MIAMI - Oracle Red Bull Racing continued its dominant streak at Miami International Autodrome as Max Verstappen charged through the field to finish 5.38 seconds ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez in the second running of the Miami Grand Prix in another 1-2 result for the team.
The two-time Formula 1 World Champion lined up ninth on the grid but climbed through the field to clinch his 38th career win.
An error from Charles Leclerc in Q3 brought out the red flag and ended Saturday’s qualifying session prematurely. The timing of the red flag saw several drivers shuffled slightly out of position for the start of the race such as Verstappen not being able to improve his lap time. Notably, Kevin Magnussen (Haas) was able to secure fourth, gifting the U.S.-based team their highest-ever starting position for a Grand Prix.
“I stayed out of trouble at the beginning. And then yeah, just had a clean race, you know, picked the cars off one by one,” Verstappen said. “I could stay out really long on the Hard tires and that's where I think we made the difference today.”
Now, Verstappen has a 15-point championship lead win over Perez as Red Bull continues to run away with the constructors' title, leading Aston Martin by 122 points.
After starting on the pole and losing out to his teammate in the final stages of the race, "Checo" struggled to find an apparent explanation for his lack of speed.
“I don't know how different it would look, the race, for Max (Verstappen), if he was on the same strategy as myself, but he was clearly the fastest car out there. I have to understand what went wrong today," Perez said. “And it's pretty simple: when you don't have the race pace then it's really hard to win the race.”
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) rounded out the podium for the fourth time this season.
“I think at the beginning of the year a podium was amazing. Now, after four podiums, we want obviously more and at least a second place," Alonso said. “But, you know, the two Red Bulls, they are always unbreakable and they are always super-fast.”
Alonso currently sits third in the drivers’ championship standings.
Formula 1 and the U.S. Market
In the event's second year, Miami was the first of the three U.S.-based races on the calendar for the 2023 season. The Miami Grand Prix is part of Liberty Media’s expansion efforts and concerted strategy within the U.S. market.
Formula 1 will return stateside later in the year at Circuit of the Americas for the United States Grand Prix and a highly anticipated trip to "Sin City" for the Las Vegas Grand Prix on the Strip.
Several efforts, such as the driver introductions hosted by artists LL Cool J and Will.i.am, have been labeled gimmicky by fans and drivers alike.
Even Mercedes driver George Russell wasn't impressed with having to stand outside in the Florida heat for a period of time before the race started, and he received criticism from the NASCAR community, who were going head-to-head against F1 at the same time on Sunday afternoon across the country at Kansas Speedway. This American-style version of driver introductions certainly wasn't everyone's cup of tea.
GRID Ranking
The 2023 GRID Ranking is the seventh year of the premier motorsport ranking in the world and it was initially released on Sunday, April 2.
Drivers in the seven racing series participating in the ranking (NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1, Formula E, World Rally Championship, Repco Supercars, MotoGP) have earned GRID Ratings, which help determine their seeding each week in the 2023 GRID Ranking.
Week 6 GRID Ranking Formula 1 Drivers:
DRIVER | OLD RATING | PREVIOUS RANKING | MOST RECENT FINISH | NEW RATING | NEW RANKING |
Max Verstappen | 19.80 | 1st | 1st | 20.48 | 1st |
Sergio Perez | 17.80 | 3rd | 2nd | 17.28 | 3rd |
Fernando Alonso | 11.80 | 14th | 3rd | 11.84 | 13th |
Lewis Hamilton | 10.20 | 26th | 6th | 10.08 | 27th |
Charles Leclerc | 8.20 | 35th | 7th | 7.52 | 35th |
The next FIA Formula 1 World Championship race will take place on Sunday, May 21 at Imola for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Full results from the 2023 Miami Grand Prix can be found here:
