Max Verstappen stormed to victory at the inaugural Miami Grand Prix, after overtaking both Ferraris early on at the Miami International Autodrome.
After starting the race from third, Verstappen found himself in second on the opening lap after a superb pass on Carlos Sainz Jr.
The Dutchman quickly set his sights on Charles Leclerc, and used the speed difference of his RB18 to make light-work of the championship leader.
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Verstappen was put under pressure late on by Leclerc, after the field were bunched back-up following a Safety Car to clear Lando Norris’ stricken McLaren.
Norris collided with Pierre Gasly on the exit of Turn 7, after the AlphaTauri driver pulled across onto the racing-line after running wide at the corner.
The reigning world champion dealt the pressure from the Monegasque driver with ease, to claim his third win of the season and close to within nineteen-points of the Ferrari driver.
Former driver Jos Verstappen, father of the Red Bull driver, discussed on his blog what an “insanely good result” it was for his son.
“What an insanely good result for Max in Miami!” he exclaimed.
“He looked very strong again during the race after a difficult start of the weekend.”
The weekend wasn’t without its issues though, after Verstappen suffered yet more reliability troubles with his RB18, which saw his Friday running become virtually non-existent.
This wasn’t ideal for the 2021 champion, with the Miami International Autodrome being a newly built circuit.
Following the issues it was clear that the Red Bull driver was frustrated, his father explained that he “could understand why he was a bit irritable”.
“Problems with the car on Friday meant he got very little practice and you need that time to adjust the car, especially on a new street circuit.
“I could understand why he was a bit irritable.
“It was a shame he made a mistake in qualifying, but that can happen. It didn’t help that he didn’t know the track as well as he normally does.”
Red Bull have quite possibly got the fastest car this season, however, it certainly isn’t the most reliable.
Both Verstappen and Sergio Pérez have faced reliability issues at almost every round so far this season, the Dutchman’s two DNFs this year have been due to an issue with his car.
Verstappen’s father made it clear in his blog that his son has got the pace for “another strong season”, but that for this to happen Red Bull need to iron out their reliability issues.
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“It can go either way, but it’s clear that you just can’t have any DNFs,” added the 50-year-old,
“If the reliability of the Red Bull proves to be good, then I think Max will have another strong season and we will have a thrilling duel between him and Leclerc.
“Then it’s really a question of which team will develop the car better and which upgrades will work best.”