Verstappen beats Leclerc in Miami F1 Sprint

Despite battling with Charles Leclerc at the start, Max Verstappen controlled the rest of the Miami F1 Sprint to take his second sprint victory of the season. F1Technical’s Balázs Szabó reports on the 19-lap Miami sprint race.

The field endured a chaotic start in the Miami F1 Sprint. Charles Leclerc had a great getaway off the line which enabled him to challenge for the lead when he and Max Verstappen approached Turn 1. However, the Monegasque needed to back off to avoid a potential collision with the Dutchman.

With Perez running a bit wide into Turn 1, Visa RB driver Daniel Ricciardo managed to sneak his way past to grab P3 for the moment.

Behind the leading pack, there was a four way fight into Turn 1. Lewis Hamilton braked very late and touched Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, who had nowhere to go as his team-mate Lance Stroll was on the outside. Norris was on the outside of Stroll, and was hit by the Canadian in a way that he was forced to climb out of his car at Turn 1.

Stroll was also forced to retire from the race while Fernando Alonso needed to pit for a new front wing. The safety car was deployed to clear the track.

Commenting on the incident, Norris said: “Nothing I could do. A bit stupid in a Sprint, hardly any points [on offer]. Car’s been good all weekend so nothing to complain about, the position we put ourselves in by a bad lap yesterday – around the people who are a bit more careless.”

After the safety car left the track, Verstappen quickly put a full second between himself and Leclerc so that the Monegasque had no DRS to attack the reigning champion.

On Lap 6, Perez got Ricciardo on the back straight with Carlos Sainz offering company to the Australian.

By Lap 9, a hard fight had established between Hamilton and Magnussen with the pair having battled for the last point-scoring position. The Dane defended hard and once left the track and gained an advantage for which he received a ten-second penalty.

On Lap 14, Magnussen was given a black and white flag for his aggressive defence. The pair went side by side at Turn 13 and ran nearly off the track. As they went wide, Visa RB driver Yuki Tsunoda got past Hamilton. Two laps later, both Tsunoda and Hamilton got past Magnussen.

In the meantime, Verstappen held on to the lead and secured his second sprint victory of the season with a three-second gap ahead of Leclerc with Perez coming home third.

Sainz was unable to pass Ricciardo who managed to pick up his first points of the season ahead of the Ferrari driver and Piastri.
Nico Hulkenberg finished seventh for Haas to gain two championship points. Hamilton was able to pick Tsunoda off on the final tour, but he was later penalized for speeding under the safety car which meant that the Japanese driver grabbed the final point.