Verstappen Denies Leclerc Again, Narrows Championship Gap

The roar of Formula 1 engines echoed through the iconic Hard Rock Stadium, a venue accustomed to hosting sporting legends, as Miami welcomed its inaugural Grand Prix. While the stadium is famously home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, a team that has yearned for championship glory for decades, it has also witnessed countless triumphs across various sports. From multiple Super Bowls to the high-stakes Miami Open tennis tournament, the hallowed grounds have been a stage for extraordinary athletic feats.

It was, therefore, perhaps fitting that the very first Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, held on a purpose-built circuit winding around the stadium complex, saw reigning world champion Max Verstappen claim a dominant victory. This performance, marked by strategic brilliance and sheer driving prowess, stood out as arguably his finest of the season up to that point, further solidifying his championship aspirations in the thrilling 2022 Formula 1 season.

The narrative leading into the Miami race had suggested a different outcome. The opening four races of the season had established a compelling pattern: Charles Leclerc of Ferrari would win, followed by Max Verstappen for Red Bull, then Leclerc again, and finally Verstappen. This alternating sequence created an intense championship duel, with each driver pushing the other to their limits. In Florida, qualifying seemed to adhere to this script. A crucial error by Verstappen on his final qualifying lap allowed Leclerc and his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. to capitalize, securing a front-row lockout for Sunday’s main event. This commanding qualifying performance by Ferrari left many anticipating a victory for the Monegasque driver.

Despite their advantageous starting positions, the Ferrari strategists and drivers were acutely aware of the formidable threat posed by Max Verstappen and the Red Bull RB18. Red Bull’s undeniable top-speed advantage along the two longest straights of the challenging 5.4-kilometer Miami International Autodrome track was a significant concern. Leclerc himself admitted after qualifying, “It’s going to be very difficult. We’ve got this advantage in the corners, hopefully, they will be too far to have an opportunity of overtaking us in the straight.” This statement underscored the strategic tightrope Ferrari had to walk: maximize cornering speed without sacrificing too much on the straights, where Verstappen’s Red Bull truly excelled.

Verstappen, starting from third on the grid, faced an additional challenge. His preparation for the Miami Grand Prix was perhaps the most compromised of the 2022 season. Overheating issues during Friday practice had not only cost him valuable track time but had also denied him the crucial opportunity to carry out any practice starts from the grid throughout the weekend. This lack of data and experience for such a critical phase of the race was a significant handicap. “I didn’t even do a start,” Verstappen later explained, “So I didn’t know what to expect in the actual start.” This uncertainty added another layer of pressure to a race already brimming with high expectations.

However, as the five red lights extinguished at the Miami International Autodrome, signaling the start of the inaugural race in front of thousands in the grandstands and hundreds in the trackside swimming pools, Verstappen’s raw talent shone through. His first getaway of the weekend was nothing short of exceptional, allowing him to immediately challenge Carlos Sainz Jr. for second place as they hurtled towards Turn 1. “We had a good launch,” Verstappen recounted. “I saw the opportunity to go around the outside in Turn 1 so I tried and, luckily, it worked.”

This bold move on the outside of the opening corner gave him the crucial inside line for the subsequent left-hander of Turn 2, enabling Verstappen to confidently demote Sainz down to third position. Behind the leading trio, Sergio Perez maintained a solid fourth place, ahead of Valtteri Bottas, with Pierre Gasly in sixth. Further back in the pack, Fernando Alonso, after gaining two places by taking the outside line into Turn 1, then muscled past Lewis Hamilton. He made wheel-to-wheel contact with the Mercedes at Turn 2 before out-dragging Hamilton on the sprint towards Turn 4, showcasing his veteran race craft.

