Tag: Miami GP

Perez takes Miami GP pole, Verstappen to start ninth

Sergio Perez claimed his first Formula 1 pole position outside of Saudi Arabia as a crash for Charles Leclerc brought a premature end to qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix – an incident which also compromised his Red Bull teammate, championship …

Sergio Perez claimed his first Formula 1 pole position outside of Saudi Arabia as a crash for Charles Leclerc brought a premature end to qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix — an incident which also compromised his Red Bull teammate, championship leader Max Verstappen.

Leclerc was on a fast lap in the last two minutes of Q3 when he lost control at Turn 7 and spun into the barrier, his second off at that turn so far this weekend.

Perez had set an early banker lap of 1m26.841s which, with the red flags for Leclerc robbing most of the top 10 of a chance to set a second fast lap in the final session, was enough for pole.

Afterwards Perez admitted that he had been struggling with confidence and the balance of the car before a change ahead of qualifying made it come “more alive.”

“I think it’s been my worst weekend up to qualifying,” said Perez. “I just couldn’t figure out how to pull those tenths that I was missing all the time to Max and to the Ferraris. I was just resetting everything we did with a small change into qualifying. Everything came more alive and I think we were just playing with the tools and we put a lap when it mattered.”

It was a similar story for Fernando Alonso, who was second and set his Q3 time of 1m27.202s being set on used tires.

“It was a good qualifying,” he said. “I think FP3 was a little bit messy for us, we tried different setups and they didn’t work but the car came alive in qualifying so I’m extremely happy with P2 — first row of the grid, so lets see what we can do.

Third was Carlos Sainz, salvaging something for Ferrari, while Kevin Magnussen was a fine fourth for Haas in the team’s first of three home races this season.

“It was a very tricky quali for all,” said Sainz. I think it’s very tricky to find the right feeling with the tires around this tarmac and it was a fight the whole way through quali and very easy to make mistakes. It was getting windier and windier, which for our cars — or for our car in particular — is quite tricky to drive. But yeah, in general, P3 is where we’re targeting to be but I think today we could have been even better.”

Pierre Gasly was fifth, ahead of George Russell while Leclerc took seventh despite his off, and Esteban Ocon eighth. Verstappen was classified ninth — he abandoned his first flying lap in Q3 after being compromised by wind in Turns 5, 6, and 7 and didn’t have time to make another attempt due to the red flag.

It was a similar story for Valtteri Bottas who also failed to set a time in Q3. Alexander Albon will line up 11th, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg who missed out on the top-10 for the second race in a row.

Lewis Hamilton was a surprise omission from Q3, qualifying 13th despite a personal best final sector on his last flying lap, oversteer earlier in the run costing him heavily — although a radio message to his team after he crossed the line suggested he was unhappy with being sent out late for what ended up being his final qualifying lap, that resulting in his out-lap being in traffic and affecting his tire preparation.

It marks the first time Hamilton has qualified outside the top-six on U.S. soil — counting 12 previous starts at Indianapolis, Circuit of The Americas, and last year’s inaugural Miami GP — and his first absence from the top-10 since last year’s Italian GP.

Zhou Guanyu an Nyck de Vries were also eliminated from Q2 and will start 14th and 15th respectively.

Lando Norris will start 16th after falling into the drop zone towards the end Q1 thanks to late laps from the Mercedes pair. He will line up ahead of Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll — a surprising result given Aston Martin’s strong form so far this season.

Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant complete the field, the local driver falling down the order late on as track evolution handed a hefty advantage to those running later in the session.

Presented by

 

Verstappen rules third Miami GP practice

Max Verstappen remained at the top of the times in final practice for the Miami Grand Prix, enjoying a clear advantage over the rest of the field. The championship leader was fastest by 0.6s for much of the session before what appeared to be his …

Max Verstappen remained at the top of the times in final practice for the Miami Grand Prix, enjoying a clear advantage over the rest of the field.

