6 May 2-8, 2024 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | culture | Night+Day | News | letters | coNteNts | Month XX–Month XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Max Verstappen is the closest thing Formula 1 has ever had to a Shaolin monk. Trained by his ex-F1 driver father, Jos Verstappen, and honed into a lean, mean racing machine throughout his youth, the Dutchman had long been feted by Red Bull as the next great driver. In 2021, amid controversial circumstances at the final race of the year, he finally clinched the Driver’s Championship for the first time. Since then, thanks in much part to the superior machinery of Red Bull, he’s left the entire grid in his dust for two straight seasons, winning back-to-back titles and treating each race like a gentle Sunday drive through the countryside. He is the only man to have ever won the Miami GP and set the fastest lap record at both races. He races the way I play Mario Kart: He takes the lead as soon as possible and gets as far ahead of the field as he can. And it works almost every time because no vaother team can engineer a blue shell to knock him out. As of now, Verstappen seems poised to continue his streak of dominance in 2024. He’s won four out of the five races that have been run so far, and it vprobably would have been five for five if he hadn’t retired from the Australian GP due to mechanical issues. He will most likely win a third straight Miami GP, and unless the sky falls, he will probably win the championship, too. That being said, things are not all rosy at Red Bull. The team has been rocked by contro- versy after team principal Christian Horner was accused of sexual misconduct by a female employee. Although Horner was cleared of any wrongdoing, rumors of stress within the organization and power struggles between the senior staff have persisted since. Just last week, design chief Adrian Newey, a key member of the team, was reportedly planning to leave the team. There’s even speculation that Verstappen could replace the outgoing Hamilton at Mercedes, although considering that team’s struggles, it’s pretty unlikely he would ditch the fastest team on the grid for them. For now, we’ll have to resign ourselves to watching him win again and again and again — sigh. Earlier this year, Lewis Hamilton shocked the world by an- nouncing he would break his newly signed two-year con- tract at Mercedes-Benz and race for Ferrari in 2025. The highly anticipated move will unite the seven-time Formula 1 World Champion with the most iconic stable on the grid as both vie to finally unseat Max Verstappen and Red Bull at the top of the table. As shocking as the decision was, however, it wasn’t alto- gether too surprising. The British driver had won six of his seven titles with Mercedes, but ever since Hamilton fell to Verstappen in 2020, they haven’t measured up. A change in car construction regulations in 2021 saw the once-dominant team fall into the mid-table as design and mechanical issues mounted. Though he managed third in the Constructor’s Championship last year, the siren song of Ferrari, a legend- ary name in motorsport that all drivers aspire to race with, seemed to prove too strong. It also helps that the team has consistently beaten Mercedes over the last few seasons. While Hamilton won’t join the Scuderia until next year, there are plenty of reasons to watch his final season with Mad Money Merc. For one, he remains one of the most com- pelling personalities on the grid, a magnetic and inspira- tional figure that one can’t help but root for. One reason for that may be his comparatively humble origins: Raised work- ing class in Stevenage, England, he rose above racist abuse at school and from rival drivers to eventually become the first Black driver in Formula 1 in 2007. A year later, at 23 years of age, he became the first Black F1 champion, also holding the record for youngest champion until Sebastian Vettel snatched it two years later. Finally, in 2020, he tied the re- cord for most championship wins with the great Michael Schumacher, another driver of working-class origins. In a sport created for and by elites where wealthy drivers could, until recently, buy their way onto the grid, it matters that someone like Hamilton can rise to the top. Here’s hoping he makes it back. Somebody Verstopp Him! M A X V E R S TA P P E N , R E D B U L L Ham on the Run L E W I S H A M I LTO N , M E R C E D E S - B E N Z T H E F O R M U L A 1 D R I V E R S T O W A T C H D U R I N G T H E 2 0 2 4 M I A M I G R A N D P R I X . B Y D O U G L A S M A R K O W I T Z VROOM 3 F ormula 1 is back in Miami. From May 3 to 5, 20 drivers will descend on the Miami International Autodrome at Hard Rock Stadium for the third iteration of the Miami Grand Prix. However, between high speeds and even higher egos, it can be hard to figure out who to support. Will Max Verstappen continue his dominant streak and win the race a third time? Or will someone else finally take the trophy? And who’s the local boy on the grid? New Times has your inside look at the best drivers to watch at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix. Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images
