Red Bull, and Max Verstappen in particular, continue to reign supreme in Formula One, and according to RTL’s F1 expert Felix Görner, the Miami Grand Prix showed that no driver, not even his teammate Sergio Perez, could match the class of the double worldbeater.
Alongside Verstappen’s Oscar-worthy performance, Görner also saw that after five races, one or two doors may have opened for Mick Schumacher’s comeback.
Today we publish an extract from the reporters’ column after the race in Miami.
Schumacher has cockpit chance – Verstappen ready for the Oscars
Under the eyes of “Top Gun: Maverick” star Tom Cruise, Max Verstappen flew through the field in the USA at the weekend. Despite his superior car, it was no easy feat on the Miami circuit. But Verstappen shone. For his team-mate Sergio Perez, the Dutchman even turned it into a lesson in “listen to who’s hammering”: race strategy, tyre choice, overtaking behaviour, everything was perfect.
With his consistency and precision, Verstappen is currently an overtaking world champion. The way he cleared the field from behind was fantastic. Exemplary for the run was his slipstream overtaking manoeuvre against two cars in the first laps, when he double-teamed the feuding Charles Leclerc and Kevin Magnussen – that’s perfection. A performance that is to be placed in the high-end range of Formula 1, only a few can do that besides Verstappen.
Verstappen proved once again what a good tyre whisperer he is by showing how long you can stay out on the hard tyres. A race-deciding move. At the same time, he managed to ride the razor’s edge and aggressively ploughed his way to the front despite tyre whispering.
Anyone who still doubted him after the first four races or hoped that there would be an exciting World Championship duel with Pérez only has to look at the Miami GP. There you could see the difference between Verstappen and a very, very good “Checo” Pérez. There is still a small class in between.
And so the fifth race was ultimately also a crucial point in the world championship battle: because on the street circuit of Miami – actually a proven strength of “Checo” Pérez – Verstappen triumphed in the end and thus set a clear exclamation mark.
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Mick Schumacher with a cockpit chance in Formula 1
The second important topic in Miami, especially from a German point of view: For Mick Schumacher there is hope for a quick return to a Formula 1 cockpit.
The first reason: Logan Sargeant’s poor performance at Williams, where Schumacher was also a subject for discussion for a long time before the season. The US-American seems overtaxed, the gap to Alex Albon is large. The good thing from Schumacher’s point of view: Williams is a Mercedes-controlled team. Not only because of the engines that come from the German carmaker, but also because Silver Arrows team boss Toto Wolff has powerful influence as a shareholder.
Williams could be a realistic option for Schumacher, especially now that a new team boss, former Mercedes engineer James Vowles, is at the helm.
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Schumacher should keep knocking hard on Williams’ door, and whenever he steps out of the Mercedes straight, drop in there. Who knows, maybe a change will happen sooner than you think. If Sargeant keeps driving like this, I can well imagine Mick Schumacher getting a chance as early as this season.
The second reason: Schumacher almost ended up at AlphaTauri too, team boss Franz Tost would have liked to get him. But at the insistence of Red Bull, Nyck de Vries was put in the cockpit of the sister team. And so far, this venture has also been a flop. De Vries is not delivering what he promised, although hopes were high after he scored two points as a substitute driver for Williams last year.
Mick Schumacher may now have two options. The biggest is likely to be at Williams, and there may be another at AlphaTauri, depending on where the team is sold to. So for the German, after five races, there is already a glimmer of hope that he will soon be able to drive in Formula 1 again. That would be really good for him.
Formula 1: Ferrari, the rolling construction site
The third big topic in Miami: the loser Ferrari. Despite the change of team boss from Mattia Binotto to Fred Vasseur, the Scuderia remains a rolling construction site.
The car does not deliver the desired performance, the drivers are error-ridden. Even good drivers like Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz ruin their weekends this way.
And where is the progress at Ferrari? It’s more like “Mamma Mia!” again. Before the important race in Imola, there is still no solution to the problems in sight.
The tree is burning at Ferrari. The current performances are not going down well in the top management at Ferrari and at Fiat. Vasseur has to keep a cool head, the impatience at Ferrari is great, especially among the bosses. After five races one has to state: Ferrari has taken a step backwards.
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Media, the pundits and the fanbois and fangirls were euphopic after Perez drew closer to Verstappen after Baku and made grand noises about fighting for the WDC.
It is understandable that the media does it as clickbait. It is also understandable that the blind Max-hating bi-assed fans write him off. But what is surprising is that there are few true F1 fans who fail to see the greatest ever F1 driver in flesh and blood.
There is no point in singing hosannas to Max after he retires. Do it now and relish that you are lucky to be his contemporaries.
Media, the pundits and certain fans were euphoric after Perez drew closer to Verstappen after Baku and made grand noises about fighting for the WDC.
It is understandable that the media does it as clickbait. It is also understandable that the blind Max-hating bi-assed fans write him off. But what is surprising is that there are a few true F1 fans who fail to see the greatest ever F1 driver in flesh and blood.
There is no point in singing hosannas to Max after he retires. Do it now and relish that you are lucky to be his contemporaries.