World Cup 2022
Max Verstappen becomes the first winner in the history of the Miami GP ahead of Leclerc and the Spaniard from Ferrari
The first edition of the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix already has a winner: Max Verstappen. The current world champion continues to show absolute effectiveness, because he has finished three races and all three have been victories. The Dutchman overtook Charles Leclerc, who could not hold him in the first meters, and Carlos Sainz who did resist Sergio Pérez in the chaotic last laps. The man from Madrid, who came from two retirements and an accident on Friday, closed the small pothole he was going through in this way.
Fernando Alonso was a positive protagonist at the start. Without Lance Stroll ahead, because he had to start from the pitlane due to a breakdown, the Spaniard gained four positions: he started eleventh and placed seventh, but not without some controversy. Along the way he ran into Lewis Hamilton himself, whom he touched on the left rear wheel, and although there was no reason to regret an abandonment of either of them, he did make us fear the worst. Given the precedents, especially in the case of the Alpine, it was not convenient to force this type of situation. Although Hamilton then regained the position with Alonso and began to do the race for him, he made it clear that the two old rivals still want to show their teeth.
Carlos Sainz did not have such a good start. He could have put himself first, or at least have endured Verstappen in the first meters, but far from it. The man from Madrid gave in to the Dutchman, who then took advantage of the wear of the tires of the ‘poleman’ Leclerc (who tried to escape in the first laps) to win the position. Knowing how to wait gave him revenue, since he was then able to face the rest of the race being the benchmark and maximum favorite for victory.
Alonso, negative protagonist
While Carlos Sainz tried to fight to resist third place with Sergio Pérez, Fernando Alonso tried to win some valuable points that would end the drought. He tried it first on the track and then in the pits, but the threat of an ‘undercut’ stayed with the left rear wheel, as he made a very bad stop.
The siege between the Spaniard and Pierre Gasly lasted until the last third of the race, when the Spaniard decided to go on the attack. He threw the car at the first corner in an excessively aggressive manner and touched the AlphaTauri. The Spaniard won the position, but was also penalized with 5 seconds. Along the way, in addition, Gasly went backwards with the car slightly touched in the direction and contacted a Lando Norris that ended up against the wall.
The safety car until the pieces of the McLaren were removed canceled the differences between all and allowed several competitors to enter the pits to try a final attack with better tires. Those behind played it with soft tires, but others like Sergio Pérez put medium. The Mexican became the first enemy not only of Carlos Sainz, who saw how his third place was put in check, but also even the second place of Charles Leclerc.
But the excess of aggressiveness cost him dearly. Pérez threw the car at Sainz, who moved away and saw how the Mexican went long. Enough so that the flat he had on the tire deprived him of that extra performance for the final laps, with which the Madrid native was able to hold the final third place after the winner Max Verstappen and the World Cup leader, Charles Leclerc.
Fernando Alonso entered the finish line eighth, but was ninth, initially. The 5-second penalty allowed him to hold two points a priori, but the stewards announced a new investigation because the Spaniard gained an advantage by going off track. At the close of this edition, for Alonso there were two points that allow him to end that drought.
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