The championship leader was fastest by 0.6s for much of the session before what appeared to be his final qualifying simulation, but if it wanted a timed effort Red Bull had sent him out too late to start a lap and Verstappen just failed to beat the checkered flag. That meant his time of 1m27.535s was only 0.4s clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who did complete a final attempt on soft tires to edge out teammate Sergio Perez in third.

Carlos Sainz was fourth for Ferrari as the Scuderia remained Red Bull’s closest challenger but the gap looks a little bigger than it was in Azerbaijan over one lap, so it will be Verstappen who heads into qualifying as the favorite for pole position.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

Alpine enjoyed a strong FP3 but only enjoyed a tiny advantage over the other midfield cars, with Esteban Ocon fifth on a 1m28.407s, 0.021s ahead of Pierre Gasly in sixth and with Valtteri Bottas and Nico Hulkenberg within 0.1s.

Alex Albon and George Russell rounded out the top 10, with Mercedes struggling throughout the session as Russell complained of his car hopping through Turn 2, while Lewis Hamilton had a number of lock-ups into the Turn 17 hairpin at the end of the lap.

While it was another hot and sunny day in Miami Gardens, the wind was noted as being stronger than on the opening day of running, with many drivers then suffering snaps through the first sector when faced with a tailwind. Sainz was one such driver to run off track at Turn 8 — where his teammate crashed on Friday — while there was also a similar moment for Lando Norris through Turn 4.

It was a slow start to the session for the two Haas drivers following incidents during Friday practice, but once they hit the track both Kevin Magnussen and Hulkenberg were quickly up to speed. Hulkenberg did clout a curb on the exit of Turn 9 and backed off on his first qualifying simulation before going eighth, while Magnussen was just 0.001s behind Russell in 11th.

Aston Martin didn’t show its hand in the final practice session as Fernando Alonso was 12th and Lance Stroll 14th — sandwiching Hamilton — while the McLaren drivers were notably low in the order with Oscar Piastri ahead of Norris in 18th and 19th respectively.

Logan Sargeant did beat the two McLarens and was complaining about the balance being “all over the place” and added that he was “really struggling to drive this (car) at the moment” as he ended up 0.7s adrift of Albon’s time in the other Williams.

Presented by

 

How Red Bull is applying lessons of American marketing focus to lead F1 into a new era

If you’ve been watching the Miami Grand Prix weekend so far you might have noticed something different about the Red Bulls. It’s not a new front wing or updated bodywork, but a unique livery designed by one of the team’s fans. It’s the first of …

If you’ve been watching the Miami Grand Prix weekend so far you might have noticed something different about the Red Bulls.

It’s not a new front wing or updated bodywork, but a unique livery designed by one of the team’s fans. It’s the first of three events this year when the Red Bull team will make some sort of departure from its usual 2023 color scheme, and that’s a major step when you consider it has only done so on six previous occasions in its history.

The driving force behind it? America — a huge area of focus for all Formula 1 teams, but one in which Red Bull feels it has another edge over its rivals.

“I think (it’s absolutely) helping the sport as a whole,” Red Bull Racing’s director of brand Kelly Brittain told RACER of how F1 is evolving in the United States. “The more entertaining it can be, the more fan-focused it can be, that’s only ever going to benefit all of us.

“But I think why we are so fortunate…we’re obviously owned by Red Bull, we’re part of Red Bull, and Red Bull have a voice in youth culture and popular culture that no other team in this paddock has got. We are known for doing the stuff that we do; we’re known for doing crazy s***. We’re loud, we’re the noisy neighbors, and we love that and we build on that. That drives us.

“I think, in terms of what goes on in the paddock, we don’t really look at that, actually. When you look at what massive entertainment brands are doing, what sport as a whole is doing, that’s kind of more where we see ourselves.

“You’ve got to see that the precursor to any success that F1 has had (in the U.S.) has been around IndyCar — massively entertaining, it’s hugely inclusive, and the more that we can look to be inclusive and fan-focused, the better. So whatever the teams can do to drive that I think is going to be a good thing. But I don’t think they’ll ever emulate Red Bull.”

