Max Verstappen hunts down Sergio Pérez to claim victory in Miami F1 GP

On a coronation weekend, how apt then that Max Verstappen should deliver a salutary reminder that he is in no mood to pass on his Formula One world championship crown. The Dutchman delivered a relentless and flawlessly executed drive to win the Miami Grand Prix, putting the pretender to the throne, his Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez, to the sword with clinical efficiency.

The pair had started the race separated by eight places, with Pérez on pole and Verstappen in ninth. When he took the flag the world champion was a full five seconds up the road from his teammate, who was impotent after a masterclass in pace and tyre control from Verstappen who had, ominously it seemed, barely broken sweat.

“We kept it calm, kept it clean and winning a race from P9 is very satisfying,” he said with no little understatement. “It was a good race. I stayed out of trouble at the beginning, had a clean race and picked the cars off one by one. I stayed out really long on the hard tyres and I think that’s what made the difference.”

Fans were fortunate Verstappen had so much to do. His charge through the field at the Miami International Autodrome, up to second place by lap 15, was by some distance the highlight of another pedestrian race as F1 struggles with single-stop meetings turning all too soon into a procession.

When F1 visits Miami the hype is inescapable, the commitment to it being bigger, louder, more entertaining is palpable. It’s showtime in Florida is the message at the circuit that winds its way round the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins NFL team. This year they threw the kitchen sink at it, pre-race at least.

Before the off F1 had introduced its new pre-race ceremony that is likely (doubtless to the horror of many