"That's where I think we made the difference today" - Max Verstappen on what helped him beat Sergio Perez at the 2023 F1 Miami GP

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen put on a masterclass to win the 2023 F1 Miami GP ahead of teammate Sergio Perez after starting the race from P9 on the grid.

The Dutchman suffered a setback during qualifying when a red flag caused by Charles Leclerc impeded his second run in Q3 and handed the advantage to Perez. The Mexican driver started from pole in the race.

Max Verstappen was far from deterred and started the race on the white-walled C2 tires, the hardest compound available this weekend. Everyone ahead of him was on the medium tires. Despite his slower tires, Verstappen cut through the field and inherited the lead of the race when Sergio Perez made his pit stop.

Verstappen was able to extend his opening stint before switching to medium tires on lap 45. Then, the Dutchman made a routine pass on Perez to reclaim the lead and go on to win the race with relative ease.

The Dutchman explained the reasons behind his victory in the post-race interview with former world champion Jenson Button for Sky Sports F1.

"It was a good race. I stayed out of trouble at the beginning and I just had a clean race. Picked the cars off one by one and then I could stay out really long on the hard tires and that's where I think we made the difference today. And then I had a good little battle with Checo (Sergio Perez) at the end. We all kept it clean and that's most important. Great, great win today."

Max Verstappen in action during the Miami GP

Max Verstappen also spoke about his qualifying issues and how he overcame them.

"Yesterday was, of course, a bit of a setback, but today, we just kept it calm, kept it clean and yeah, for sure winning a race from P9 is always very satisfying."

When asked who was the driving force behind the ingenious inverted strategy, Verstappen said:

"We started talking about it yesterday. We didn't know what the weather would do, but we were quite confident that this would pay off and luckily it did today."

The reigning world champion leaves Miami with 26 points for the win and the fastest lap of the race. He now has a 14-point lead over Sergio Perez in the Drivers' Championship standings.

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Max Verstappen warns FIA about changing F1's DNA amid talks of removing free practice sessions

Max Verstappen doesn't want too much tinkering with the format

Max Verstappen has warned the FIA about making too many changes to F1 after CEO Stefano Domenicali mentioned that he was not a fan of free practice sessions.

The Italian has been on record saying free practice sessions do little in terms of providing entertainment for the viewers.

The Red Bull man was vocal in defending the system in place for race weekends during an interview with motorsport.com's Italian outlet when asked to comment on the suggestion.

“I don't think [Stefano Domenicali] meant exactly that [removing free practice sessions], because obviously you can't go to qualifying without free practice. But I'm not a fan of weekends with sprints. I'm not a fan of the number of races we do nowadays.”

The Dutchman went on to add:

“I'm also not a fan of changing the whole format [without practice sessions]. They have to be careful not to change the entire DNA of Formula 1. I think it's important not to play too much with this aspect, because then, obviously, at a certain point, everything stops.”

Max Verstappen has also admitted to not being a fan of F1's decision to add too many Sprint races to the calendar. He even suggested that he may not be around for long in the sport if these trends continue.