Max Verstappen won the inaugural Miami Grand Prix after a torrid weekend plagued by reliability issues in the build-up to race day. Ferrari locked out the front row in qualifying, with Charles Leclerc ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. and Verstappen narrowly behind in third.

Verstappen quickly chased down Sainz on the opening lap and muscled his way into second before mounting an attack on Leclerc. Nine laps later, Verstappen took the lead from Leclerc with a relatively straightforward pass, although Leclerc initially looked poised to mount a counter-attack. However, it never materialised, as Verstappen steadily built an eight-second advantage.

The round of pit stops only helped Verstappen extend his lead further. From there, he used the pace of his Red Bull Racing to establish a comfortable gap over the Ferrari behind.

Leclerc appeared unable to match the Red Bull’s race pace. Ferrari had not introduced any upgrades since the opening race of the season, whereas Red Bull had been bringing updates on a race-by-race basis.

A safety car was deployed on lap 41 following a collision caused by a miscommunication between Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly. With the field bunched up, Leclerc sensed an opportunity to reclaim the lead. Once the safety car period ended, he pushed his Ferrari to the limit and closed in on Verstappen, but he never got close enough to challenge wheel-to-wheel.

The Red Bull ultimately had the superior race pace, and Verstappen used it to pull away once again as Leclerc settled for second. Sainz finished third but had to fend off a spirited late-race attack from Sergio Pérez. The race itself was largely processional; indeed, the new Miami street circuit proved more interesting than the on-track action.

Nevertheless, Verstappen now has three victories to Leclerc’s two and sits second in the drivers’ standings, 19 points behind the Ferrari driver. On current form, Verstappen looks difficult to beat, but the season is long and many more battles remain to be fought.

Miami Grand Prix 2022, Race Result:

1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:31.458

2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 3.786s

3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 8.229s

4 Sergio Perez Red Bull 10.638s

5 George Russell Mercedes 18.582s

6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 21.368s

7 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 25.073s

8 Esteban Ocon Alpine 28.386s

9 Alex Albon Williams 32.365s

10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 37.026s

11 Fernando Alonso Alpine 37.128s

12 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 40.146s

13 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 40.902s

14 Nicholas Latifi Williams 49.936s

15 Mick Schumacher Haas 73.305s

16 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1 LAP

17 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 2 LAPS

R Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 11 LAPS

R Lando Norris McLaren 17 LAPS

R Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo Racing 50 LAPS