Verstappen leads action-packed Formula 1 sprint race in Miami
Trying not to leave any crumbs to his rivals, Max Verstappen won the sprint race of the 2024 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix this Saturday in a clean race, maintaining first place from start to finish.
The Dutchman was oblivious to the chaos of Turn 1, where Alonso clipped Stroll and then Hamilton clipped the Spaniard, causing contact with Lance Stroll and Lando Norris, who took the first shift and drove away while the McLaren stopped on the track. , A Safety car whose first three circles were neutralized.
Charles Leclerc had a quiet race to finish second, 3.3 seconds behind Verstappen, while Sergio Perez finished on the podium in the sprint, although he was unable to challenge the Monegasque. The battle for fourth place was tighter, but Daniel Ricciardo withstood all the attacks of Carlos Sainz and finished fourth, leaving the Spaniard fifth.
Oscar Piastri was very close to Sainz but had no opportunity to improve on his sixth place, while Nico Hulkenberg took a comfortable seventh place. The final points position, eighth, was in dispute and Kevin Magnussen, defending against Hamilton, earned up to four penalties which saw him drop from tenth to last place at the finish when they were applied. In one of these maneuvers that lasted a long time, he allowed Yuki Tsunoda to sneak in front of the Englishman.
Hamilton then overtook him to take the final point, but was ultimately left empty and resigned when he received passing by exceeding the speed limit as all cars passed the safety car through the pit lane while the stewards cleared Norris’ car at the start. This dropped him to 16th place.
The last after the incident at the start, Fernando Alonso had a nice fight with Esteban Ocon, whom he managed to overtake to retain the honor of bringing up the rear of the peloton. However, a final pass across the pit lane allowed him to close the field until Magnussen fell to the bottom of the table and Alonso finished 17th.
F1 2024 Miami GP Sprint Race Results
Results of the F1 2024 Miami GP sprint race
Many riders chose to install used medium tires to save a set for Sunday. Verstappen led at the start, and because he blocked Leclerc, Perez, who was trying to overtake the Monegasque, was overtaken by Ricciardo. There was more tension at the back and there was a domino effect as Alonso touched Stroll, Hamilton touched Alonso, the Spaniard touched Stroll again and Stroll touched Norris. The McLaren F1 driver crashed off the track, while the Aston Martins fell last and second to last due to damage to Stroll’s front wing and Fernando Alonso’s puncture. Norris retired and pulled out the safety car, and Stroll also had to say goodbye. The Englishman is being investigated for crossing the court on foot after being knocked out.
During the neutralization, Esteban Ocon stopped and served a 10-second penalty for a freak accident in which he touched Charles Leclerc in the pit lane before the race, at the start on the way to the grid.
The race restarted on lap 4 of 19 and Checo Perez quickly overtook Ricciardo, who was soon also targeted by Carlos Sainz. The one from the RB team resisted in his multi-colored car, taking advantage of the fact that Perez did not run away and gave him DRS.
Next, Kevin Magnussen defended against Lewis Hamilton, who was trying to get into the points zone, and the Dane missed the chicane, which led to a ten-second penalty. In the fight not to be last, Alonso came out parallel to Ocon, but could not surpass him on the first try. On lap 9, Ricciardo finally lost Checo’s DRS, but Sainz could not find a place to pass him.
On lap 11, Hamilton appeared to have overtaken Magnussen, but the Haas driver tried his best, including touching, to stay ahead. He was then shown the black and white flag for breaching track restrictions, and on lap 15, when Hamilton managed to overtake him, Magnussen braked very late, passing, allowing Yuki Tsunoda to get between them. Both will eventually overtake Magnussen.
Behind, with two laps to go, Alonso finally passed Ocon and left the Frenchman last, and nothing else changed on the grid except that the Aston Martin Racing driver pitted, returning to last place. Below is the main classification for Sunday’s race.