08th May 2023
Damien Smith
He was imperious in the wake of the blips. Following defeat in Azerbaijan and a mistake that left him ninth on the grid in Miami, Max Verstappen made sure normal service was resumed in the grand prix on Sunday with an emphatic victory that put Sergio Perez firmly back in his place. Behind the Red Bulls, Fernando Alonso made it four podiums out of five races for Aston Martin, but he was more than the equivalent of a pitstop behind. The Honda-powered cars remain in a different league, as they have been all season.
Alternate strategy works for Max
The obvious differentiation between Verstappen and Perez in the 2023 Miami GP was the decision to run the cars to alternative tyre strategies. But there was something else: the double world champion was also plain faster than the chastened Mexican.
Verstappen botched qualifying with a poor first run, which left him vulnerable to a red flag stoppage – which is what occurred thanks to Charles Leclerc’s off. But starting ninth just opened up an opportunity to try something different in comparison to Perez, who claimed an excellent pole position.
‘Checo’ started on the medium tyre for a relatively short 20-lap first stint, which Christian Horner insisted was the ideal strategy, according to all of Red Bull’s numbers. But that’s not how it turned out, as Verstappen ran long from the start on the hard tyre until lap 45. He sliced through those ahead of him and was second to Perez as early as lap 15, the Red Bull once again proving particularly adept at making the best use of DRS. Once clear of the pack, Verstappen got his head down and put in a consistently strong performance.
As Horner said, his mid-race pace on the hard Pirelli was “outstanding”. When the champ finally did pit, he re-joined right on Perez’s tail. On fresh medium tyres versus aging hards it was an unequal struggle, with only one likely outcome.
Red Bulls keep it clean
After the flag, Horner made a point of publicly thanking his drivers over the radio for keeping their brief wheel-to-wheel battle clean. That he felt it necessary to point it out says much about the sensitivities between the team-mates, and it was also a nod perhaps to the days when Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were going toe to toe, not always without incident.
Verstappen made his move at Turn One on lap 48 of 57, Checo’s positioning forcing Max to take the outside line. They turned into the first corner side by side, but there was little aggression on show here from either party. In fact, they were clearly taking care not to get anywhere close to contact and Verstappen was free to take his decisive lead. It was also clear which had the better strategy, despite Horner’s insistence medium to hard was the primary way to go pre-race. “The medium was initially really poor, worse than expected,” said Perez, who also acknowledged Verstappen’s stunning pace on the hard tyre. He’d been well beaten and put on a brave face to hide his disappointment.
Alonso eyes second – or even a win
It’s still very early days in a long season, but the possibility of Red Bull achieving an ‘Invincibles’ season – by going unbeaten – looks on the cards right now. The one man who might be best placed to challenge that is Alonso. Yes, he had a “lonely” race in Miami, nowhere near the Red Bull pace while racing clear of everyone else once he’d seen off Carlos Sainz Jr. But the run of races to come, especially Monaco and Barcelona, might offer a chance of something magical.
Speaking to Jenson Button in the post-race interview, he admitted a second place might be nice, but we all know what he really craves. Now more than ten years after his last F1 win, the jeopardy and unique nature of Monaco in particular might well offer Alonso and Aston Martin their best chance to pull off something unforgettable. But they’ll need a big favour from the Red Bulls to do it.
Misery for Ferrari
In the wake of Alonso, this was a tough weekend for a number of teams, but especially for Ferrari. Sainz qualified third behind Perez and Alonso, but blew his challenge to beat the Aston Martin by screwing up his pit entry at his stop and incurring a five-second penalty. Alonso stopped later, came out behind his countryman, then passed him anyway.
Sainz dropped another position to George Russell’s Mercedes to finish a flat fifth, while Leclerc endured an even more frustrating afternoon. He lined up seventh despite his qualifying error, but never showed much sign of progressing – and finished where he’d started after getting picked off late on by Lewis Hamilton. Underwhelming all round.
Reasons to be cheerful at Mercedes
The Black Arrows were also in the doldrums in Miami, both Russell and Hamilton admitting to confusion about how to find and keep pace in their Mercedes in qualifying. Russell lined up sixth, with Hamilton down in 13th having failed to progress beyond Q2. But both plugged away in the race and got stronger as the fuel loads reduced and the track rubbered up.
Russell started on the medium and pitted on lap 17 to take on the hards that would last him to the end, as Hamilton on the white-walled rubber struggled once again to use DRS to make progress through the pack. He even faced the ignominy of Russell catching him after his stop, the order coming that they weren’t racing each other. The seven-time champion bristled, but played the team game and allowed a grateful Russell through.
The younger Mercedes driver put in a fine performance and was pleased with how he demoted Sainz for fourth. “That’s how we roll,” he sang on the radio, having maximised what his team offered him in Miami. But Hamilton too finished strongly after his early frustrations. He caught and passed the Alpine of Pierre Gasly, then zeroed in on Leclerc for a move three laps from the end that was a contender for the best of the day. Sixth place is far from where he wants to be, of course, but in the circ*mstances and from 13th on the grid, it was at least a sign of something encouraging. Big aero upgrades are in the pipeline for Imola, although how much difference they will make is hard to quantify.
Magnussen makes his point for Haas
Behind Leclerc, the uninspiring Alpines of Gasly and Esteban Ocon finished eighth and ninth – from fifth and eighth on the grid – following a rocket of public criticism for the team as a whole from big boss Laurent Rossi. On the face of it Kevin Magnussen was another to fade, but given that he started a stunning fourth for Haas the Dane was always likely to slip down the order in the grand prix. That he battled to take the final point in tenth, on home soil for Gene Haas, meant the team at least took something meaningful from Miami – which is more than can be said for AlphaTauri, Alfa Romeo, Williams and a frankly dire McLaren.
Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.
F1
F1 2023
Formula 1
Miami Grand Prix
Max Verstappen
Sergio Perez
