Formula 1: F1 defending champion Max Verstappen extended his lead at the top of the chart with a victory at USA's Miami GP on Sunday. The Dutch driver made a massive charge through the field from ninth place to take the chequered flag ahead of teammate Sergio Perez. The 25-year-old also took the bonus point for the fastest lap to leave the USA with full 26 points in his kitty.
The 2022 champion Verstappen started the race in ninth place, while Perez was the pole sitter. He stretched his first stint of hard tyres expertly and moved from 9th to 2nd inside the first 15 laps of the 57-lap race. He then made a move on his partner on lap 20 to take the lead and held it with 15 laps to go. Verstappen then stopped for a fresh set of medium tyres and came behind Perez on second.
He then overtook him 10 laps inside and did not concede his lead. The Dutch star dominated with his pace and control and finished over 5 seconds clear of his Mexican partner. With this, Verstappen extended his championship lead from 6 points to 14 from Perez, who took the next best - 18 points up for grabs.
Securing his fourth podium in five races in 2023, Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso took home the 3rd place and 12 points at Miami. Mercedes driver Geroge Russell secured the fourth place ahead of Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and teammate Lewis Hamilton in sixth. Charles Leclerc settled for 7th, while Alpine made a decent comeback with a double-point finish for both Pierre Gasly (8th) and Esteban Ocon (9th). Haas driver Kevin Magnussen fended Yuki Tsunoda of AlphaTauri and got the final point in 10th.
"I call that simply (expletive) lovely," Verstappen said to his team on his radio. "That was a good race, a good race all around, so thank you very much. That was really, really good, also good for the team, again," he added. "Well done, Max. That was a mighty middle stint, really impressive on the hard tire and thanks for racing cleanly with your teammate," Red Bull principal Christian Horner said.
