There was a lot of buzz surrounding the inaugural Miami GP; music, acting and sports stars found their way to the paddock to support drivers who were to brave the brand new street circuit which had hints of the vibes at Monaco with the yachts by the track. Ted Kravitz even passed on some information beside mermaids during the weekend.
Race weekend review
Coming off the back of a win at Imola, Max Verstappen had momentum on his side. But Charles Leclerc was looking to extend his championship lead in front of the American crowd, while Carlos Sainz looked to change his fortune after two DNFs in a row.
Mercedes luck seemed to have turned with what seemed like good starts in practise, new upgrades featured on the car. Verstappen’s car slightly had contact with the wall which left him with little involvement during the session as he spent most of it in the garage. Leclerc finished the session on top, closely followed by Russell.
Swapping it around in FP2, Russell topped the charts, ahead of Leclerc and Perez. The session was filled with plenty of incidents including a spin from Sergio Perez, a crash from Carlos Sainz, and a hydraulic issue for Max Verstappen.
It was Sergio Perez who was P1 in the final practice session, followed by Leclerc and his teammate Verstappen who finally had a decent session. Impressive laps set by Alonso, Vettel and Schumacher saw them in 4th, 5th and 6th. With a good FP2 result, Albon once again impressed in FP3 with ninth place in the Williams. It was not a great session for Mercedes, who struggled in 15th and 17th. A red flag for a big crash at Turn 14 for Ocon saw his session end prematurely.
Another pole position saw Leclerc tie with Vettel on pole positions for Ferrari and also meant that he had been on the front row for every race so far this season. Carlos Sainz made it a Ferrari 1-2 and Max Verstappen could only get third place in his hunt for the championship after an error on his final flying lap.
Sergio Perez was 4th, followed by Bottas in 5th with a strong performance after a new power unit and Lewis Hamilton in 6th. 7th, 8th and 9th were occupied by Gasly, Norris and Tsunoda, a good session for the AlphaTauri after a rough weekend in Imola. Lance Stroll filled up the last position in the top 10, a good result for the Canadian.
Out in Q2 was: Alonso, Russell, Vettel, Ricciardo and Schumacher.
Out in Q1: Magnussen, Zhou, Albon and Latifi (Ocon did not take part in qualifying after his crash in FP3, he was to start at the back of the grid)
Race Report
Small spells of rain before the race looked like it might disrupt the good weather conditions seen throughout the weekend but the track was all dry with the sun in the sky just before lights out.
Issues with fuel temperatures for Aston Martin saw both drivers start in the pit lane, an unfortunate position to find themselves in as both drivers had somewhat decent qualifying results. (10th & 13th)
A good start for Leclerc saw him keep his lead at the start, but an even better start for Verstappen saw him snatch P2 from Carlos Sainz into the first corner.
Verstappen, after keeping quite close to Leclerc since the start, overtook the Monegasque for the lead of the race on the DRS straight on lap 9.
A lot of entertainment came from the lower half of the grid throughout the race, with DRS trains keeping many drivers close together. The battle between the two Aston Martins, the two Haas’ and Lando Norris brought anticipating moments on the screen. Magnussen and Norris who had gone to pit were stuck behind the Aston Martins who were doing long stints on hard tyres, effectively losing out many places.
On lap 42, Pierre Gasly began struggling with his car, unable to keep it on track. When he rejoined, he made contact with Lando Norris’ left rear tyre, taking the McLaren driver out of the race ( Gasly later retired with an issue) and bringing out a virtual safety car before eventually the full safety car was deployed.
Some drivers made use of this opportunity, George Russell who hadn’t pitted because he started on hard tyres dived into the pits, the strategy to wait on a safety car going according to plan.
Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon, Sergio Perez and Kevin Magnussen also pitted, before Sebastian Vettel followed soon after.
The race concluded with a lot of chaos, the stewards investigating incident after incident:
An incident involving Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher saw Vettel retire and Schumacher place last after both were on course for some points for their teams.
Kevin Magnussen was caught in a tangle with Lance Stroll for which he later received a time penalty for (causing a collision).
Daniel Riccardo was also penalised for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, dropping him to P13.
Fernando Alonso was given two five second penalties: one incident involving Gasly and another for weaving on the straights twice. Dropping him out of a points scoring finish.
It almost seemed that there was an opportunity for Perez to put pressure on the top three with a fresh set of new medium tyres but it wasn’t to be as Carlos Sainz put in a great defence to keep his P3.
Charles Leclerc took advantage of the gap that had now closed down between him and the race leader Verstappen, piling pressure on the reigning world champion in the aims to snatch away the victory. But Verstappen kept his cool all the way to the finish line to become the Miami GP’s first winner, meaning that he maintained his current streak of winning ever race he completed in the 2022 campaign. The gap to Leclerc in the championship is 19 points as he also claimed a point for fastest lap.
P2 and P3 for Ferrari meant that they continue to lead the constructors’ championship as well, a good day for Carlos Sainz as he looks to put his misfortune in the past.
Sergio Perez finished P4 as he was unable to overtake Sainz.
Russell had a nice battle with his teammate Lewis Hamilton for fifth place before staying ahead of him with his fresher tyres, keeping his streak of finishing in the top five every race.
Not the best weekend for McLaren as Norris DNF’d and Ricciardo was hit with a five second penalty towards the end of the race for an incident
AlphaTauri also had a weekend to forget with Gasly retiring and Tsunoda finishing outside the points in P13 ending the race on soft tyres, a risk which did not pay off.
Alfa Romeo had some positives from the weekend as Bottas continued his great start to the season with a P8, but unfortunately the positivity did not extend to the other side of the garage when Zhou Guanyu retired in the early stages of the race.
Aston Martin saw Stroll claim a single point when he was bumped up into the top ten after Alonso’s penalty. Vettel, who had a pit-lane start like Stroll was effectively on course for 8th place, retired after his incident with Mick Schumacher.
A great redemption story for Ocon after being unable to participate in qualifying saw him go from P20 to P8 among all over the concluding madness. Alonso finished outside the top ten after both penalties were applied, he placed 12th.
Alex Albon’s brilliant run with Williams continues as he clinched two points for his team, a superb drive from him. Latifi ended up in 14th place, a pretty uneventful race for him.
Haas would definitely like to put this weekend in the past with Magneussen retiring and Schumacher in last place.
It’s the Spanish GP next up on the calendar, where Leclerc will look to bounce back and take the reign of his championship lead. Make sure to stay up to date on all of the latest news inside the paddock by following The Fastest Sector on social media!
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