The Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix looked a bit more executed and planned than its first year on the calendar and that’s a good thing. A few track corrections like a re-profiled corner and all-new asphalt for the entire circuit. They even cordoned off the escalator so ted Kravitz couldn’t do dangerous antics on it again.
The race was going to be a Red Bull win but which driver would it be? Pole-sitter Sergio Perez or his teammate, Max Verstappen? In the end, Max put in a very impressive run from 9th to victory with a series of very fast laps on Hard compounds to minimize the delta on his final stop.
With fresh Medium tires, Max hunted down Sergio to make the pass for the lead and the win. Max and Sergio were followed home by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso with Mercedes driver George Russel in 4th. IT is interesting that the Mediums were graining for Sergio and the Hard was the tire to be on but with Max running so deep, it left a handful of laps left for Mediums and avoid the graining. A great strategy call by the team.
Win
WinA big win for Max Verstappen who started 9th and put in some terrific laps on his Hard compound tires to ensure that once he did stop for fresh Medium’s, he would only be 1.5s behind Perez but with much quicker tires. Max also managed to ensure his teammate didn’t take the fastest lap point so a maximum haul for the world champ. A win for Sergio for a very good drive to 2nd and while you could argue he started on the wrong tire, all the cars around him started on Mediums so he would have been a sitting duck on the first stint. His run to 2nd was very good, Max’s recovery drive was even better.
A win for Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who secured his 4th podium finish in five races in 2023. He ran long on his first stint and I wasn’t sure that was going to work but he must have been pushing hard on the in-lap’s and ensured he had the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz covered.
A win for Mercedes driver George Russell who managed 4th and on a weekend that the team was really struggling, as evidenced by Lewis Hamilton’s struggles down in 6th, it was actually better than I expected so good on George for dragging that car around Miami by the scruff of the neck.
You could perhaps argue that it was a win for Alpine to get both cars in the points and that’s good but after a scathing review from CEO Laurent Rossi, it’s hard to consider 8th and 9th for Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon respectively a good result.
A good point and some great racing from Kevin Magnussen to bring home 10th place with the team boss, Gene Haas, at the track.
Fail
FailA fail for Ferrari with a 5s penalty for Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc’s struggles beginning with two crashes over the weekend that left him starting down the field where he sank even further until recovering to P7. Where their pace evaporated to from Friday is hard to pin down but there is a good chance the tires and heat were very much a part of it.
A fail for Lance Stroll who struggled this weekend to find the pace his teammate Fernando had and he was relegated to P12 but I’ve not heard why yet so we’ll discuss that on the race review podcast.
A fail for McLaren who struggled all weekend for pace despite some upgrades. A 17th and 19th for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri respectively is a very difficult result to stomach and it puts a lot of weight on the major upgrades later this season.
Not a good day for Alpha Tauri or Alfa Romeo as both teams were out of the points.
WTH
WTHNot sure how Ferrari solves their tire issues but they had that issue last year and it’s unfortunate they haven’t solved it.
As we’ve mentioned on the podcast, the unforced errors from Charles Leclerc has given me some major concern and with two crashes this weekend has solidified my concern that he is going to be seen as a bit of a liability at Ferrari with all the broken bits and seemingly not grasping where the limit is on his car. That’s easy for me to say but it does seem that he pushes beyond the limit and he’s been in the series long enough to not be struggling with that.
The driver announcement ceremony was odd and way too long but the grand prix seemed a little more orchestrated and smooth running than their first year so that’s really good.
Best moment, Sir Jackie Stewart pushing his way into the VIP area to get Roger Federer for an interview with Martin Brundle. Like a boss!
Pirelli’s Tyre Story:
|
| POS | DRIVER | TIME/RETIRED | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:27:38.241 | 0 | |
| 2 | +5.384s | 0 | |
| 3 | +26.305s | 0 | |
| 4 | +33.229s | 0 | |
| 5 | +42.511s | 0 | |
| 6 | +51.249s | 0 | |
| 7 | +52.988s | 0 | |
| 8 | +55.670s | 0 | |
| 9 | +58.123s | 0 | |
| 10 | +62.945s | 0 | |
| 11 | +64.309s | 0 | |
| 12 | +64.754s | 0 | |
| 13 | +71.637s | 0 | |
| 14 | +72.861s | 0 | |
| 15 | +74.950s | 0 | |
| 16 | +78.440s | 0 | |
| 17 | +87.717s | 0 | |
| 18 | +88.949s | 0 | |
| 19 | +1 lap | 0 | |
| 20 | +1 lap | 0 |
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With the struggles that McLaren continue to have this year, Danny Ric leaving the team doesn’t seem like such a bad thing now. Glad he’s out of that disaster.
LOL…zing!
Imagine Piastri though, after fighting like a demon to get out of his Alpine contract.
I adore the city of Miami for all it is, but the prerace stuff on ABC had me reflecting on having given three years and two children to the Army to protect our way of life. Yikes. I think you’re being tough on Charles, a couple years ago Max looked like a nut who overpushed his car now he looks like a patient zen master. Lewis has been through the same stages. When they’re in a car that will do the job they drive it. When they’re not they overdrive it because it’s their only chance. I respectfully disagree that… Read more »
I agree with you on Charles and it took Max longer to get his race craft dialed in compared to some other drivers like Fernando, Lewis, Vettel etc. However, Charles has been here quite a while now and I would have thought he would have gotten on top of this by now. He’s been driving in anger since 2018 in F1. To be fair, Max started in 2015 and came on song in about 5 years or so and maybe it’s just about time Charles hits his stride. Dunno.
The funniest thing was when Perez asked if Max’s tyres were going off!