Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen made his way to the opening day of the Miami Grand Prix yesterday in style, with the Dutchman having received a police escort to the Miami International Autodrome.
The 25-year-old posted his exciting entrance to the circuit on social media, which was later screenshotted by fans and posted onto Twitter.
The police were likely keeping an eye on the 2022 Miami GP winner all day yesterday given just how quick the Red Bull driver looked, with Verstappen having certainly made the strongest start to the weekend.
Verstappen enjoyed a perfect Friday in Miami, with the two-time World Champion having finished FP1 in fourth, before topping FP2 somewhat comfortably.
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In the first session of the weekend, Verstappen’s best lap was a 1:30.529, just over four-tenths slower than George Russell who led a Mercedes 1-2 in FP1.
The championship leader was imperious in the second session of the day, though, as the times dramatically tumbled.
Verstappen topped the session after posting a strong 1:27.930, a time which was actually almost a second faster than Charles Leclerc’s pole lap from the inaugural Miami GP last season.
He held an advantage of almost four-tenths of a second in FP2, with Carlos Sainz having been his closest competitor; albeit, 0.385s behind.
It wasn’t a completely smooth day for the Red Bull driver, though, who complained throughout FP2 about a headrest issue.
Nevertheless, it was as good a Friday as Verstappen could’ve possibly hoped for, perhaps he’ll be asking for a police escort again on Saturday.
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“Today was a good day. Initially we were getting used to the track with the new tarmac, it was ramping up a lot throughout the day,” Verstappen said after Friday’s running, as per Red Bull’s press release.
“It’s still quite slippery off line but on the driving line it’s okay. Most importantly today we had good balance in the car so I feel happy.
“There are still a few things we want to look at overnight, ideally we want to be faster on every corner, which isn’t always possible. We’ll have to see what the weather will do tomorrow, but overall it’s been a positive day.”