Verstappen wins Miami Grand Prix
Sports Desk, May 7 (EFE).- Dutch Formula One driver for Red Bull Max Verstappen on Sunday won the Miami Grand Prix, the fifth such contest of the year, at the racecourse established around the Hard Rock Stadium in the South Florida metropolis.
Coming in second and third in the contest at the Miami International Autodrome were Verstappen’s Mexican Red Bull colleague Sergio “Checo” Perez and Spain’s Fernando Alonso, driving for Aston Martin, who mounted the 1-2-3 podium for the fourth time this season.
The 25-year-old Verstappen grabbed his third consecutive race win, and the 38th of his F1 career, steadily passing other drivers throughout the contest after having started in the ninth position. In the other two races so far this year, he finished in the No. 2 spot.
He also drove the fastest lap of the race, Lap 56, attaining a speed of 217.184 kilometers per hour (just under 135 miles per hour).
Verstappen passed Perez for the lead, which he then never relinquished, with nine laps to go in the 57-lap race.
Another Spaniard, Ferrari drive Carlos Sainz, finished in fifth place, just behind the UK’s George Russell, with Mercedes.
Seven-time world champion, Briton Lewis Hamilton, also with Mercedes, ended the race in sixth place, with Monaco’s Charles Leclerc, Sainz’s Ferrari teammate in seventh.
The two Frenchmen with Alpine, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, finished the Miami race in the eighth and ninth spot, respectively, and Denmark’s Kevin Magnussen, with Haas, also garnered a ranking point by finishing in 10th.
“Checo” had notched the best course time in the pre-race qualification trials on Saturday, securing for the third time the coveted pole position, with Alonso coming in second and Sainz in third, this being the first time in history that Spanish-speaking drivers have taken the top three starting positions in a Grand Prix.
Verstappen repeated his win from last year on the Miami circuit and is heading the F1 rankings so far this season with 119 points, 14 ahead of Perez, with Alonso – a two-time world champion – in third with 75 points. Hamilton is in fourth place with 56 points, and Sainz in fifth with 44.
EFE –/bp