All drivers within the top 10 positions had opted for the medium compound Pirelli tires to commence the race. Track temperatures were a warm 40 degrees Celsius, certainly hot, but slightly cooler than some of the scorching conditions experienced earlier in the weekend. Leader Charles Leclerc’s early pace on the yellow-walled tires appeared decent, as he managed to pull out of DRS range by the time the drag reduction system was activated on the third lap. However, a significant shift occurred after lap five. Verstappen, displaying remarkable consistency and speed, began to gradually chip away at Leclerc’s lead. He consistently logged four consecutive laps within a tenth of each other, while Leclerc’s lap times suddenly dropped by half a second. This rapid convergence brought the Red Bull firmly within DRS range of the leading Ferrari.

“I just couldn’t get into the DRS initially,” Verstappen later explained. “But then, at one point, I think Charles started to struggle a bit more with the front tires, and it seemed like our car was very good on the medium compound.” This observation highlighted a key strategic advantage for Red Bull: their car’s superior performance on the medium tires was proving instrumental in their pursuit of Ferrari. By the end of lap seven, Verstappen had successfully brought his Red Bull within the crucial one-second DRS window, setting the stage for his attack.

Utilizing the Red Bull’s formidable straight-line speed and the assistance of DRS, Verstappen closed in rapidly behind the Ferrari along the back straight, approaching the tight Turn 17 hairpin. The patchwork asphalt around this hairpin, laid down to cover damage from spilled hydraulic fluid, offered notoriously poor traction. This proved detrimental to Leclerc, who got a very poor exit out of the turn. This compromised exit allowed Verstappen to position his Red Bull just inches away from Leclerc’s rear wing through the final two corners of the lap, perfectly setting up his move.

As the pair crossed the start-finish line to commence the ninth lap, Verstappen made his decisive move. He pulled to the inside of the Ferrari along the main straight, with the two championship rivals running side-by-side in yet another thrilling battle of the 2022 season. Many drivers had voiced concerns that the minimal grip off the racing line would make overtaking incredibly difficult, if not impossible, at Turn 1. However, Verstappen found ample purchase on the inside, sweeping confidently into the lead. Leclerc, caught off guard and with his line compromised, could only manage a half-hearted attempt around the outside into Turn 2 before having to concede the position. It was a bold, decisive move that would prove pivotal in the race.

Leclerc, visibly surprised by the maneuver, admitted post-race that he had not anticipated such a move to the inside of Turn 1 would be feasible that weekend. “With the experience I had from practice inside there, it was a disaster, the grip on Friday and Saturday,” Leclerc explained. “I did not expect Max to have that much grip. But actually, I think it was much better for the race today. I thought that, at that moment, it was the right thing to stay on the racing line and try to optimize the braking point, which I did – but it didn’t work out.” This candid admission highlighted the unexpected nature of Verstappen’s move and his ability to adapt to changing track conditions.

With the lead now firmly in his grasp, Max Verstappen began to assert his dominance, gently but steadily pulling away from Charles Leclerc. He established a modest yet comfortable gap of just over three seconds, while Carlos Sainz Jr. maintained third position, a further three seconds behind his teammate. Sergio Perez, in the second Red Bull, was considerably closer to Sainz, lurking just about a second behind the Ferrari, until the end of lap 18 when an unexpected issue arose.

“I’m losing power,” Perez reported with growing concern, sending a ripple of anxiety through the Red Bull pit wall. “Yeah, I’m losing a lot of power.” Within half a lap, the problem had already cost him over 1.5 seconds to Sainz. “Oh, fuck’s sake,” Perez spat, frustration evident in his voice. “What’s going on?” However, the Red Bull engineers, calmly observing the telemetry, were optimistic. “It’s all looking good,” engineer Hugh Bird replied. “Power unit’s all looking good.”

Despite his team’s reassurances, Perez continued to struggle, losing a further 1.6 seconds down the length of the back straight alone, and shedding precious tenths on the flat-out run from Turn 8 to Turn 11. Yet, after diligently following his team’s instructions to switch to “fail 5-0,” Perez’s power suddenly returned, much to his relief. All told, this intermittent power unit problem cost Perez a significant six seconds over two critical laps, disrupting his charge for a podium spot and highlighting potential reliability concerns for Red Bull.

