The inaugural Grand Prix at Miami started long before Friday, with all drivers and team personnel enjoying the South Florida sun for a few days.

FRIDAY PRACTICES:

Practice 1 started with almost every driver going out into the new track. All of them have been practicing it in simulators but this was the very first taste of it. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll set the very first timed lap at the new circuit, a 1:39.513. Then, with about 25 minutes left on the clock, Valtteri Bottas hit the wall at turn 7, bringing out the first-ever red flag at Miami. FP1 restarted, and lap time began dropping considerably. In the end, it was Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc setting the fastest lap of the session, a 1:31.098. 0.071 ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, and 0.179 of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Practice 2. Red Bull informed they have changed Verstappen’s gearbox as precautionary action after a “brush” to the wall by the Dutchman during FP1, also Alfa Romeo was working on Bottas’ Alfa Romeo, missing FP2 completely. Friday afternoon was a lot cooler but still very hot and humid. The drivers nevertheless came out as early as possible. After just 17 minutes, Carlos Sainz lost his Ferrari and crashed into the wall at turn 13, bringing out the weekend’s second red flag. The Spaniard cannot catch a break.

With about 10 minutes lost while the Ferrari was being recovered the session resumed. Cars came out, but a few minutes later, Verstappen came back into the pits as his RB18 had some gremlins. He had radioed he couldn’t steer, and then the right rear brake spurt flames. Practice resumed until Nicholas Latifi stopped his Williams on track bringing out the third flag of the day but lasting just a minute. The last ten minutes of the session saw most drivers doing long runs. In the end, it was Mercedes’ George Russell setting the fastest lap of the day, a 1:29.938. Ahead of Leclerc, Perez, Hamilton, and Alonso the top five. An interesting fact was that the top ten cars were separated by less than a second…

SATURDAY:

Beautiful Spring Day in South Florida, although a bit warm and humid, nevertheless F1 racing was on the agenda. FP3 was a very important session as the 1 hour was used not only to prepare for the race but mainly to Qualifying later in the day. Fifteen minutes into the session, Esteban Ocon crashed heavily his Alpine into the wall at turn 14. The first red flag of the day. After a bit more than 12 minutes off, FP3 resumed and lots of cars came out to make the most of the little time left.

About an hour later, Ocon twitted that his A522 had a cracked chassis, and he couldn’t take part in Qualifying.

QUALIFYING:

Q1 started on time and both Ferrari and Red Bull immediately went fastest. The real battle was down the order, with 15th place changing hands again and again. In the end, it was Magnussen, Zhou, Albon, Latifi, and Ocon out in Q1.

Q2 was about the same as Q1 with both Ferrari and Red Bull cars fighting upfront. But as much as they tried, Alonso, Russell, Vettel, Ricciardo, and Mick Schumacher were out of Quali.

The final stage of Qualifying saw Charles Leclerc in a storming lap to take the first-ever Pole Position at MIA. Carlos Sainz was second for a Ferrari front-row lockout, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third. Behind them were Perez, Bottas, Hamilton, Gasly, Norris, and Stroll for Aston Martin.

Everything was set for an amazing inaugural race at the brand-new Miami International Autodrome.

SUNDAY:

Race day had similar weather to the previous ones, sunny, hot, and humid, although the threat of rain was lingering around the Miami Gardens track. And even though it didn’t rain, there were thrills, spills, safety cars, and contrasting strategies.

At exactly 3:30 PM local time, the race started with Max Verstappen overtaking Carlos Sainz going into turn 1 and soon began his pursuit of Leclerc, passing him on lap 9 of 57. Leclerc then pitted for hard tires on lap 24, Red Bull and Verstappen doing the same two laps later.

There were a few interesting battles behind the leaders, but then on lap 41, Pierre Gasly crashed with Lando Norris, bringing out a VSC (Virtual Safety Car) and then a Safety Car. Perez took the opportunity of it and pitted for a new set of mediums, coming out just behind Sainz.

On lap 47, the race resumed with Leclerc within striking distance of Verstappen and Perez of Sainz, those battles continued until the end, and thus, Max Verstappen became the first-ever Miami Grand Prix winner, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz completing the podium.

In the end, it was Verstappen's second win in a row, with Ferrari leaving South Florida “happy-disappointed” as Mattia Binotto summed it up afterward.

QUOTES FROM THE PODIUM: