Sunday’s inaugural Miami Grand Prix was won by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, with championship leader Charles Leclerc finishing second.
Leclerc’s championship advantage over Verstappen was reduced to 19 points with the victory, while Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz finished third.
Verstappen claimed the lead from Sainz in turn one at the Hard Rock Stadium, which hosted the first of two races in the United States this season.
His advantage over Leclerc would last the rest of the race as he closed the distance on his competitor and passed him on lap nine.
This is a tremendous comeback,” Verstappen added.
“The fact that I had not performed a [practice] start had left me completely unprepared for the actual start. But we got off to a strong start, and in turn one I saw an opportunity to run around the outside of Sainz. Things was fortunate that it worked out.”
Stars including Tom Brady, David Beckham, and Michael Jordan sat for photos with Lewis Hamilton in the paddock before the inaugural Formula One race in Miami.
Will.i.am, Pharrell Williams, and DJ Khaled were all in attendance, as were Venus and Serena Williams.
The event takes place as F1 continues to grow in the United States following the popularity of the Netflix series “Drive to Survive.”.
From the 2019 season onward, a third American event will be held in Las Vegas, joining Miami and Austin on the calendar.
Although Verstappen had a commanding lead for most of the race, he still had to battle hard to win his third race of the season. Lap 41 saw the introduction of the safety car, which allowed Charles Leclerc to reclaim the lead after Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris collided.
It’s safe to say that Tom Brady and Lewis Hamilton share a deep admiration for one another. 05:43
Down the end, Leclerc had to settle for second place and a championship point total of 104 despite closing in on his competitor by less than a tenth of a second.
It took Red Bull four or five laps to stabilize their tires in a better window and there they are just quicker than us,” said Leclerc at the safety car restart on the hard [tires].
Sergio Perez of Red Bull finished fourth, ahead of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.
Barcelona will host the Spanish Grand Prix on May 22 as the F1 season continues.