Red Bull’s special livery for the Miami Grand Prix designed by Martina Andriano (pictured with drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez) is an example of the company’s efforts to let its fans interact directly with the team. Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

The livery competition runs on Red Bull’s free loyalty program “The Paddock,” powered by title sponsor Oracle’s technology. And while the winner was from Argentina, the tie-in is one that shows why teams are so focused on America at the moment — there’s sponsor dollars as well as growing fan interest.

“The growth of F1 globally has made us a really attractive proposition to big tech organizations that want to showcase their technological capability,” Brittain explained. “And a lot of those tech companies are based in the U.S. So it’s the growth of fans, and then the growth of commercial interest in F1, and that’s kind of created this upward spiral.

“I think fandom here, our growth trajectory in terms of audiences, and people on our own channels and platforms (are) just skyrocketing. The U.S. fans are brilliant. They’re less polarized in terms of who they support; they’re very embracing, so they’ll often support up to three teams. They’re very vocal, very positive, and they just get stuck in.

“It’s brilliant, and I think that’s only going to increase. But it’s not just about what ‘Drive to Survive’ has done, it’s about what each of the teams are doing. They’re creating more behind-the-scenes content, more (merchandise) collaborations, just more stuff for people to be able to access F1, and that’s gone down particularly well in the U.S.”

Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

Miami might face a challenge in maintaining the hype it enjoyed a year ago when it debuted on the F1 calendar, but it doesn’t make the race weekend any less busy for the teams. And it also doesn’t mean fan interest is waning from the constructors’ championship point of view, with Brittain believing things translate to other teams based on Red Bull’s analysis of how U.S. supporters are invested in the sport.

“It’s absolutely showing no signs of slowing down. You’ve got to remember, it’s not just about the U.S., it’s about the Americas as a whole. Mexico is obviously massive for us but Brazil is in huge growth. It’s much more balanced from a gender perspective, particularly in Brazil — there’s a sort of a 50/50 balance in terms of male and female fandom there.

“We’re still growing across Europe, amazingly, because it’s the younger generation that are coming through. Gone are the days that F1 was about curling up on the sofa after a roast on a Sunday having a doze.

“All of those different entry points into it — the social channels, the content, behind-the-scenes, merch collaborations, the amount of data and information… And that’s just from the teams, but also the drivers themselves are kind of creating a lot of this stuff.

“So there are these pockets of interest for all of these different types of fans, more than there ever has been before. That’s only seeing increases — we’re not seeing any market that’s flat currently, and that’s after being around for many years. It’s a new age of F1, and I think we’re really embracing that.”

When focusing on the United States specifically, though, much has been made of the sport expanding to the point of having three races in one country. Ahead of the competitions in Austin and Las Vegas, Brittain says the next phase of engagement with American fans is to ensure that each event is targeted specifically to that city, rather than the U.S. as a whole.

“We work with the various U.S. markets as well, so the various local teams, we work in partnership with those guys. They’ve got their plans, and we’re relatively long-term in our planning but we are also quite fleet of foot. So if I told you that the plans for Vegas were 100 percent buttoned down, I’d be lying, because actually we were using the learnings from each one of these to kind of build and to shape.

“The competition opens for Austin’s (livery design) in a couple of weeks. I think because after that point they will have seen all the coverage of Martina (Andriano, the designer of Red Bull’s Miami livery) and her winning. They will have seen the car actually out on the track and how one young woman has managed to design this livery, and it’s racing around an F1 track with other competitors. That’s phenomenal.

“We’ll be using that as leverage to really drive the next stage, so I think it will only increase and only get better. The challenge for us is, ‘What are we going to do next year?’ We are our own best competition.”

Clearly it’s not just on the track that teams are looking to innovate and lead the way. America is feeling the effects at the same time changes are fostered to benefit the global fan base.

