciting and that’s what we like to see.”

Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk