© Getty Images2024 Miami Grand Prix - Sunday ReportThe Bulls settled for a decent points tally in Miami.
AfteraloudandproudSaturdayattheHardRock,therewasnovictoriousMiamiGrandPrixencorefortheBulls,asMaxVerstappenwasbouncedoutoftheleadbyamid-raceSafetyCarandforcedtosettleforsecondplacebehindfirst-timewinner,LandoNorris.Checo,meanwhile,crossedthelineinfifthplaceattheendofaneventfulracethatsawtheMexicanalmostcrashatthestart.“Youwin,youlose.Ithinkwe'reallusedtothatinracing,right?”saidMaxafterwards.“ButifabaddayisP2,I’lltakeit!”
Max
Checo
At lights out, Max got away well to take the lead on the short run towards Turn 1. However, just behind him, Charles Leclerc bogged down and under pressure from Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz, the Monegasque driver moved right to try to fend off the attack. Checo, seeing a gap, tried an ambitious move down the inside, but the Mexican carried too much speed into Turn 1 and he arrowed off track in front of Sainz, narrowly avoiding a collision with his teammate. Max. That allowed Leclerc to recover and retake second from Sainz but as the Spaniard and Checo rejoined, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took advantage to sneak ahead of both and take P3.
At the front, Max began to immediately pull away from the pack, while Piastri, showing the first signs of McLaren’s strong pace, began to close in on Leclerc. On lap four, the Australian used DRS to power past the Ferrari driver on the long run to Turn 17.
That change of position ended the immediate jockeying for position and the leaders then began to settle into their first stint. By lap 10 Max had carved out a three-second lead over Piastri, while the McLaren driver had a similar advantage over the Ferrari’s of Leclerc and Sainz. Checo, meanwhile, was holding onto fifth place, 1.7s behind Sainz and just ahead of Norris.
The Minister looked uncomfortable on his starting Medium tyres, however, and on lap 15 he slipped back to within DRS reach of the McLaren driver. Checo’s defence was strong, though, and with good use of his battery and clever car positioning, the Mexican was able to keep the Briton at bay.
Maintaing The Pack In Miami© Getty Images
At the end of lap 18, Checo became the first of the front-runners to make a pit stop. He switched to Hard compound Pirellis in a superb 1.9s stop and rejoined in P10. Leclerc was next in, two laps later, but there the pit stops halted as Max, Paistri, Sainz and Norris maintained good pace on their starting tyres.
However, while Max looked comfortable in the lead, the Dutchman was complaining about front grip and on lap 21 his race almost unravelled when he took too much kerb in Turn 14. The Dutchman bounced through the chicane and on his way across the kerbs clouted an off-track bollard.
While the collision appeared to do minimal damage, the bollard was left on the racing line and a VSC was briefly deployed. Once the debris had been cleared, Max pitted for checks on his front wing and for a set of Hard tyres.
The pit stop put Piastri into the lead ahead of Sainz and when both made regulation stops on lap 27, Norris inherited the lead ahead of Max.
With Norris requiring a fresh set of tyres, the expectation was that Max would soon return to top spot, but then, on lap 29, the complexion of the race changed. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen tangled with the Williams of Logan Sargeant and the American driver spun backwards into the barriers.
The Safety Car was immediately deployed and after the team quickly pitted Checo for a set of used Medium tyres, Norris took a free stop, bolted on a set of Hard tyres and resumed in the lead ahead of Max, with Leclerc in third ahead of Piastri, Sainz and Checo.
The SC left the track at the end of lap 32, and despite pressure from Max, Norris controlled the re-start well to hold the lead. With Max defending P2 from Leclerc, the McLaren then was able to quickly break DRS and in the following laps Norris carved out a 1.5s gap to Max.
Behind them, Sainz began to put heavy pressure on Piastri and on lap 39 the Ferrari driver muscled his way through. There was contact and the front wing damage sustained by Paistri allowed Checo to pounce and he roared past the struggling McLaren to get back fifth place. Hamilton, too, got past Piastri who was forced to pit for a new wing. The collision between Sainz and Piastri would end up seeing the Spaniard pick up a 5-second penalty after the race had finished, pushing down the order and promoting both Piastri and Checo.
Feeling The Miami Heat© Getty Images
At the front, with Max again complaining about a lack of front-end grip, Norris began to tighten his grip on the lead. By lap 45 he was four seconds ahead of Max and with the champion eventually settling into management mode ahead of Leclerc, Norris was able to stretch his lead to seven seconds at the flag.
“Today was just a bit tricky,” said Max of his second place. “I think already on the mediums, it didn't feel fantastic. We were pulling away, but not like it should be. And then once we made the pit stop, and I heard what the lap times the McLarens were doing, I was like, ‘wow, that's pretty quick’. Once they then switched on to the Hard tyre, they just had more pace. And especially Lando, he was flying. It was incredibly difficult for us during that stint. I'm very happy for Lando. It's been a long time coming. And it's not going to be his last one. Yeah, he definitely deserves it today.”
Behind Max, Leclerc took third place ahead of Checo, while Sainz had to settle fifth place after his penalty, ahead of Hamilton and VCARB’s Yuki Tsunoda. George Russell finished eighth in the second Mercedes ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and the final point went to Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.
Rank | Driver | Team | Gap | Points | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | - | 25 |
2 | Max Verstappen | Oracle Red Bull Racing | +7.612 | 18 |
3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +9.920 | 15 |
4 | | Oracle Red Bull Racing | +14.650 | 12 |
5 | Carlos Sainz* | Ferrari | +16.407 | 10 |
6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +16.585 | 8 |
7 | Yuki Tsunoda | Visa Cash App RB | +26.185 | 6 |
8 | George Russell | Mercedes | +34.789 | 4 |
9 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +37.107 | 2 |
10 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | +39.746 | 1 |