As the race progressed, many drivers in the midfield began to make their mandatory pit stops, switching from the medium compound tires to the more durable hard compound. However, the leading teams, Red Bull and Ferrari, opted to extend their stints as much as possible, looking for an optimal window. Ferrari eventually called Leclerc into the pits at the end of lap 24. Red Bull responded by emulating their rivals, bringing Verstappen in two laps later, maintaining track position. It was then Carlos Sainz’s turn, but his pit stop was marred by a delay on his front-right wheel, costing him several precious seconds. Fortunately for Sainz, the brief loss of power that had afflicted Perez earlier had created a sufficient gap, allowing him to hold onto his third position despite the slower pit stop.

Once all the medium-tire starters had cycled through their pit stops and switched to the hard compound, those who had begun the race on the more durable hard compound found themselves significantly higher in the running order than their initial grid positions. George Russell, in particular, was a notable beneficiary, sitting in fifth place, while Esteban Ocon had made a remarkable climb to eighth after starting from the very back of the grid. This demonstrated the strategic flexibility offered by the hard tire choice, especially in a race with high tire degradation.

Further back in the pack, Fernando Alonso was now close enough to Pierre Gasly in ninth to finally launch an attack on the AlphaTauri he had been trailing for a significant portion of the race. Much like Verstappen’s decisive move on Leclerc earlier, Alonso skillfully tucked up behind Gasly at the hairpin before leveraging DRS along the pit straight. Alonso’s eventual lunge to the inside of Gasly into Turn 1, however, was not the two-time world champion’s most precisely judged maneuver. From two car-lengths back, Alonso aggressively stuck his nose into a gap that was always destined to disappear, resulting in wheel-to-wheel contact with the AlphaTauri. This contact sent Gasly wide and allowed Alonso to slip by, with Lance Stroll swiftly capitalizing on the situation to also pass Gasly.

“I think he closed the door at the last minute,” Alonso insisted, attempting to justify his actions. But the race stewards disagreed with his assessment. After reviewing the incident, they deemed Alonso culpable, handing him a five-second time penalty for the clash. Initially, Gasly appeared to have only lost track position from the contact. However, as he continued around the circuit, he reported a more severe problem. “The steering is bent,” he stated, indicating significant damage to his car.

Despite the damage, Gasly pressed on, but his car’s compromised handling soon became evident. He suddenly ran very wide at the long, sweeping marina turns of six, seven, and eight, losing control momentarily and dropping him behind both Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen. “We’re happy with the car,” engineer Pierre Hamelin assured his driver, attempting to calm him. “Nothing we can see on the data.” But Gasly was far from convinced. “Nah, I have a problem. I have a problem. The car doesn’t turn… oh!” His sudden exclamation on the radio was prompted by a dramatic turn of events.

Lando Norris, who had been attempting to navigate around the struggling Gasly, clipped him as he exited Turn 8 onto the winding straight. The contact proved catastrophic for Norris, sending his McLaren into a violent skid down the track, shedding its right-rear tire before coming to an abrupt halt next to the barriers. “I’m out boys,” Norris bluntly reported to his engineer Will Joseph. “Fuck. I’m sorry about that. I don’t know what happened.” It was a sudden and dramatic end to his race.

As Norris’s McLaren was spinning down one straight, George Russell was in the process of flying down the back straight in the final sector. His engineer, Riccardo Musconi, immediately saw the unfolding drama on his monitor. “So be on standby for a Safety Car,” Musconi urgently told his driver. Then, as the implications became clear, “VSC. VSC. Box, box.” With the Virtual Safety Car deployed, Mercedes had been handed a golden opportunity to pit Russell. As the entire field was forced to significantly slow down, Russell managed to switch onto a fresh set of medium tires and rejoin the circuit, having only dropped two places behind Bottas and Hamilton to seventh. Crucially, he now held the significant advantage of fresher and faster tires than the cars ahead of him. Alpine, however, waited a full lap before bringing Esteban Ocon in for his first stop, by which time Race Control had upgraded the Virtual Safety Car to a full Safety Car deployment, further compacting the field.

