All that was missing was a spark of fortune that would alter the champion’s peaceful routine. Verstappen is great, the best, and his Red Bull is probably the greatest technical prodigy in Formula 1 in color. But racing is very easy when you go first, open a mattress and run alone all the time. In Miami it seemed that way, but there was no cushion. Ferrari didn’t give it much importance and went about his business. McLaren read the race and signed a masterful move. The spark ignited, the timely safety car appeared and Norris stayed first, with new tires and a car in a state of grace, heading towards his first victory in the World Championship. The 23-year-old Englishman only had to defend himself at the start, and boy did he do it: he contained Max’s push and responded with fast lap after fast lap to open up a gap and celebrate in peace. He finally opens the can, finally he knocks down the wall… finally someone knocks down the champion. Lando won the Miami GP ahead of Verstappen and Leclerc and justified his status as a star of the sport.
All in an intense race, more angry than strategic, from the very start. Leclerc was second but had a terrible start. Sainz passed him easily, he was second. But Pérez saw the gap left open by Charles on the inside and launched himself like a howitzer, like Hamilton the day before. Carlos was able to avoid it by millimeters, but lost two places with Leclerc and Piastri. Hard start.
Award for the brave
The group established a lot of pace at the front. Verstappen opened a gap of three seconds, but Piastri pursued him without giving up. Leclerc and Sainz were behind. Norris had started sixth and as soon as he was in clean air he began to show the best pace of the first ‘stint’. He ascended in silence. Leclerc stopped on lap 20; Verstappen, in 24; Piastri and Sainz, on 28. Their engineers did the usual math in case the usual thing happened. Norris stayed first on the track and the brave were rewarded: Sargeant and Magnussen collided and the safety car came out. The McLaren English stop was free, I would go out front with new tires.
All of this deserves reflection. Ferrari had two cars in front to stretch one of them in search of the unexpected. If it goes well, you win. If it goes wrong, they could fall from fourth to sixth place. The risk aversion of certain garages is beginning to seem unhealthy. It is not necessary to do many calculations. One lap before the ‘SC’, Sainz was ahead of Norris; one lap later, Lando was ahead of Verstappen.
Norris’s start was firm, he barely had to defend a corner and from there, he spent 27 laps on the way to glory. Verstappen had no grip, no car is the same in dirty air. The young Lando was about to win in Russia 2020, when he did not want to ride wet tires in the middle of the deluge; and also in Italy 2021, he came second after his teammate Ricciardo. The 110th time was the charm. Max’s second was bitter. Leclerc’s third, invisible: Piastri passed him at the beginning and never gave the feeling of being close to victory in another race that did offer opportunities. Sainz, fourth, must have finished hot with Pérez’s attack at the start and Piastri’s aggressiveness in the final rush: he had to overtake him twice because in the first time, the Australian sent him off the track. They touched each other in the second. The commissioners investigate.
Good comeback from Alonso, who came out hard
Alonso’s Sunday was also tense, but the comeback was well worth it. He started 15th on hard tires and finished ninth. He passed two cars on the first lap despite the unsuitable tires for the start. A brief ‘virtual safety car’ came in handy to make his only stop and fit the medium tires. He did 34 laps with them, passing everyone he met. Among them Ocon, after a beautiful duel between former teammates. Points for the Aston Martin and a show at the Miami event. On Lando’s big day.
