Max Verstappen won the first edition of the Miami Grand Prix following an impressive performance on the new track in South Florida, giving him his fourth win of the 2022 season.
Having won the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix two weeks ago, Verstappen headed to Miami hoping to close the gap to leaders Charles Leclerc more. The race was initially in doubt after both race directors contracted COVID-19. Eventually, the race was allowed to hold.
Leclerc claimed the pole position in the qualifying race after an impressive performance, with his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz finishing in second place to complete an all-Ferrari front row. Verstappen started in third place after a late mistake during the qualifying race.
Verstappen quickly got down to business once the Miami Grand Prix started, moving ahead of Sainz into second place in only the first lap. By the ninth lap of the race, Verstappen overtook Leclerc to move into the lead and refused to relinquish the position despite intense pressure from the Championship leader.
Verstappen went on to finish the race in 1:34:24.256s, three seconds faster than Ferrari’s Leclerc. The reigning champion has now won every single race he has finished in Formula 1 this season. He picked up maximum points from the race after he was determined to have had the fastest lap in the race.
Leclerc finished the race in second place while Sainz finished in third place. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez finished in fourth place, George Russell was fifth and 2020 champion Lewis Hamilton finished in sixth place. Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon, Fernando Alonso and Alex Albon rounded up the top ten spots.
After his victory at the Miami Grand Prix, Verstappen has successfully cut Leclerc’s lead atop the Drivers’ Championship standing to only 19 points. Both drivers will face off again on May 22nd at the Spanish Grand Prix, the next stop for the Formula 1 train.
