Max Verstappen claimed his third win of the season at the Miami Grand Prix in Florida. Starting in ninth place, the Dutchman picked off the other drivers, and his endurance on the hard tyres allowed him to almost lead by a pitstop. Verstappen’s decision to start on the hards, compared to the mediums for the cars on the front three rows, paid off, allowing him to stay out longer. He then switched to fresh medium tyres and made short work of his struggling teammate, Sergio Perez.
Perez Struggles on Medium Tyres
Perez had started from pole but lost his advantage on his initial medium stint as the yellow-walled tyre performed worse than expected and soon suffered from graining. Perez conceded that Verstappen put in a masterclass to beat him from ninth on the grid. “Honestly, I think also Max had a tremendous pace on the hard tyre and I think I’ve got to analyse what went wrong today because we simply didn’t have the pace,” he added.
Verstappen Extends Championship Lead
Verstappen’s emphatic win was a setback for Perez after gaining momentum by winning last week’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The reigning world champion extended his lead from six to 14 points in the championship, having also secured the bonus point for the fastest lap. Verstappen was confident that his decision to start on the hard tyres would pay off and luckily it did. Winning a race from P9 is always very satisfying, he said.
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