Max Verstappen continued his run of winning every race he finishes in 2022, after taking his third victory of the season at the inaugural Miami Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr rounded off the podium, with the top-three all completing the race on a one-stop strategy.
Prior to the race, a two-stop strategy was predicted to be the fastest option in Miami, however, many of the top ten stretched out their first stint to enable a one-stop.
The majority of the drivers started the race on the yellow-walled Medium tyres, whereas a handful started on the white-walled Hards. Those who started on the hard compound extended their first-stint until the race’s only Safety Car occured, after Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly collided heavily late-on.
George Russell made the most of the opportunity to pit under the Safety Car, and was on fresher and faster tyres at the end of the race than those around him. This saw Russell finish in fifth-place having started from twelfth.
Pirelli’s Motorsport Director, Mario Isola was very impressed by how well the tyres held up on the newly-built circuit.
“A strong performance from the tyres here, which meant that the race gravitated towards a one-stop strategy, whereas we had previously anticipated a two-stopper. This was also thanks to the fact that temperatures were notably cooler today compared to previous days. The teams were able to stretch their first stints, probably in the expectation of a safety car or other opportunity, but in the end that only came towards the end of the race, after nearly everybody had stopped.
“A few drivers tried to take advantage of that by changing tyres, with three drivers running all three compounds during the race. However, Verstappen and Leclerc fought hard for the race win and fastest lap even on used hard tyres in the closing stages. It was an exciting finish to an eagerly-anticipated grand prix: we hope that all the podium finishers enjoyed their special Pirelli American Football helmets!”