Presented by

Like money, there are logistical barriers to new F1 teams like Andretti – Horner, Wolff

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says the likes of Andretti wanting to join Formula 1 face a tough task because there are logistical issues as well as financial ones. Andretti has been publicly targeting a spot on the F1 grid for more than a …

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says the likes of Andretti wanting to join Formula 1 face a tough task because there are logistical issues as well as financial ones.

Andretti has been publicly targeting a spot on the F1 grid for more than a year, partnering with Cadillac to form a bid that it has submitted to the FIA along with interest from a Saudi-backed team planned by Craig Pollock and an apparent evolution of the Panthera project now called Lkysunz. With the FIA analyzing submissions of interest, Horner struggles to see how many of F1’s venues could handle an extra entrant.

“I think the issues remain the same as 12 months ago, both fiscally – what is the incentive for an existing team or franchise to accept an 11th entrant, and then ultimately, who pays?” Horner said. “I mean, if it dilutes the income of the 10, it’s like turkeys voting for Christmas. Why would they (the teams) do that?

“You know, are Liberty prepared to pay and fund an 11th team? Are the FIA prepared to reduce their fees to help accommodate it? So, you know, there are all the financial aspects, but I think beyond that…with the way that the sport has now developed, if you look at the pit lane, for example, here or somewhere like Monaco, Zandvoort, or some of the circuits that we’re now racing at, where would we be able to accommodate an 11th team?

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

“I think that in itself, just operationally…where do we put the motorhomes? Where do we put the support? Where do the trucks go? I just think it would be an incredibly difficult thing to be accommodated with the way that the sport has currently evolved as well.”

Sitting alongside Horner, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff also pointed out the team bosses regularly provide their viewpoint when questioned but don’t actively have the ability to choose if a new team is accepted or not.

“First of all, we have no say in this,” Wolff said. “If we’re being asked… Our opinion is being asked. But we’re not part of the process of choosing a team or not.

“The opinion that we have expressed is that it’s very difficult in Formula 1 to perform. It has taken us many years to be where we are. We’ve gone through really difficult times where Formula 1 wasn’t the blockbuster it is today, and therefore whoever enters the sport, I think it would be beneficial for all of us if they can really bring something new to the show, if it can help us to increase our audiences or if there is lots of marketing dollars that are being invested, similar to what we have done over the years — Red Bull and Mercedes, sitting here, I mean…hundreds of millions.

“And if that were the case, I think we need to be all open-minded and say, ‘How can we contribute to making that happen?’ But again, we’re not part of the governance, and so I would very much hope that we find someone — if we decided to go for another team — that somebody can really leverage what we have today and make it even greater.”

Presented by

Leclerc confident Friday crash won’t hinder Miami GP qualifying

Charles Leclerc says his crash during practice for the Miami Grand Prix was down to a lack of grip off-line and is confident it won’t impact his qualifying chances. The Ferrari driver lost the rear of his car at Turn 8 late in FP2, catching a snap …

Charles Leclerc says his crash during practice for the Miami Grand Prix was down to a lack of grip off-line and is confident it won’t impact his qualifying chances.

The Ferrari driver lost the rear of his car at Turn 8 late in FP2, catching a snap of oversteer but then locking up heavily as he went straight into the barrier on the outside of the corner. Leclerc’s incident brought out the red flag and he says the track surface still gaining grip meant he was unable to regain control but doesn’t expect any repercussions from the incident.

“Yeah, overall it’s very tricky because there is only one line and whenever you get off-line there is really, really, poor grip,” Leclerc said. “That’s basically what happened — I pushed too much, lost the rear, tried to recover from it but I had no grip to turn the car so that was it.

“But no big damage. Obviously the front right is gone, but apart from that no damage to the rear of the car which is the most important, but tomorrow is another day and I’m sure it will go well.”

Leclerc was on pole position for both the sprint and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last weekend but was comfortably beaten by Sergio Perez in both races, and he is expecting a similar scenario in Miami after ending Friday with the third fastest time.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

“I think the feeling is quite good over one lap. For the race, we are so far behind; Red Bull is again in a league of its own, very, very far in front. So in the race we definitely have a lot of time to find but in qualifying pace we are more or less there.

