Miami Grand Prix: The Hits/Misses according to the editorial team

The tops

Max Verstappen, a race in full control.

The reigning world champion had a perfectly successful first race in Miami. Despite starting from the second row, he managed to be patient until taking the lead of the Grand Prix and winning. However, his weekend wasn’t flawless. The Dutch driver had to skip the second free practice session on Friday due to a power steering problem. But the next day, it was clear that he was going to be a contender in the race. In fact, Verstappen was close to snatching the pole position from the Ferraris, but a slight mistake in the first sector prevented him from doing so. His perfect start on Sunday allowed him to easily pass Sainz’s Ferrari. And on the ninth of the fifty-seven laps, the Red Bull driver overtook his rival Charles Leclerc to claim his twenty-third victory in F1. This success brings him back to within 19 points of the Monegasque driver in the championship.

George Russell, always so consistent.

Fourth in Sakhir, fifth in Jeddah, third in Melbourne, fourth in Imola, fifth in Miami. George Russell is simply the most consistent driver on the grid since the beginning of the season. However, nothing seemed destined for the British driver to continue his streak of Top 5 finishes after his twelfth place in qualifying. Six positions behind his teammate, Russell had to work hard to catch up to the seven-time world champion. He certainly benefited from the deployment of the safety car to minimize the time lost during his pit stop. But he also showed vision in his strategy, as it was him who asked his team to extend his first stint to take advantage of any incidents that might occur. And that’s exactly what happened. The Mercedes driver then managed to surpass both Valtteri Bottas’ and Lewis Hamilton’s cars to finish as the best of the rest.

Esteban Ocon, the fantastic comeback.

Finally ninth after the double penalty given to Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon could very well have been in third place in this Top. But it is Esteban Ocon that we have chosen to honor following his magnificent comeback from the back of the grid to the eighth place points. Like Russell, the Alpine driver has perfectly benefited from the race circumstances. Starting on hard tires, the Frenchman had a long first stint with a good pace to immediately enter the Top 10 when the safety car came out. Choosing this moment in the race to pit, he switched to soft tires for a sprint of about ten laps. The collision between Mick Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel allowed him to gain more positions, and Ocon crossed the finish line in ninth place. A position that was transformed into eighth place after his teammate’s penalty. With four point finishes in five races, the Normandy native’s performance is impressive at the start of the year.

The FLOPS

AlphaTauri, both bad luck and disappointment.

How far is the time when the Faenza team fought for fifth place in the championship! In Miami, the blue and white cars had varying fortunes that resulted in an retirement and a position outside the points. Pierre Gasly had a good start to his weekend in Florida. Ranked seventh on the starting grid, his best result of the year, the French driver was involved in two collisions. First with Fernando Alonso during an overly ambitious overtaking attempt by the Alpine driver, and then with Lando Norris where the blame is more evenly shared. As for Yuki Tsunoda, he struggled to get his tires up to temperature throughout the race. Battling at the back of the pack, he only owes his twelfth place finish to the race circumstances. With 16 points after five Grand Prix races, AlphaTauri is far from its ambitions at the start of the season.

Mick Schumacher, still struggling.

Mick Schumacher had the right cards in hand to score his first points in Miami. With a good first stint, Michael’s son engaged in some nice battles in the midfield and held his own against his teammate. In a fight with the Aston Martins towards the end of the race to break into the Top 10, the Haas driver collided with one of his mentors, Sebastian Vettel, and ultimately finished in 15th place. Still stuck with zero points, the German needs to do more to help his team compete in the championship. Without that, doubt will creep in for Schumacher, and his future may become uncertain.

Fernando Alonso, expensive mistakes

We grant you, it is difficult and a bit painful to place the double Spanish world champion among the Flops of a Grand Prix. The Alpine driver had a good start to the race and was on track to score points for the second time this season. However, Alonso ultimately delivered a messy performance. Right from the start, a slight collision with Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes could have cost him dearly. A reckless attack on Pierre Gasly led to a first five-second penalty. Finally, while he was in ninth place, a second penalty for overtaking off-track definitively took him out of the points. With only two points on the board after five Grand Prix races, Alonso is sixteenth in the championship, twenty-two points behind his teammate Esteban Ocon.