Miami Grand Prix: Red Bull and Ferrari to resume battle in Florida

Sumeet Paul
06 May 2022
3:00 min read

Verstappen and Leclerc poised to light up Miami

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Sumeet Paul expects another thrilling instalment in this F1 season in the inaugural Miami Grand Prix on Sunday...

"There should be exciting racing on a fast street circuit, and with the pace that Verstappen can set with the RB18 looking increasingly menacing and superior in straight-line speed particularly with DRS, the defending champion starts as the favourite at 2.01/1."

F1 Miami Grand Prix
Sunday May 8, 20:30
Sky Sports F1

After enjoying a near-perfect weekend last time out at Imola as they grabbed 58 of a possible 59 points on Ferrari's home turf, Red Bull will be delighted with their response in the Championship battles.

The result of that was Max Verstappen cutting Charles Leclerc's lead to 27 points in the Drivers' Championship, while Red Bull now trail Ferrari by just 11 points in the Constructors standings to shorten their odds in both markets.

Throw into the mix the unknowns involved as the Miami Grand Prix is set to make its debut on the F1 calendar, can Ferrari now hit back in the Sunshine State?

Red Bull set ominous new standard but still face Ferrari battle

While Red Bull have had their reliability issues, when Verstappen has finished a race so far this season, he's won it.

Backed up by the safe hands of Sergio Perez, there was an ominous air about how Red Bull dominated at Imola particularly on race day, and so they go into this weekend as the slight favourites.

That said, such is the importance of track characteristics, upcoming development from teams combined with the uncertainty over how the drivers will adapt to the new track in Miami, part of what makes this F1 season even more enthralling is that it's so difficult to predict.

For all the unknowns with the Miami track, one thing that it will be is fast. The average speed will be around 138mph, with cars expected to be at full throttle for 58% of each lap. With a mix of several long, sweeping corners with big straights in the first sector and slower, tighter turns thereafter, there will be overtaking opportunities and three DRS zones with comparisons made to Jeddah and Melbourne.

That should result in exciting racing on a fast street circuit, and with the pace that Verstappen can set with the RB18 looking increasingly menacing and superior in straight-line speed particularly with DRS, it's difficult to look beyond the defending champion in this one, as he starts as the favourite at 2.01/1.

Such has been the back-and-forth nature of the Red Bull and Ferrari battle though, coupled with various DNFs, it's still difficult to predict this market until a pattern begins to emerge over a larger sample size in the season.

Midfield battle set to light up Miami

With Mercedes still working hard to get it right as they're expected to implement new parts this weekend which could get them going, the competitiveness of the midfield has also made it more difficult for them.

All 10 teams have now scored points with Mick Schumacher and Nicholas Latifi the only drivers yet to get on the board, and so that sets up an intriguing scrap behind Red Bull and Ferrari.

McLaren will be delighted with their progress as Lando Norris secured a podium finish at Imola, while Alpine, Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri are all in that group consistently fighting for points.

Since his frustrating opening weekend in Bahrain, Norris has now finished 7th, 5th and 3rd in the last three races, and while he's benefitted from others ahead of him not making the chequered flag, he's still a decent option at 1.84/5 to secure a top six finish in Miami.

Elsewhere, Valtteri Bottas has scored points in three of the four races to date, with the other ending in a DNF. Off the back of finishing 5th at Imola with Alfa Romeo making a jump in development, the Finn can help collect a smaller return at 1.51/2 to finish in the top 10.

With Red Bull and Ferrari trading blows race-by-race in a thrilling four-round fight thus far and drama set to unfold behind them, everything is in place for a fascinating weekend in Miami.