The race was won by reigning F1 world champion and Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished P2 and P3 respectively.
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The 2022 edition of the Miami GP was the first of many future installments and it sure delivered its fair share of excitement. The race was won by reigning F1 world champion and Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished P2 and P3 respectively. Like every new track, the drivers have the best view and experience of it and there are positive and negative reactions. While the race was a complete success for Verstappen, he did reveal a few concerns he had about the track, something the FIA could perhaps look at get fixed in the future. The track received mixed reactions from drivers, including seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton who called the chicane at turns 14 and 15 a ‘B&Q car park”.
Verstappen’s main concern, however, was regarding the surface of the track. The Dutchman revealed that he did not expect much grip at the start but was pleasantly surprised. However, that satisfaction soon went out of the window as the surface of the track deteriorated as the race went on. “I think [the surface] offline can be a bit better,” Verstappen said at a media interaction as per RacingNews365.com.
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“I think it was a bit [nicer in the race]. I was a bit surprised, like at the start going around the outside, I didn’t expect grip. But then actually, during the race, it got worse and worse again. We had good examples lately with new tracks where we had good tarmac, like Saudi actually, it was pretty grippy. So we have to just look at that. Of course the racing line has a bit more grip than offline, but I think the difference here is a bit too much in places. So we’ll see what we can do there and, besides that, I think we can make some bits [of the track] also a bit more exciting, especially Sector 2,” the Dutchman added.
Echoing Hamilton’s sentiments, Verstappen also expressed his dissatisfaction with turns 14 and 15. The Red Bull Racing driver said that while go-karting would be a nice experience through those turns, they were certainly not conducive for a Formula One car. “I think if I would have been in a go-kart it would be a nice chicane to take, but not in an F1 car like we have at the moment,” he said.
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“I think [with] the kerb combination, I remember in the four laps I did on Friday, I almost knocked myself out because I hit the the first kerb, and your head just bounced from left to right, at least five, six times. [It’s] really bad if you just take it a tiny bit too much, just because the cars are so long, so wide, so stiff and super heavy, that that little kerb is just not made for it to be honest. Maybe we have to change the kerb layout already, [so] that [it] is a bit more of a progressive ramp, and it looks a bit nicer to go over. Maybe that helps already. But it’s so slow, and I think our cars look way better if it’s a bit more of a flowing combination,” the reigning F1 world champion opined.
