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Max Verstappen's hot flash at the Miami Grand Prix

2022-05-09T18:23:31.818Z


The Dutchman achieves his third victory in a test that leaves him dehydrated and in which he keeps Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, third, at bay


For those who still question Liberty Media's strategies to promote the Formula 1 World Championship since it was acquired in 2016 for some 3,800 million euros, one fact: the group's options have since gone by 250%.

Since that change of hands, and thanks to the new popularization policies basically redirected towards seducing the youngest audience, the championship has skyrocketed its presence on social networks and, as a consequence, has established itself as the sporting event on a planetary level with the highest growth in digital presence.

Between that and the invaluable help of Netflix and its

Drive to Survive

, the prospects are bright.

The landing in Florida lived up to what is expected of an American promoter who is capable of drawing a circuit around the Dolphins' stadium, with a toy marina.

The appointment was not lacking celebrities of the caliber of Michael Douglas, Michael Jordan, Michelle Obama or Tom Brady.

All of them surely had the same feeling as the rest of the world about an event that drew general attention in two moments: the start and the appearance of the safety car, in the last third of the race.

Both passages made three pieces of evidence clear: that Max Verstappen is a competitive animal like no other, that Red Bull runs like a demon, and that Ferrari treats tires in a very particular way;

at certain moments in his favor, and at others, against.

This time, the

Scuderia

was about to come out on top when it seemed that at no time would they be able to argue with the victory of the red buffalo team.

In Imola, in the first sprint race of the course, it was amply proven that the red car heats up the compounds faster than anyone else, which can cause certain problems on tracks like Miami, where the front right tire suffers more than the others , due to the lateral loads of the curves.

This time, Charles Leclerc made his

pole man status good again

to gain those meters of advantage that, on paper, should keep him away from skirmishes.

However, as happened in Italy, his car ran out of rubber and Verstappen threw himself at his neck (ninth lap), having gotten rid of Carlos Sainz at the start.

From then on,

Mad Max

took out the rhythm he had inside and started hammering the stopwatch to get a safety margin with which to be more than calm.

Next stop, Montmeló

What happens is that everything comes to Liberty, and also the eventualities that occur on the track.

A clash between Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris required the stewards to release the

safety

(lap 41), with the uproar that his presence supposes.

The pack regrouped and that opened a door for hope for Ferrari and Leclerc, who in the last ten laps subjected the defending champion to tremendous harassment.

Despite this, Verstappen did not get the shakes, no matter how exhausted Hasselt's boy ended up, completely dehydrated when he got off his prototype.

This is the third victory for the Dutchman, who has as many wins as races he has completed, and despite this he is only 19 points behind Leclerc, the leader, who crossed the finish line second.

Sainz did it third and has already accumulated three podiums in the five stops on the calendar held so far.

Fernando Alonso, for his part,

At the gates of the Spanish Grand Prix to be held in two weeks in Montmeló, the appointment on the Barcelona track will be the first opportunity for the structures to revitalize their bets.

Ferrari is expected to refine its F1-75 and, above all, Mercedes find the key that should make the W13 begin to offer the expected version of the dreaded Silver Arrows.

In Miami, where Lewis Hamilton is by far the most recognized driver of all, the Briton (sixth) was once again overtaken by George Russell (fifth) his workshop neighbor.

With all the glitter and spotlights that the championship attracts, this World Championship only lacks Hamilton.

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Source: elparis

All sports articles on 2022-05-09

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