“In terms of race pace, I don’t think we have any miracles in hand to close the gap so I don’t think we will be much closer.”

Leclerc was behind teammate Carlos Sainz in FP2 and the Spaniard enjoyed a more encouraging day, having struggled in Baku last time out.

“It has been an intensive Friday — a lot of laps on this new surface, with this new, modified circuit,” Sainz said. “A lot of learning to do, but we went through it pretty nicely, no problems. We made some progress today with the feeling of the car. We also tried a new floor and it looks like it’s working well, so, overall, a positive Friday.

“It looks like everything is back to normal from Baku, which is what I expected, and I’m happy with that. Now we’ll have to prepare qualifying and the race well.”

Presented by

Verstappen leads second Miami GP practice as Leclerc crashes

Max Verstappen topped the second practice at the Miami Grand Prix ahead of both Ferrari drivers despite Charles Leclerc crashing out of the session. The Dutchman made easy work of the field with a soft run of 1m 27.930s, which put him 0.385s ahead …

Max Verstappen topped the second practice at the Miami Grand Prix ahead of both Ferrari drivers despite Charles Leclerc crashing out of the session.

The Dutchman made easy work of the field with a soft run of 1m 27.930s, which put him 0.385s ahead of Carlos Sainz and 0.468s on Leclerc.

The Monegasque had more time to give, having ruined his flying lap with a lock-up into Turn 17 at the end of the long back straight that cost him valuable time — the smaller of Leclerc’s two major mistakes.

Having switched to his long-run simulation and into the final 10 minutes of the hour, Leclerc crashed at Turn 8.

The Ferrari driver had attempted to collect a snap of oversteer but ended up spearing through the run-off zone and firing nose-first into he barriers. Fortunately he’d scrubbed off enough speed not to appear to cause significant damage, with only the wing and front-right corner damaged. Crucially his new floor appeared unscathed.

Recovery of the car required a red flag, leaving just three minutes left on the clock when the session resumed, though no drivers improved their times.

Sergio Perez was fourth, 0.489s slower than his leading teammate. He was less than 0.3s faster than Fernando Alonso and a particularly competitive Lando Norris was only 0.811s off Verstappen’s benchmark.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

Lewis Hamilton was seventh at the end of a far less optimistic session for Mercedes following the team’s one-two finish in FP1. Hamilton was 0.928s adrift as the Mercedes car appeared to struggle with balance on the evolving circuit. Teammate George Russell was all the way down in 15th, 1.2s off the pace, after reporting that his car was three-wheeling through the left-handed Turn 2.

Lance Stroll was eighth in the second Aston Martin. Alpine teammates Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly were ninth and 11th to sandwich an impressive Alex Albon in his Williams.

Kevin Magnussen was 12th for Haas despite a near miss early in the session. The Dane lost control of his Haas entering the slow Turn 14 and spun backwards, only just tagging the barrier with his front-left wheel. He reported no damage and was able to continue.

Alfa Romeo teammates Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas followed in 13th and 14th ahead of Russell.

Oscar Piastri beat Nico Hulkenberg to 16th, while AlphaTauri teammates Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries followed in 18th and 19th.

Floridian Logan Sargeant was last for Williams, 2.1s off the pace.

Presented by

Russell leads Mercedes sweep of opening Miami GP practice

George Russell topped a slippery first practice session at the Miami Grand Prix ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes duo left their soft-tire runs until the final two minutes of the session, when the circuit was at its cleanest, with …

George Russell topped a slippery first practice session at the Miami Grand Prix ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton.

The Mercedes duo left their soft-tire runs until the final two minutes of the session, when the circuit was at its cleanest, with Russell setting the pace at 1m30.125s to pip Hamilton by 0.212s.

