Red Bull’s Max Verstappen cruised to victory at 2023 Miami Grand Prix from ninth on the grid.
Sergio Perez begun the race from pole on medium tyres whilst Verstappen gambled on hard tyres which took him to second by the end of Lap 15, before he inherited the lead when Perez pitted and ultimately sealed victory overtaking the Mexican on Lap 48 after his own pit stop.
Speaking post-race, Verstappen described his win as “a good race” despite the lack of entertainment, as he explained his strategy: “I stayed out of trouble at the beginning and I just had a clean race and picked the cars off one by one.
“I stayed out really long on the hard tyres and I think that’s what made the difference and then a good little battle with Checo at the end.
“Yesterday was of course a bit of a set-back but today we kept it calm, kept it clean and for sure winning a race from P9 is very satisfying.”
Fernando Alonso comfortably settled for a “lonely” third place ahead of George Russell and Carlos Sainz, who rounded out the top five.
Lewis Hamilton recovered from 13th on the grid on the alternate strategy to finish sixth ahead of Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen.
In the drivers’ standings, Verstappen extended his title lead to 14 points ahead of Perez whilst Alonso sits a comfortable third place, 19 points clear of Hamilton in fourth.
At lights out, Perez made a clean start to lead Alonso and Sainz whilst Gasly, Russell and Leclerc jumped Magnussen, as the Dane slipped from fourth to seventh ahead of Bottas who jumped Ocon and Verstappen after opting for medium tyres unlike the latter pair.
Verstappen immediately responded by clearing Ocon then Bottas in the opening two laps before making a double overtake on Magnussen and Leclerc into Turn 1 on Lap 4 for sixth, after pouncing upon the squabbling pair.
He then cleared Russell and Gasly on Laps 8 and 9 for fourth into Turn 17 before Russell then cleared Gasly on Lap 10 into Turn 1 for fifth.
Verstappen’s charge through the field to ninth eventually took him to second come the end of Lap 15 after he overtook Sainz and Alonso on successive laps, whilst Magnussen was the first of the medium tyre runners to pit on Lap 15.
Sainz meanwhile pitted on Lap 19 from fourth but was caught speeding upon entry to the pit lane due to a lock-up, which earned him a five-second time penalty amidst jumping Alonso who pitted on Lap 25.
Up front, Perez pitted at the end of Lap 20 which unleashed Verstappen into the lead whilst Alonso passed Sainz for fourth – in-turn net third place on Lap 27.
Russell further back had pitted on Lap 18 for hard tyres which he quickly adapted to and even was let through on Lap 32 into sixth by his Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton.
That strategic decision paid off on Lap 37 as Russell cleared an off-pace Sainz for fourth, as those who had begun the race on hard tyres began to pit for mediums.
Verstappen meanwhile stretched his lead over Perez to circa 18s until he stopped at the end of Lap 45, which saw him rejoin just under one second behind the Mexican.
Perez’s lead however was short-lived as Verstappen swiftly reeled him in and swept round outside of Turn 1 on Lap 48, before sprinting away to a record-equalling 38th victory for a driver at Red Bull just seven years after he was promoted from Toro Rosso in 2016 in a swap with Daniil Kvyat.
Perez consequently settled for second ahead of Alonso who clinched third place for the fourth time in five races this season, whilst Russell and Sainz rounded out the top five despite Sainz’s time penalty.
Hamilton who ran the alternate strategy of medium then hard tyres cleared Gasly and Leclerc on Laps 53 and 54 to secure sixth ahead of the pair, as Leclerc finished seventh in front of Gasly whilst Ocon and Magnussen rounded out the top ten.
Verstappen meanwhile took maximum points with the fastest lap which extended his title lead over Perez to 14 points after the opening five rounds.
F1 now heads to Imola, Italy across weekend of 19-21 May in the first of a triple-header, with Monaco and Spain following on successive weekends after the Emilia Romagna GP.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 57 | 1h 27m 38.241 |
| 2 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 57 | + 5.384 |
| 3 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 57 | + 26.305 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | 57 | + 33,229 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 57 | + 42.511 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 57 | + 51.249 |
| 7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 57 | + 52.988 |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 57 | + 55.670 |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 57 | + 58.123 |
| 10 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 57 | + 62.945 |
| 11 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 57 | + 64.309 |
| 12 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 57 | + 64.754 |
| 13 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 57 | + 71.637 |
| 14 | Alex Alb on | Williams | 57 | + 72.861 |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 57 | + 74.950 |
| 16 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 57 | + 78.440 |
| 17 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 57 | + 87.717 |
| 18 | Nyck De Vries | AlphaTauri | 57 | + 88.949 |
| 19 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 56 | + 1 Lap |
| 20 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 56 | + 1 Lap |
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