Red Bull sticks to strategy in Miami: Verstappen must do it himself

The message stayed out over the team radio. Nobody from the Red Bull Racing team management summoned Sergio Perez to pass Max Verstappen at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as both drivers are free to race. For now, nothing changes in Miami, according to Red Bull, ahead of the upcoming Florida Grand Prix. So Verstappen will also have to win his races entirely on his own in the coming period.

Red Bull stands out so much above the rest of the field that, at the moment, Verstappen and Perez seem the only serious contenders for the world title. Which of the two ultimately gets to pick up the most important trophy in motorsport, team boss Christian Horner does not care. This is partly why they are allowed to compete against each other for now: "Yeah, until the team's interest. If you're competing against a competitor, it becomes bigger than the driver's interest, but as it is at the moment, they're free to do it", the Englishman told GPblog, among others.

King of the street

Perez excelled in Baku, again on a street circuit. A street circuit also awaits F1 drivers in Miami Gardens, a suburb of the Florida metropolis. In advance, the assumption is justified that Perez has a serious chance of trouncing Verstappen there too. Indeed, there is something about why the Mexican excels on street tracks. "I don't know. You'll have to ask him. That's why he's the king of the streets."

After Miami, Formula 1 awaits a visit to Imola: an old-school circuit, anything but a track where the walls are close. "I think he just needs to do it on a normal track now. So he's excelled at street circuits. All his victories, I think, certainly for us, have been at street tracks. I mean, it's the second time he's won here, he won in Singapore, he won in Monaco, he won in Jeddah. So, yes, we just need to get him going on the proper circuits."

In a way, Perez is lucky that Formula 1 is increasingly running on street circuits. Besides Miami, street circuits are being raced in Monaco, Singapore and, starting this season, Las Vegas.