It was a strong return for Russell, who spent most of the first 30 minutes having his steering rack changed after rejecting an experimental new part following just two opening laps in the car.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, the 2022 Miami winner, was 0.324s off the pace, while Max Verstappen, who set his fastest time shortly after the halfway mark of the hour-long session, was fourth and 0.424s adrift in his Red Bull.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

New surface, but a similarly slippery story. Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

The times were almost a second quicker than they were during first practice at last year’s event in part thanks to a freshly laid track surface. The surface has been repaved following complaints about grip by drivers, but early running has shown the new tarmac to be very greasy offline, with several drivers losing control of their cars when they ventured even marginally wide.

The low-grip conditions bit Nico Hulkenberg particularly hard through Turn 3, where the German’s Haas machine slipped from his control, spun backwards and smacked into the outside barrier on exit.

Hulkenberg had moments earlier set the fastest time of the session as one of the first to sample the soft compound, and that lap was quick enough for ninth at the end of the hour despite the shunt.

Alex Albon, Nyck de Vries and Pierre Gasly also had big spins and slides, among other drivers who saved smaller snaps, but all managed to bring their cars back in one piece.

Carlos Sainz moved ahead of the broken-down Haas driver into fifth, but the Ferrari driver was almost 0.6s off the pace. Gasly followed for Alpine, the Frenchman just bettering Aston Martin teammates Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll

Hulkenberg’s lap was impressive for how early it was set, on a track that was still dusty and greasy. Esteban Ocon completed the top 10 in the second Alpine.

Sergio Perez was a distant 11th, some 1.4s off the pace and a second down on teammate Verstappen, though his sole hot lap also came very early in the session.

Oscar Piastri was 12th for McLaren ahead of Kevin Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas, Albon and Lando Norris.

Zhou Guanyu was 2s off the pace in 17th, just ahead of AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and local favorite Logan Sargeant for Williams.

De Vries was last with only 10 laps on the hard tire, having returned to his garage after his early spin and not returned to the track.

Presented by

F1 technical updates: 2023 Miami Grand Prix

A new Ferrari floor is the standout development amid the few updates brought by teams to the Miami Grand Prix. Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur had already confirmed the Scuderia’s development plan would kick in from this weekend’s race in …

A new Ferrari floor is the standout development amid the few updates brought by teams to the Miami Grand Prix.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur had already confirmed the Scuderia’s development plan would kick in from this weekend’s race in Florida and the team has brought a new floor that focuses on the front-to-mid sections of the car and the diffuser. Ferrari says the new floor is intended to reduce losses in those areas, improving aerodynamic performance and car efficiency.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

Of the front-running teams, only Aston Martin has also brought anything new compared to Baku, although its updated cooling louvers are circuit-specific to counter the high temperatures in Miami.

There’s also a new floor at Haas as one of the other major updates, with the team aiming to control the pressure distribution better, something it says will increase aerodynamic efficiency at all speeds.

Haas F1 Team personnel at work in the garage ahead of the Miami GP weekend. Alexander Trienitz/Motorsport Images

AlphaTauri has two changes to its car this weekend, with an upgrade to the front wing creating more local load generated by adaptations to the outside edge of the tip as well as the inboard section. There is also an addition of a wing element underneath the mirror assembly ahead of the sidepod, helping to direct higher-energy airflow to the rear of the car to increase downforce.

The only other new part submitted by teams is at Alfa Romeo, where a tweak that allows the team to run its beam wing without an additional flap has been developed to offer up different drag solutions specific to the circuit in Miami.

Presented by

Perez backing himself to stay in F1’s title fight

Sergio Perez insists he can maintain his form to take the title fight to Max Verstappen beyond this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix. Red Bull has dominated 2023 so far, with Verstappen winning in Bahrain and Australia and Perez victorious on the street …

Sergio Perez insists he can maintain his form to take the title fight to Max Verstappen beyond this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix.

Red Bull has dominated 2023 so far, with Verstappen winning in Bahrain and Australia and Perez victorious on the street circuits in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan. As all of his Red Bull wins have come on street tracks, Christian Horner suggested that’s where Perez can capitalize but that the more conventional venues could see the pendulum swing back towards Verstappen. Perez disagrees.

