The Red Bull duo were streaks ahead of the competition with Charles Leclerc some almost 19 seconds off the pace of Verstappen. Will the RBRs continue their dominance in Miami or can the Ferrarris or Aston Martins cause a shock?
Miami Grand Prix
Sunday 7 May
Miami International
Autodrome
21:30
To Win Race Outright
Max Verstapppen 9/20
Sergio Perez 3/1
Fernando Alonso 14/1
Charles Leclerc 12/1
Carlos Sainz 33/1
Lewis Hamilton 25/1
Previous Race
Once again, we had drama galore through the race weekend with the ‘Sprint Race’ – which I personally think is an absolute clown show that is an unnecessary distraction – seeing Max Verstappen throw a hissy fit and a safety car.
Sergio Perez would eventually win the sprint with Charles Leclerc taking second and Max Verstappen claiming third. The trio would switch positions in qualifying with LeClerc starting in P1, Verstappen in P2 and Perez in P3.
The top three would remain the same until the third lap when Max Verstappen exhibited the Red Bull’s superior straight line speed by cruising past Charles Leclerc. Perez would hammer home the Red Bull’s advantage over Ferrari as he breezed past Leclerc on lap 5.
With Nyck De Vries immobile on lap 10, the virtual was shown as Verstappen pulled into the pits for a tyre change, which allowed Sergio Perez to push into the lead and a further five cars to go ahead of Verstappen.
A full safety car was then called, and while the Dutch ace would fight his way back up the field, the decision to pit at that moment would ultimately cost him the race and see him have to settle for second place behind teammate Sergio Perez.
Charles Leclerc struggled from the restart on lap 14 and was passed by Verstappen. The Ferrari man would hold onto third, however, as he held off a rampant Fernando Alonso, who brought his car across the line in fourth. Alosno actually ended up sandwiched between the two Ferraris with Carlos Sainz ensuring it would be the Prancing Stag’s best points haul of the year as he claimed fifth placed ahead of Lewis Hamilton in sixth.
Lance Stroll was well rewarded for sme aggressive driving as he brought his Aston MArtin home in seventh while George Russel and Lando Norris gave a very British feeling to the remainder of the top 10 taking the eighth and ninth places. The final points scoring position went to Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.
Track
Next up on the circuit we’ve got a classic street circuit that exudes the ‘Miami’ vibe with the drivers set to race around a fake marina that is as kitsch as it gets. Well the backdrop of the track was something of a running joke last term, the actual track was decent enough and produced some solid action on debut in 2022.
Drivers will face 57 laps of the 5.4 kilometre track which features 19 corners with turns 11 (a left-hander) and turn 17 (a tighter left hander that leads into a massive straight) touted to see most of the overtaking action.
There are three DRS zones on the track which caters to the American sport public’s urge to see continuous wheel-to-wheel racing action.
The inaugural Miami Grand Prix was won by Max Verstappen, while the Ferraris had a good time of it wth Charles LeClerc claiming second and Carlos Sainz rounding out the podium.
There’s solid weather being forecast for this weekend’s race with no real rain to speak of and temrprestaures between 24 degrees and 29 degrees being forecast for the entire race weekend.
Value Bet
Fernando Alonso – Podium – Yes
I know I’m being very dull here and backing the same bets again but it must be noted that ALosno was less than a second off claiming his fourth third place of the season out in Baku.
He struggled in Miami last year only managing an 11th place finish but I reckon he’ll have the track sussed out this time around and his Aston Martin is going a lot better than it did in 2022.
To Win Race Outright
Max Verstappen
He may not have got the result last weekend but I’m backing Max to make it two wins from two starts in Miami. He was all-conquering at the venue last year taking race honors and the fastest lap accolade.
