Miami GP: Here are 5 things we learned.
Another Red Bull 1-2, but not with its share of drama. Ferrari fails to deliver, and Mercedes is now 2nd in the Constructors' Championship.
The Miami GP came and went in an instant. All the paraphernalia is bigger than the actual Grand Prix itself. A recently resurfaced track proved to be tricky for drivers during the whole weekend.
The race itself was nothing to write home about, despite this here are a few things we can gather in anticipation for the upcoming races.
1. Verstappen raced with an Ace under its sleeve.
The disastrous qualifying session Verstappen had meant that he started the race further back onto the grid, in 9th to be precise. Considering Miami is a street circuit, overtaking was going to be difficult, so Verstappen's chances were not looking great.
Despite all speculations, Max delivered a fantastic race and managed to win it with a substantial difference. He started the race on hard tires, contrary to what Pirelli recommended. Everyone at the front started on Mediums and witnessed how the Dutch overtook them without much complications.
Max was making significantly better lap times compared to the cars at the front, fitted with the softer compound. This meant that Max could pit in at a much later time, everyone else had to pit within lap 15 to 25.
By lap 15 he was already behind Perez, and managed to sort out podium contenders like Sainz or Alonso. The Dutch would not settle for second and kept is tremendous pace. He gained first position when his teammate pitted for hard tires.
2. Ferrari's degradation issues are far from over.
The Scuderia brought some floor upgrades to Miami which were meant to reduce drag. According to analysis, they gained 1 tenth of a second to Red Bull's pace. We saw a feistier prancing horse during qualifying; on Sainz's side at least, who managed to qualify on 3rd.
Leclerc suffered during the free practice sessions and crashed on FP2. During Saturday, we saw the Monegasque dubious and too calculating every time he pushed the car. Unfortunately, during Q3 he crashed into the Tec Pro wall going through a fast corner. He over stepped on the curb and lost the rear end; very similar to what happened on Friday.
Charles started the race on 7th, and with a stiff neck; the race was going to be very long for him. All hope was on Sainz who was starting 3rd, behind Alonso. Unfortunately, a fast pit entry got him a 5-second penalty and his chances for a podium gone. He was later passed by Russell, so he had to settle for 5th.
Both drivers accused tire degradation as the reason they were not able to sustain fights with cars behind, and try to overtake the ones ahead. Ferrari will bring further upgrades for Imola, in hopes of reducing degradation issues and carrying its good qualifying pace into races.
3. Alonso is Aston Martin's only hope.
During the Miami GP, Alonso raced incredibly well and was able to translate it into yet another podium finish. On the contrary, Lance Stroll finished outside the points with perhaps the second-best car in the grid.
For the time being, it seems that Fernando Alonso is the only driver that is able to get solid points finish for Aston Martin. Lance Stroll needs to start getting better results in order to secure more points.
If Aston Martin wants to secure 2nd or 3rd in the Constructors' Championship, both of its drivers will have to score points consistently. The disparity in results meant that Mercedes or Ferrari could end up passing them.
4. Mercedes quietly moved up the grid.
Mercedes managed to place Russell in 4th, and Hamilton in 6th. The team from Brackley is now 3rd in the Constructors' Championship. If they are able to keep both of its drivers scoring solid points, they will eventually overtake Aston Martin for 2nd.
Hamilton started the race with hard tires just like Verstappen. This proved to be the way to go because it helped Hamilton secure a 6th position even though he started the race in 13th place. The British champion managed the tires incredibly well and it paid off once he pitted for the softer compound.
5. Drivers don't like paraphernalia.
Many drivers did not like all the build-up and non-racing related activities during the Miami GP. Once the race was over, Perez was summoned by the stewards because he was late for the race preview. He blamed other non-racing activities with sponsors and such as the reason he was not able to be there on time.
Other drivers like Russell said that it was too distracting and that they had to stand out with the racing suits on under the scorching sun. Perhaps FOM should consider this before planning these sorts of events prior to the race.
Another cringe-worthy moment was the podium celebration. The drivers had to get into these electrical 'golf karts' to be transported to the podium platform.
Here are how things shaped up after the 2023 Miami Grand Prix:
Team standings
Driver standings
What are your thoughts on the Miami Grand Prix? Did you like the race build-up? Let me know in the comments below.
Happy racing.
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