A crowd of 275,799 fans broke the attendance record for the three days of racing and shows, 5,000 more than last year and 45,000 more than the inaugural 2022 edition.
Among them were stars and stars such as Jimmy Butler, Shakira, Camila Cabello, Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, Venus and Serena Williams, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Jalen Ramsey, Raheem Mostert, Jaelan Phillips, Bradley Chubb, Teron Armstead, Jevon Hollans, Zayn Malik and Rory McIlroy, among others.
The surprise victory of the British Lando Norris was one of the best things that could have happened to the world championship, because it stopped Max Verstappen’s dominance and prevented him from taking too much of an advantage only on the sixth of the 24 rounds of the season.
While Norris had a perfect day and took full advantage of the circumstances, Red Bull, the team of Verstappen, who came second, and the Mexican Sergio Pérez, who placed fourth, achieved less than expected in Miami. Well, the previous year they won first and second place.
Verstappen seemed unstoppable after winning the Sprint on Saturday and taking the lead in the first laps of Sunday’s race.
Suddenly there was a stoppage and Norris took the opportunity to change tires. When the test resumed, Verstappen was unable to regain the lead and saw his streak of six consecutive victories in the Grand Prix in the United States ended.
“You win and you lose and we are used to that in racing,” Verstappen reflected. “We put medium tires on the car and I didn’t feel like they were fantastic. At a pit stop they gave me the McLaren’s lap time and I realized that they were going very fast. Lando (Norris) was flying. But the second place I got is not bad.”
His partner Pérez was about to ruin everything. On the first lap he forced his way around the inside and almost collided with Verstappen, forcing Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to change course and making him lose pace.
The Mexican finished fifth in the race, his worst finish in Miami, but moved up to fourth place after Sainz received a five-second penalty after the race.
Verstappen and Pérez could not find the balance and the Red Bulls left with little taste.
Sainz complained about Pérez’s management
“In the race I had a very good start, but as they said in the old days, Checo (Pérez) came like a torpedo and almost destroyed us,” said the Spaniard. “I had to make an emergency maneuver and because of that I lost position in the race.”
On the other hand, his teammate Charles Leclerc, from Monaco, had what is considered one of the best performances of the season. He took second place in the Sprint and third in the Grand Prix.
Carlos Sainz (3).jpg
AP Photo/Darko Bandic
He was also affected by the safety stop, but still achieved his third podium of the season and managed to get into the top four positions in the six races of the campaign.
While Norris, 24, achieved his most brilliant result in the 110 races he has competed in F1 by achieving his first victory. The most interesting thing was that the British man made the most of the opportunities that the security stoppages gave him.
After taking over the lead, he felt very comfortable and took off in the last 24 laps to win in great fashion to the astonishment of the fans and the drivers themselves.
The next date will be the Italian Grand Prix and the Ferraris, who have begun a stage of recovery, estimate that their chances of success increase at home.
The prancing horse team has improved in recent races and could have gotten a better result, if it had not been for the reckless maneuver in the initial laps that prevented Leclerc and Sainz from having a better position as soon as the competition began.
F1 Position Table
Drivers Team Points
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 136
2 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 103
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 98
4 Lando Norris McLaren 83
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 83
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren 41
7 George Russell Mercedes 37
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 33
9 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 27
10 Yuki Tsunoda Vis Cash App RB 14
Teams Points
1 Red Bull Racing 239
2 Ferrari 187
3 McLaren 124
4 Mercedes Benz 64
5 Aston Martin 42
6 Vis Cash App RB 19
7 Haas F1 Team 7
8 Alpine 1
9 Williams 0
10 Kick Clean 0
Upcoming races
Date Place
05/17-19 Italian GP
05/24-26 Monaco GP
06/07-09 Canadian GP
06/21-23 Spanish GP
06/28-30 Austrian GP
