Tag: Max Verstappen wins Grand Prix

Verstappen overcomes Leclerc to win the inaugural Miami Grand Prix

Posted on by A Sports

MIAMI: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen survived a miraculous late comeback from his Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc to win the inaugural Miami Grand Prix, here on Sunday.

Verstappen, who was looking favourite for an easy win after taking the lead in the ninth lap and passing Carlos Sainz and Leclerc of Ferrari on Turn One and Turn Two respectively, survived a late race assault from Leclerc.

The world champion was cruising to an easy win since then but a bizarre crash between McLaren’s Lando Norris and Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly brought the safety car which brought Verstappen and Leclerc together and restarted the race with 10 laps to go.

 

Closing the field allowed Leclerc a second chance when his hopes seemed to be fading, and he gave it his all to recover the lead but Verstappen managed to break his challenge.

Verstappen’s triumph was his second in a row, the first by a driver this year, and it summarized his run of either winning or retiring this year.

 

Despite Perez having the advantage of fresh tyres after Red Bull pitted him for new medium tyres during the safety car interval, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz held on to third for the final podium place.

 

It is pertinent to mention here that Verstappen’s win has cut Leclerc’s championship lead to 19 points as the Ferrari driver still leads the chart with 104 points, whereas, Verstappen follows with 85.

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Max Verstappen wins Emilia Romagna GP as Leclerc makes costly error

Posted on by A Sports

IMOLA: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won a wet-dry Emilia Romagna Grand Prix to resurrect his title aspirations, as challenger Charles Leclerc squandered third place with a costly error.

Ferrari’s Leclerc, who was thrusting to move past Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez after a late pit stop, lost control at the Variante Alta chicane here, which eventually denied him the podium at Emilia Romagna.

Leclerc then had to pit for a new front wing and tyres which resulted in him falling to the ninth place, from which he could only recover to sixth at the end.

After turning his pole position from Saturday’s race into a lead at the first bend, Verstappen was in complete command.

Despite the tough conditions, the late drama enlivened what had been the most uneventful race of the season thus far, as Verstappen stayed unchallenged throughout the race.

His teammate Sergio Perez, on the other hand, also carried on his exceptional stint as he finished second to get his second podium of the season. Whereas McLaren’s Lando Norris made the most of Leclerc’s blunder as he claimed the third position and his first podium of the season.

 

Following a comprehensive victory, Verstappen managed to cut the margin between him and Ferrari’s Leclerc from 45 points to 27, moving three places up to secure the second position on the leaderboard – led by Leclerc with 86 points.

Verstappen finished the weekend with a total of 34 points after posting the fastest lap and winning the sprint race on Saturday. It was Red Bull’s first one-two finish since the Malaysian Grand Prix in 2016.

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