Max Verstappen conquered victory in the 2024 Miami sprint race of the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League of Formula 1. However, he did not seem to enjoy driving his Red Bull as much as expected. Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari provided some challenge for Verstappen after surviving a collision with Esteban Ocon’s Alpine during the pre-race pitlane. Unfortunately, the safety car interrupted Leclerc’s momentum, and he was unable to get within DRS distance of Verstappen for the rest of the race. Despite Verstappen’s complaints about his car, there was no opportunity for Leclerc to overtake.
Daniel Ricciardo’s performance in the sprint qualifying was the highlight of his season so far. He managed to secure a position among the top three after Sergio Perez made a mistake at Turn 1. However, Perez quickly regained his position with the help of DRS, ensuring he was not overshadowed by a driver in a less competitive car. Ricciardo’s Red Bull is not expected to be a contender among the top six, but he impressively held onto fourth position despite Carlos Sainz’s attempts to overtake in the final laps.
Lando Norris, who was supposed to start from pole position, faced challenges due to a mistake made by McLaren in Q3 on Friday. As a result, he started from ninth place, putting him at risk of being involved in any early race chaos. Unfortunately, Norris became an innocent victim of a collision involving Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, and Lance Stroll. Hamilton’s aggressive braking and Stroll’s lack of awareness of Alonso’s position led to the incident. The stewards decided to show leniency considering it was the first lap.
Oscar Piastri, driving the less updated version of the McLaren, finished in sixth place, closely following Sainz. Hamilton, after surviving the collision, found himself in ninth place behind the Haas duo, Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen. Hamilton tried several overtaking maneuvers on Magnussen, but faced penalties for cutting the track and exceeding track limits. Magnussen’s defensive driving allowed Hulkenberg to secure seventh place for Haas.
Hamilton managed to recover eighth place after Magnussen’s penalty, but he received his own pit lane speeding penalty. It was a disappointing race for Mercedes, with George Russell finishing in 12th place after starting in 14th. The lack of race pace in the highly updated Mercedes car is concerning for the team’s engineers.
Ricciardo’s performance demonstrated the difficulty of overtaking midfield cars in a race with high temperatures and limited tire performance. The disappointing performance of the Mercedes car in both the sprint qualifying and the race is a cause for concern.
