Max Verstappen showed his true strength around the Miami International Autodrome on Sunday, as he easily moved his way from P9 to the lead of the race.
Securing victory in Miami, Verstappen extended his lead over teammate Sergio Perez in the Drivers’ Standings, growing the gap to 14 points.
Perez did initially have a chance to take the lead in the Drivers’ Standings, starting from pole, but that fell apart during the race, as the Mexican couldn’t hold back the Dutchman.
Verstappen moved into second place by Lap 15, 10 laps earlier than Alonso had predicted, as the Dutchman avoided being delayed by a DRS train, as he glided through the grid.
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“At the moment it is hard to keep [Red Bull] behind,” Alonso told Sky Sports F1.
“And I was hoping that he had like a DRS train of cars in front of him, but he was just making moves, one after the other and the guys in front, they were not in the DRS either.
“So it was a little bit too easy for him. Hopefully next time we try between all of us to make things more difficult.”
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Once Verstappen moved forward, Alonso found himself in a lonely race, as the Spaniard faced no real challenge to his P3 spot on the podium for the remaining laps.
Alonso was so comfortable at one point that he had time to watch the screens around the circuit, at one point even complimenting his teammate on an overtake over the radio.
The performance from the Spaniard meant he maintained P3 in the Drivers’ Standings, remaining in the title fight even though he is trailing far behind his rivals.