Verstappen was long: "It was nice, but very heavy"

Max Verstappen beat Leclerc to conquer Miami and tighten things up in the 2022 F1 drivers’ championship. The Dutchman took advantage of his car’s better pace to score his third win of the year.

After crossing the finish line, he told his engineer that he needed to drink something, and that the engineer himself would need it too, showing signs of fatigue in the high temperatures experienced at the Miami circuit.

Then, on the podium, he confirmed that it had been “an incredible grand prix, very physical”, and celebrated that he believed that F1 managed to “keep the emotion until the end”.

There he received a question that generated a stir on social networks, about whether he was ready to switch to boxing. The champion fought the interviewer as best he could and replied: “I think I’ll stay in the races, but of course I appreciate boxing a lot. And I’m a little sorry about how we feel right now. But yeah, incredibly happy with the win here.” , in Miami. It was an incredible Sunday for us.”

Speaking to Sky , the #33 summed up his race, in which he also achieved the extra point for the fastest lap: “It was very good, especially at the beginning, I hadn’t done anything at all this weekend with all the problems that I had, so I didn’t know what to expect, but I think I had a decent start and I saw the opportunity to go outside and it went really well I guess.”

Verstappen breathed a sigh of relief to be able to fight wheel-to-wheel with Carlos Sainz in the first few corners: “Fortunately we gave each other space, and then I was trying to chase down Charles and I saw he was struggling with his right front tire and I went for it. I was able to overtake him and the race was there, because I was able to open a gap and with hard ones we had a very similar rhythm”.

The regrouping after the Safety Car gave Charles Leclerc an opportunity, who could have been within range of DRS. But nothing changed: ” His pace was a bit faster than ours, so I wasn’t too happy when the safety car came out, but these things can happen. That helped me in the past in some races, so you can’t complain.” when it hurts you. On the restart we tried again, and at first I was struggling a bit on the cold tyres, I had no grip, but as soon as they got up to temperature I was able to accelerate.”

Regarding the Safety Car, on Viaplay , he commented: “It didn’t help us, because we could have finished the race in a controlled way. But it made it exciting for everyone. This victory was, of course, very nice, but also very heavy. I must say that start counting the laps left after only 15 laps. It was physically very heavy, but very nice.

Verstappen has won all three races he has finished this season, and only Red Bull’s problems, which prevented him from seeing the other two checkered flags, kept him from victory. However, in Miami not everything was perfect for the energy drinkers, as Pérez suffered a power problem that prevented him from fighting for the podium.

“We have to be aware of that, I tried to have a clean weekend. I think the team understands the issues, but of course we have to try to make sure these things don’t happen. We’re working on it full steam ahead. “.

Enjoy the photos of Max Verstappen at the Miami GP 2022 F1

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, celebrates with his girlfriend Kelly Piquet at the end of the race

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Photo by: Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images

Ganador Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Parc Ferme

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Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 2nd position, Red Bull Racing team member Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, 3rd position, on the podium

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Photo by: Carl Bingham/Motorsport Images

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 2nd position, Red Bull Racing team member Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, 3rd position, on the podium

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Photo by: Carl Bingham/Motorsport Images

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 2nd position, Red Bull Racing team member Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, 3rd position, celebrate on the podium

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

The streamers cover Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, Red Bull team member Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 2nd position, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, 3rd position, on the podium

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

Members of the Red Bull Racing team climb the fence at the end of the race to cheer on Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, over the finish line

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Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, 1st position, sees the checkered flag

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Photo by: Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75

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Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, celebrates with his girlfriend Kelly Piquet at the end of the race

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Photo by: Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, celebrates at Parc Fermé

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Photo by: Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 2nd position, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, 3rd position, on the podium

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 2nd position, spray the podium with champagne

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Photo by: Carl Bingham/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, lifts the trophy

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Photo by: Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, arrives at Parc Fermé

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Photo by: Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, reaches the podium with the Pirelli NFL helmet

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, reaches the podium with the Pirelli NFL helmet

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Photo by: Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, celebrates on the podium

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Photo by: Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, celebrates on the podium

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Photo by: Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, celebrates on the podium

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Photo by: Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, celebrates on the podium

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Photo by: Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, celebrates on the podium

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Photo by: Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, receives a Miami Dolphins football helmet on the podium

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Photo by: Carl Bingham/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, receives a Miami Dolphins football helmet on the podium

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Photo by: Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, receives a Miami Dolphins football helmet on the podium

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Photo by: Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, receives a Miami Dolphins football helmet on the podium

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Photo by: Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, receives an NFL helmet from the Miami Dolphins on the podium

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, receives an NFL helmet from the Miami Dolphins on the podium

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, receives an NFL helmet from the Miami Dolphins on the podium

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, receives an NFL helmet from the Miami Dolphins on the podium

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, sprays champagne on the podium

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Photo by: Carl Bingham/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, sprays champagne on the podium

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, sprays the podium with champagne

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, sprays champagne on the podium

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Podium: Winner Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Podium: winner Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

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Photo by: Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images

Podium: winner Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing wearing an NFL helmet

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Podium: 2nd place Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, winner Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 3rd place Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

Podium: 2nd place Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, winner Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 3rd place Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

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Photo by: Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images

Podium: 2nd place Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, winner Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 3rd place Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen’s car, Red Bull Racing RB18, 1st position, at Parc Ferme

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Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 2nd position, arrive at Parc Ferme

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Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, rests at Parc Ferme

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Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, celebrates on the podium

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Photo by: Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images

Winner Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, at Parc Ferme

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Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Winner Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, at Parc Ferme

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Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Winner Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, arrives at Parc Ferme

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Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Winner Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, arrives at Parc Ferme

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Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images