What had been a commanding 7.5-second lead for Max Verstappen was now reduced to virtually nothing, but he had every reason to feel confident. He had demonstrably had the measure of Charles Leclerc after his early pass, showcasing the superior race pace of his Red Bull. When the race finally restarted at the beginning of lap 47, Verstappen executed a clean jump, maintaining his lead without issue. Behind him, however, Carlos Sainz’s poor traction out of the hairpin left him vulnerable to a charging Sergio Perez, setting the stage for a tense battle for third place.

Sensing the danger, Sainz aggressively covered the inside line, forcing the Red Bull of Perez to attempt an overtake around the outside. However, Sainz skillfully positioned his car into Turn 1, holding his ground and successfully defending his third place for the time being. The restart had injected renewed energy and tension into the race, promising a thrilling conclusion. Meanwhile, George Russell, in seventh, was reveling in the exceptional grip provided by his fresh medium tires. He was right on the tail of his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who himself was exerting considerable pressure on his former Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, who was running just ahead.

As the trio rounded the Turn 17 hairpin almost in unison, Bottas misjudged his exit, nearly touching the wall. This crucial error allowed both Mercedes cars to sweep past him, moving into fifth and sixth positions. It did not take long for Russell, on his grippy fresh tires, to challenge his own teammate. By the very next lap, he was side-by-side on the outside of Hamilton heading into Turn 11. Russell momentarily ran wide outside the white lines on the exit, before rejoining the track for the long right-hander of Turn 12 on the inside of Hamilton, eventually making his way past. Russell promptly began to pull away from his teammate, establishing a gap. However, the situation took an unexpected turn a couple of minutes later when Musconi came over the radio with an edict from the FIA.

“So, George, we need to give the place back to Lewis, because we went off track when we overtook,” Musconi explained, clarifying the situation. “The earlier you give the place back, the more chance you have to attack. Race control asked the question.” Russell, a consummate professional, duly obliged. He blended out of the throttle to allow Hamilton to catch him along the back straight before gracefully letting him by into Turn 1. Hamilton’s return to fifth was, however, short-lived. Russell, immediately demonstrating the superior pace of his fresh tires, slipstreamed back alongside his fellow Mercedes driver on the run to Turn 11 and moved back into fifth position once again, completing a fascinating and somewhat dramatic internal team battle.

Out front, Charles Leclerc was doing everything within his considerable abilities to try and reel in Max Verstappen. He managed to get within close enough proximity to make the Red Bull pit wall feel a flicker of nervousness, but critically, not close enough to attempt a genuine overtaking maneuver. Behind them, Sergio Perez was once again close enough to Carlos Sainz at the start of lap 52 to try a bold lunge up the inside for third place at Turn 1. For a fleeting moment, it appeared he had achieved it, before he unfortunately missed the apex and ran wide, allowing the Ferrari to reclaim the position, much to Sainz’s relief.

Eventually, whether through a dwindling tire life, the sheer exhaustion of the chase, or the inherent speed difference, Leclerc’s determined push for the lead gradually wilted. This allowed Verstappen to enjoy the final handful of laps in relative comfort, managing his car and tires to a well-deserved victory. It had been, by all accounts, possibly the most challenging weekend of the year so far for Verstappen, not least due to his significantly reduced running on Friday. Yet, he had still succeeded in harnessing the formidable race pace from the RB18, and the car had repaid his efforts by performing faultlessly, despite the intense Miami heat. It was a testament to both driver and machine.

