Dutchman closes gap to title leader Leclerc as Pérez fourth in Florida race.
Max Verstappen held his nerve after a late safety car closed the gap behind him to clinch his second 2022 Formula One win in a row as Oracle Red Bull Racing teammate Sergio Pérez battled hard for fourth spot.
Verstappen produced a great start to get ahead of Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr., then moved into the lead with a slick overtaking move on the other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc with barely 10 laps gone.
The Dutchman pulled clear for a comfortable gap, only for Pierre Gasly’s late crash with McLaren’s Lando Norris to bring out the virtual safety car and then the real safety car to push all the cars together.
Leclerc tried to use the DRS zones to get past Verstappen, however the reigning F1 world champion held him off brilliantly over the final laps to claim his third 2022 win and cut Leclerc’s title lead to 19 points.
Mexican Pérez tried valiantly to overtake Sainz Jr., after a sensor issue, but fell just short as Gasly was forced to retire for Scuderia AlphaTauri with Japanese teammate Yuki Tsunoda ending the race in 12th place.
QUOTES
Oracle Red Bull Racing
MAX VERSTAPPEN – 1st
“It feels amazing to win in Miami, the whole atmosphere this weekend has been incredible and to win in the US is always a nice feeling. It was a physically tough race; I think I must have lost around 3kgs! 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. Then the safety car came out which made it more entertaining for the fans, I had to push hard today but we made it work. I’m super pleased for the Team, we didn’t have a great start to the weekend so we’ve come far, a big thank you to everyone.”
SERGIO PEREZ – 4th
“It is a big disappointment today but at least we managed to finish with the points we have. 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 affected me throughout the race. We had the pace to be up there on the podium and I pushed as much as I could in the position we were in. It was difficult to look after the tyres too, it was so hard in the corners and I was losing a lot of grip towards the end of the race. I went for it after the safety car restart but there was no grip at all and I just couldn’t get past Carlos. We are working really hard on reliability and we will keep pushing as a Team, it is unfortunate, but I am pleased we managed to finish today. In Barcelona I want to be back battling at the top.”
CHRISTIAN HORNER – Team Principal and CEO
“It was a real tactical race today and we threw everything we had at it, we were quite lucky that Ferrari didn’t pit under the safety car, Max was under so much pressure from Charles Leclerc but he kept focus and didn’t make any mistakes and was gradually able to break the DRS, which was very powerful today and manage the victory from there. Checo was really unlucky today, he had a sensor issue early on and lost about 30 horsepower, and he gave it a real go when we pitted him and gave him the tyre advantage and without that issue he may even have finished second. We’ve got some interesting races coming up, the car is running well, we have some development coming in the summer and we need to lose some weight, but we’re pleased with what we’ve come away with this weekend.”
Scuderia AlphaTauri
YUKI TSUNODA – 12th
“I’m really disappointed with today. On the first lap I struggled with pace and was overtaken by a few cars, then I wasn’t able to recover from there for the rest of the race. We were happy with the way that we’d built up our confidence in the car from FP1, so it’s frustrating to have performed so poorly today.”
PIERRE GASLY – DNF
“It’s a big shame today, the race was going well until the contact with Alonso, where we suffered damage on the car. Unfortunately, it was impossible to stay on track after that, as the car was too damaged, and then on the way back to the box Norris and I touched. There are some positives to take away from today still, we had a strong start and the pace of the car was quite good, but we’re obviously disappointed with today’s result.”
JODY EGGINTON – Technical Director
“Today’s race result is disappointing after such a strong Qualifying. Pierre battled strongly in the midfield against the Alpines, but unfortunately was hit by Alonso during a passing manoeuvre, costing him to lose places to both the Alpine and Stroll. Soon after, he had contact with Norris which caused more damage to his car, meaning we had no choice but to retire him from the race. Yuki struggled in the first stint, so we gambled on an early stop but the pace and car balance in his second stint was also inconsistent, meaning it was difficult to make sufficient progress. We need to go through all the data to understand the reasons behind these issues. Yuki managed to show some better pace in his final stint on the soft tyre, but by this point we were running out of laps to move forward further, and he finished out of the points. We have a lot of work ahead of us before we arrive in Barcelona. We need to understand the various factors behind today’s performance, so we can move forward with our package and get back to scoring points.”