“The reason I’m strong in these circuits is because I’m able to play with the car much more than I used to,” Perez said. “So I see no reason why, when we go to different circuits, I’m not able to play with the car the same way I have been doing.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

“Every weekend it’s a new challenge, so on paper it’s hard to know if it suits you or not. That’s why it’s important to keep playing with the car. I think I have a pretty good understanding with the car and I believe I can be strong anywhere.

“It’s important that we keep improving and I keep improving. I know that if I’m not perfect on Sunday I won’t be able to win a race. The only chance I have to beat Max is by being perfect, and being able to deliver when it matters.”

Currently six points behind Verstappen, Perez says he has shown his ability to handle the challenge of fighting the Dutchman in the same car, which he believes will stand him in good stead for the rest of the season.

“I’m mentally very strong and that’s my biggest strength, and has always been,” he said. “It’s not easy being Max’s teammate because he is delivering all the time and he’s winning all the time. We have seen it in the past that it’s not easy for a teammate to survive. I believe in myself, but I had to go very deep into understanding the whole concept of the car and making sure that I put the right tools in place to be able to fight.”

Perez insists he’s relishing the current situation, and says there’s no added pressure on him to be able to fight for the championship at this stage of his career.

“It’s a massive enjoyment, it’s what you’ve been working your whole life for,” he said. “I’m just enjoying it. I have no pressure, I’ve had a great career, and if I’m able to keep this going and I just want to win many more races now. And I’m just thinking on Miami, I’m not thinking too much on the championship at the moment. I’m mainly thinking about race by race, what it takes to be better here in Miami.”

Presented by

Processional F1 races aren’t a surprise – Alonso

Fernando Alonso says fans shouldn’t be surprised if there are processional Formula 1 races, despite the adoption of regulations aimed at providing scope for more overtaking opportunities. Ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, last weekend’s race in …

Fernando Alonso says fans shouldn’t be surprised if there are processional Formula 1 races, despite the adoption of regulations aimed at providing scope for more overtaking opportunities.

Ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, last weekend’s race in Azerbaijan has remained a talking point after a lack of overtaking following an early safety car as the two Red Bull drivers eased away from the pack. Aston Martin’s Alonso finished fourth behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

“This is Formula 1 — it has been always like this,” Alonso said. “There was seven years of (Lewis) Hamilton and (Valtteri) Bottas first and second, it has been in the past (Sebastian) Vettel and (Mark) Webber…

“If you have the fastest car and you’re going to start a little bit behind you will still maybe be making some moves and overtakes, but if you are in many other cars (that) are all within one tenth or whatever, where you qualify you’re more or less secure in that position and there’s not many overtakings after lap two or three.

“Maybe here (in Miami) we can see some rain so it may change on Sunday, but to not see many overtakes is the nature of Formula 1, so should not be a surprise.”

Alonso doesn’t believe the current regulations can be judged by the shape of the current season, saying that there could be more intriguing races ahead if Red Bull’s advantage can be closed.

“I think there were high expectations on following cars and having the grid a bit closer together, but I don’t know — I think we need to give a little bit more time,” he said. “If we didn’t have the Red Bulls that much ahead I think it’s a very interesting fight, with three or four teams (within) one or two tenths.

“We’re saying the new rules are a success, so maybe this is the story in a few years’ time or whatever when we have some stability in the rules — maybe 2026, everything changes again.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

For their second visit to Miami, the F1 cars will run on a new track surface that Alonso believes will add a different challenge given the heat in Florida.

“I think the circuit is going to be different from last year with the new tarmac so let’s see how it goes,” he said. “It’s similar to Jeddah and Baku, so maybe not too many surprises but still these temperatures are a little bit unique — yesterday was 60C (140F) track temperature. We have to wait and see but the car should be fine — only five days since Baku, so I guess the performance will not be too different.”

Presented by