Max Verstappen wins the Miami Grand Prix, breaking through from ninth place

After the last segment of qualifying was stopped due to Charles Leclerc's accident, the spectators were presented with the most interesting starting grid, especially the top 10, of the whole season. Sergio Perez made an impressive gap right from the start, while his team-mate Max Verstappen, on the contrary, almost fell outside the top ten. The starting incident where Nick de Vries overbraked and crashed into Lando Norris was left by the judges without further investigation. But that (as well as soft tires for the first stint) resulted in a very early pitstop for the McLaren driver. Logan Sargeant, for whom the Miami race is home, did not get away with it after finishing last in qualifying. Already on the third lap he was forced to go to the pits to change the nose fairing.

After Max finally got the tires to the right temperature, he began to make his way up. At one point everyone saw a triple struggle between Magnussen, Leclerc and Verstappen, which ended with a double overtaking the pilot Red Bull. Already 15 laps after the start Max was second, rapidly catching up with his partner. An alternative strategy was prepared for Verstappen: hard - medium, so he soon took the lead because of Sergio's pitstop. At about the same moment Carlos Sainz received a five-second penalty for speeding on the pitlane. It was the only penalty for the entire race.

Throughout the race, fans saw plenty of action, despite the DRS zones being shortened by 75 meters. The most memorable moments were the struggles between Magnussen and Leclerc, Tsunoda and Stroll.

During the first half of the race Lewis Hamilton complained that he could not drive the car and probably "this race we lost”. First he talked about the tires, then the front wing, then the slip. Bono, the famous engineer of the seven-time world champion, tried his best to find the problem, but unfortunately for the team and for Lewis, he didn't find anything. The slip could be blamed on a lack of grip that had been washed away by the rain overnight. George Russell also complained of certain problems with vibration, but the team was unable to solve the problem remotely.

Some strategists pinned their hopes on a safety car or red flags, but surprisingly, neither happened. All 20 drivers finished that race. Interesting fact: Miami GP became the only twelfth race where all drivers crossed the finish line. Of course, that broke a few strategies, such as Stroll's. He and his team had planned a later pitstop, but the safety car never showed up.

By the end of the race, fans had the opportunity to watch, albeit not a long, but very fierce battle between the two Red Bulls. They are the two contenders for the title, and the team decided not to give preference to any of them and let the fight. After several exchanges of positions Max still stayed ahead, as he had a fresh set of medium.

Max Verstappen won the Miami Grand Prix for the second time, and pulled even further away from Sergio Perez in the championship. He said in the post-race interview that they were really very lucky with their strategy. Sergio Perez finished second and Fernando Alonso was third, with a very inconspicuous race. 

You can read the full results of the Miami Grand Prix on our Instagram @thereportagef1.