Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Miami

Image source, Getty Images

Red Bull's Max Verstappen was in a class of his own as he carved through the field to win the Miami Grand Prix from ninth place on the grid.

It was a masterful performance from the world champion, using an off-set tyre strategy to beat team-mate Sergio Perez, who started from pole position.

Verstappen ran a long first stint on hard tyres, pitting 25 laps later than Perez, rejoining a second behind and passing for the lead a lap later.

It was a humiliating defeat for Perez and raised serious questions about his claims to be able to challenge Verstappen for the title this year.

Read the full race report here

Image source, Getty Images

Five rounds down, a load more to go.

The razzmatazz of the Miami Grand Prix is over for another year and the party can start in the Red Bull hospitality tent following another dominant display on track.

Fernando Alonso's motorhome will also be full of Spanish cheer no doubt tonight too.

Imola is next on the itinerary, with important upgrades for Mercedes, so come back and join us on Friday, 19 May at 12:00 BST as we build-up to first practice.

Enjoy your bank holiday Monday and catch you soon!

We can all take a big deep breath now after those back-to-back races in Azerbaijan and Miami and start to mentally prepare ourselves for the triple-header coming up shortly.

Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

19-21 May

Monaco Grand Prix

26-28 May

Spanish Grand Prix

2-4 June

Race winner Max Verstappen went all the way to lap 45 on the C2 hard tyre before switching to the medium rubber.

McLaren were the only team to bolt on the soft compounds, but they were quickly ditched on lap four for Lando Norris and lap number five for his team-mate Oscar Piastri.

Image source, Pirelli Motorsport

George Russell, who finished fourth in the Miami Grand prix, talking to Sky Sports: "It has been a little while since we had a race like that where we had some good overtakes. I felt good in the car. I would have liked to be a few positions higher but we know where we are as a team now and P4 was the maximum today.

On the upgrades coming at Imola: "There are a lot of expectations on Imola and I am sure it is going to take us a step in the right direction. It is not going to transform things, the car's a little unpredictable at the moment so hopeful it exceeds our expectations in the next race."

Red Bull have opened up a 122-point lead over nearest challengers Aston Martin in the constructors' standings.

Below the top three, with both Alpine drivers scoring points in Miami, the French team have drawn level on 14 points with McLaren, who come away from round five empty handed.

1. Red Bull - 224

2. Aston Martin - 102

3. Mercedes - 96

4. Ferrari - 78

5. McLaren - 14

6. Alpine - 14

7. Haas - 8

8. Alfa Romeo - 6

9. Alpha Tauri - 2

10. Williams - 1

This is how the top of the drivers' championship looks after Max Verstappen picked up 26 points in total and Sergio Perez collected another 18 thanks to Red Bull's one-two finish.

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 119

2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) - 105

3. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) - 75

4.Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 56

5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) - 44

6. George Russell (Mercedes) - 40

7. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 34

8. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) - 27

9. Lando Norris (McLaren) -10

10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) - 8

Jolyon Palmer
Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 Live

What is a shame with this championship is that if Red Bull was just a little slower, we would have a humdinger of a first five races.

We've had Alonso there, we've had Hamilton there, we've had Leclerc there, Sainz for a while was running really well, George Russell was winning in Melbourne.

All of these guys have had moments of being best of the rest but the two Red Bulls are just so far up the road.

Image source, Getty Images

Fernando Alonso, who finished third at the Miami Grand Prix: "The car is amazing. Nothing really to do in front of us. Maybe we did expect a little stronger opposition but maybe the Ferraris were a bit worse today. It's never easy, but it was a lonely race.

"It is always (fun). We started on the wrong side of the grid and was a little bit worried but everything was fine. We take the podium and go into the triple - Imola, Monaco and Barcelona - and hopefully we can keep on going.

"At the beginning of the year a podium was amazing. Now after four races, we want more - at least a second place but the two Red Bulls are unbreakable and super-fast. But as I said, maybe Monaco, maybe Barcelona, we have a possibility."

Image source, Getty

Sergio Perez, who finished second at the Miami Grand Prix: "I mean I tried. I gave it my all. We had graining and initial pace wasn't good. That compromised a lot of our race.

"We didn’t have too much difference with the tyres. The battle with Max was particularly fun today. It’s a win for him.

"The medium we had initially was poor, more than expected. It really compromised our pace and Max had tremendous pace on the hard and we will analyse what went wrong today because we simply didn’t have the pace."

Image source, Getty Images

Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who takes his third win of the season in Miami: "It was a good race. I stayed out of trouble at the beginning and I just had a clean race and picked the cars off one by one. I stayed out really long on the hard tyres and I think that's what made the difference and then a good little battle with Checo at the end.

"Yesterday was of course a bit of a set-back but today we kept it calm, kept it clean and for sure winning a race from P9 is very satisfying.

"We started talking about (the tyre strategy) yesterday. We didn't know what the weather would do and whether it would pay off and luckily it did today."

It wasn't a classic but congratulations to the top three in Miami. Let's have a look at what they had to say in their post-race interviews.

Oh, Max Verstappen also claimed the extra point for fastest lap.

Jolyon Palmer
Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 Live

Perez will have his day - I am sure he will win again this year, but when he wins, it is his best ever drive.

Verstappen the next week will come from P9 to win - and that is the difference between the two drivers. It is hard to see someone stopping Verstappen.

Even Perez.

Champagne spraying has commenced on the podium. Bottle clinks between all of the drivers. Fernando Alonso then drops a giant magnum down to the rest of his Aston Martin crew.

Image source, Getty Images

The giant Hard Rock Stadium podium is back. What jazziness is going to accompany this part of the Miami weekend? Normal celebrations so far as the drivers wave to the crowd as they step out in order.

The cooldown room this week is in the style of the Miami Dolphin's locker room, complete with a jersey for each driver. Max, Checo and Fernando are having a chat as the highlights play out and joke about Alonso's prediction of Verstappen catching him by lap 25.

The top three are being transported to the podium in buggies this year, and not the police escort that was laid on at the debut event in 2022.

11. Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri)

12. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

13. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)

14. Alex Albon (Williams)

15. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

16. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)

17. Lando Norris (McLaren)

18. Nyck de Vries (Alpha Tauri)

19. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

20. Logan Sargeant (Williams)

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

3. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

4. George Russell (Mercedes)

5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

6. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

7. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

8. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

9. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

10. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

Image source, Getty Images

Jolyon Palmer
Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 Live

That was an enjoyable grand prix. Some good wheel-to-wheel action throughout the filed but I just wish that Perez had more fight in him.

The starting strategies gave us a nice prospect but it was just a gulf between them today.