Max Verstappen crossed the chequered flag to claim his third victory of the 2022 Formula 1 season, and his second in a row. This flawless performance completed his remarkable record of winning every single race he had finished in during 2022. As he had done at the sprint race in Imola two weeks prior, and in Jeddah before that, he had once again fought his way past his championship rival on-track to secure the win. With this victory, he continued to relentlessly cut into Charles Leclerc’s championship buffer at the top of the standings. Having been a substantial 46 points adrift just two races earlier, Verstappen’s relentless form meant he could potentially seize the championship lead at the very next race, signaling a dramatic shift in the title battle.

Despite having bested his rival in back-to-back weekends, Verstappen maintained a characteristic level-headedness, refusing to get ahead of himself about what it could mean for the remainder of the year. “We’re still having a few issues we have to solve,” he commented thoughtfully. “I mean we are quick, but as you can see, my Friday was terrible which is not great if you want to have a good weekend. Also Checo had a few issues in the race, so we have to be on top of that, but clearly there is a lot of potential, we just need to make sure it’s reliable.” His pragmatic view highlighted the challenges still facing Red Bull despite their recent successes.

For Charles Leclerc, having to settle for second place meant accepting the reality of a tough season ahead if he was to successfully hold onto his hard-fought championship lead. “I think we have been in only one position since the beginning of the season, which means we are hunted for now,” Leclerc reflected with a philosophical tone. “I quite like this position to be honest, because it means that you are doing something right. But it is also true that it’s two races that the gap is slowly closing down. But I don’t really mind to be honest whichever position I am in, I just want to be the most competitive out there. And, at the moment, it seems that Red Bull has the upper hand in the races.” His words acknowledged the increasing pressure from the resurgent Red Bull team.

For Carlos Sainz, securing a podium finish was a significant relief, especially after a challenging couple of races where he had managed to complete just a single racing lap across two Grand Prix events. “It’s not so much a relief – but it’s needed,” he admitted. “I think I needed to complete a race distance, to get the body back to shape, and also get the feel for the car on used tires, high fuel. The important thing is that we got a full race in, but at some stages of the race I was pretty quick and also the battles and the feeling with the car in battle with Checo, you know what to do with the battery, with the tires – I think it gave me a good understanding of what to do in the future.” His podium was a crucial step in rebuilding his confidence and understanding of the F1-75.

George Russell once again led both Mercedes cars home, finishing an impressive fifth, with Lewis Hamilton in sixth. Russell believed that Mercedes had achieved the absolute best result they could have on the day, humbly acknowledging that a stroke of fortune with the Safety Car played a significant part in his strong finish. Valtteri Bottas secured a commendable seventh place for Alfa Romeo. Fernando Alonso, who had initially finished eighth on the road, was unfortunately demoted out of the points after receiving two five-second time penalties for his aggressive maneuvers, highlighting the strict enforcement of racing rules.

Alonso’s penalties promoted Esteban Ocon into eighth position, a well-deserved reward for a strong drive, helped in part by Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher clashing in the later stages of the race. Alex Albon was then elevated to ninth, securing his and Williams’ second points finish in just three races, an excellent result for the Grove-based team. Lance Stroll claimed the final point in tenth position for Aston Martin, rounding out the top ten.

The inaugural Miami Grand Prix was certainly a spectacle, generating considerable debate within the Formula 1 community. Whether one embraced the glitz and glamour of the event or harbored reservations from the outset, the action that unfolded over the 57 laps on Sunday likely left both proponents and critics feeling validated in their initial assessments. The question of whether the future of Formula 1 lies in more races of this nature, blending high-octane racing with a vibrant, entertainment-focused atmosphere, is one that will undoubtedly continue to be fiercely debated in the years to come. But for now, the more immediate and crucial question for the 2022 Formula 1 season is whether Ferrari can effectively find an answer, both strategically and technically, to the increasingly impressive and relentless form of Red Bull and their reigning world champion, Max Verstappen. The championship battle had intensified, setting the stage for more thrilling encounters ahead.

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