Here’re Those Who Shone (And Those Who Didn’t) At F1's Inaugural Miami Grand Prix

Formula One’s inaugural Miami Grand Prix certainly didn’t disappoint. Off the track, we had packed crowds. On the track, the race was a slow burner, but a late race safety car spiced things up to award Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen his third win of the season. Here are the winners and losers of a scorching hot fifth round of the 2022 season:

Winners 

Red Bull Racing

After starting third on the grid and passing championship leader Charles Leclerc on lap 9 of 57, it was looking like a comfortable win for Max Verstappen. But a late-race safety car saw the Ferrari of Leclerc breathing down his neck for most of the final 10 laps. The reigning world champion soaked up all that pressure to take his third win of the season, and continue his streak of winning every race he has finished this season. In the drivers standings, Verstappen has slashed Leclerc’s lead to 19 points.

 

It was also a valiant drive from teammate Sergio Perez. The Mexican was nursing a technical issue which cost him up to 27PS for most of the race. Nevertheless, Perez applied intense pressure on Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz for third place. While he had to settle for fourth place, it was a strong result for the team. Red Bull Racing are now only six points behind Ferrari in the constructors standings.

Mercedes 

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8-time constructors champions Mercedes continue to further their stranglehold as the top of the midfield with George Russell and 7-time champion Lewis Hamilton finishing fifth and sixth. For the former, the gamble to stay out until a potential safety car greatly helped after a poor qualifying.

Alexander Albon 

It was another heroic drive from Alexander Albon, to score another points finish in ninth place for Williams Racing. Sure, he was fortunate with a spate of incidents and post-race penalties up front, but you have to be in the position to take advantage of such things. While Williams is still 10th and last in the constructors standings, they’re only three points off Aston Martin.

Valtteri Bottas

It was another fine performance for Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, as the Finn bounced back from a crash in free practice to qualify fifth. For most of the race, it looked like a comfortable fifth, but a crucial error in the final corner saw him lose place to the two Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, and had to settle for seventh place. Nevertheless, it was another consistently strong drive from Bottas who was flying the flag for the team after teammate Guanyu Zhou had an early race retirement.  

Losers

Ferrari

Ferrari looked to have started the weekend in perfect fashion, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz lining up first and second for the race. But their struggle for pace in the first stint, as well as a lack of straight line speed, cost them, as Verstappen passed Leclerc for the lead early on. Despite Leclerc’s intense attack in the final 10 laps, he couldn’t get close enough to make the pass stick and had to settle for second place. 

As for Sainz, he lost second place to Verstappen at the start and spent most of the race defending against the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez. Were it not for Perez’ technical issues, Sainz was under threat of losing third. Leclerc’s lead over Verstappen has been slashed to 19 points in the drivers standings, while Ferrari’s lead over Red Bull in the constructors standings is now just five points.

Alpine

Alpine may have the pace to be the best of the rest, but they can’t seem to be able to put a clean weekend together. A multitude of incidents for Fernando Alonso meant his eighth place finish became 11th thanks to post-race time penalties. As for teammate Esteban Ocon, a crash in FP3 meant he had to start at the back of the grid. While the Frenchman recovered to eighth place, it could’ve been a lot more.

Haas

While the only American team on the grid had a difficult qualifying, they were set for a strong points haul in the race. Unfortunately, it was a home race to forget, as a multitude of incidents with the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll saw Kevin Magnussen retire from the race. Teammate Mick Schumacher’s late-race collision with the other Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel scuppered the chance of his first points in F1, with the German finishing 15th and last of the finishers.

Aston Martin

Lance Stroll and 4-time world champion Sebastian Vettel were already on the back foot, as fuel issues meant the two had to start from the pitlane. While they were making up ground during the race, Vettel’s collision with the Haas of Mick Schumacher saw him retire from a points-paying position. Teammate Lance Stroll was fortunate enough to score a solitary point in 10th place thanks to post-race penalties.

McLaren

Things couldn’t have gone worse for the papaya squad at Miami. A collision with the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly forced him to retire from the race. Teammate Daniel Ricciardo didn’t fare much better, as he finished a lowly 13th.

AlphaTauri 

While Red Bull Racing celebrated victory, its sister team AlphaTauri had the complete opposite of fortunes. An incident with the Alpine of Fernando Alonso saw Pierre Gasly slowly drop down the field with damage, and it finally came to a head when he collided with the McLaren of Lando Norris, forcing him to retire from the race. Tyre-wear issues for teammate Yuki Tsunoda saw him finish a lowly 12th at the chequered flag.

There’ll be another week’s break before Formula One heads to Barcelona, Spain for the sixth round of the season. It is scheduled to run from May 20-22.