Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has hailed his victory at 2022 Miami Grand Prix as “amazing” after he delivered a dominant drive around the Miami International Autodrome.
Having struggled throughout Friday Practice with hydraulics issues, Verstappen recovered on Saturday to qualify third after initially having looked set for provisional pole until a mistake on his final Q3 lap.
Verstappen however put his race start skill to perfect use as he outbraked Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz through the opening two corners to snatch second, before reeling in Sainz’s teammate – Charles Leclerc and made the race wining overtake into the first corner on Lap Nine.
Explaining what he described as an “amazing” race, Verstappen commented: “We had a really good pace on the minimum tire, that for sure helped to make my race. Once we had the pitstop I was just managing my time to Charles, I think we were very closely matched on the hard tire.”
Verstappen also admitted that a late Safety Car helped to make the closing laps more “entertaining” as he fought hard to fend off a resurgent Leclerc, so is “super pleased” to secure his second win on American soil – having won US GP in October 2021 en route to his maiden title.
Sergio Perez meanwhile felt that his fourth-placed finish was “disappointing” after he first encountered brief loss of power on Lap 20 as he chased Sainz for third, before he outbraked himself trying to pass Sainz on Lap 52 after having pitted for soft tyres under Safety Car.
Explaining what had happened in his first incident, Perez said: “We were putting the pressure on Carlos and then we had a problem with the power. It was caused by a sensor failure and meant we lost a lot of power, which limited our ability to attack.
“I was a second from Carlos and then the engine dropped and I lost around 30 seconds in two laps and then the issue effected me throughout the race.”
Perez consequently felt that he “had the pace to be up there on the podium” but believed that it was “difficult” to manage the tyre degradation through the corners.
Red Bull Team Principal, Christian Horner meanwhile feels that Verstappen’s win was rather more a case of good luck, by virtue of Ferrari opting not to pit Leclerc under the Safety Car as he praised Verstappen for fending off the Monegasque whilst “under so much pressure” from his title rival.
Horner meanwhile described Perez as “really unlucky” as he believed that the Mexican could of finished second if he hadn’t had that loss of power when trying to chase down Sainz.
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