Max Verstappen beams after victory: ‘I enjoyed it, it was a very strong race’ | formula 1

Verstappen deliberately chose the strategy of driving on hard tires as long as possible. His competitors, including Sergio Pérez, who started from pole, opted for the mediums.

“We could have done the same, but we didn’t know how the mediums would hold up. And the hard tire is a bit more robust. You have to have the speed to make the meters and, once you get into the open air, keep the gap the same. We were able to do that.”

Verstappen had to start the race from ninth place, as he was unable to set a time in the final part during qualifying. A red flag after a crash by Charles Leclerc ended the session abruptly.

“On Saturday I had some setbacks in qualifying, but today I stayed calm, easily overtook the drivers in front of me one by one and only had a short battle with Sergio Pérez. We gave each other space and that was also important.”

View the Miami GP recap.

Pérez could not live up to his reputation as a street circuit specialist this time around. ,,Max had a great pace. He deserved to win,” said Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull after his second place.

“It didn’t work out well for me on the medium tyres. I quickly got wear and tear, that tire was much worse than expected and actually messed up my race,” said the Mexican, who was the best in the Formula 1 race in Baku last week and wants to fight for the world title with Verstappen this season enter into.

Fernando Alonso finished third for the fourth time this season. The 41-year-old veteran is the only one who can still keep up with the two Red Bulls in his Aston Martin. “My car is fantastic,” said the Spaniard. “It was a bit lonely race in third place. I had expected a bit more resistance from the Ferraris, but they drove worse than expected.”