The 2023 F1 season made a quick trip to the United States for a race around a football stadium and our summary covers the 2023 Miami Grand Prix Result for the big event.
This 2023 Miami Grand Prix Result, Lap by Lap, Review & Summary gives you just enough to catch up with. With just a hint of cynicism, bias, opinion and colour. The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered, or don’t have enough time.
And to see how close our bold predictions were – look back on our 2023 Australian Grand Prix Preview.
READ MORE:
2023 Miami Grand Prix Preview
2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Review
2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Ratings
Our 2023 F1 Calendar & Results
2023 Miami Grand Prix Result Main Race Summary
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Well here are the top laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.
Setting the scene – Charles Leclerc inadvertently spiced up the race by spinning into the barriers in qualifying, helped by the fact that Max Verstappen and himself stuffed their first laps too we have a mixed up grid. Sergio Perez (1st), Fernando Alono (2nd) and Kevin Magnussen (4th) the big winners. Come Sunday and an overnight shower has washed away all the rubber making the track surface all new to the drivers, and throw in a decent breeze and the conditions could be tricky, especially off line. Which is not great for overtaking…..Off track the race had the usual awkward Martin Brundle gridwalk, which was livened up by Jackie Stewart being chased by security, sort of. The over-the-top driver introductions by LL Cool J and WIll I Am conducting an orchestra was way over the top and so Miami Grand Prix. After caning this race in our prix-view we are hoping this race has some real excitement waiting…….
GRID (Starting Order) – PER ALO SAI MAG GAS RUS LEC OCO VER BOT
Lap 1 – Perez gets away well, Alonso well enough, and everyone behaves themselves into the first corner. Probably still gobsmacked at the pre-race entertainment. Gasly jumps into fourth, Magnussen falls backs, Leclerc is up a place and Max Verstappen finishes the first lap in 9th, where he started. Like a lot of Hollywood, Logan Sargeant pits at the end of the first lap for a new nose. A bit of a dull first lap, which is mildly disappointing.
ORDER – PER ALO SAI GAS RUS LEC MAG BOT VER OCO
Lap 3 – Kevin Magnussen overtakes Charles Leclerc for 6th, which is surprising, but then Leclerc overtakes him back which isn;t surprising. Lurking behind is Max Verstappen, and the cars go three wide into the pit straight and the Red Bull overtakes two cars at once to steal 6th. Super racing. Leclerc the loser as he falls to 8th and still behind Magnussen.
Lap 5 – The TV coverage shows replays of the start, and then you realise that Lewis Hamilton is in this race. He is currently outside the top ten in 13th and unhappy with his car after a little clash on the first lap. The McLarens have pit for new tyres, which puts them towards the back, where they will probably finish.
Lap 7 – Quick check at the front, and Sergio Perez is doing it pretty easy. Fernando Alonso is being harried a little by Carlos Sainz. Max Verstappen is on George Russell’s tail for 5th and is only a handful of seconds behind his leading tea mate.
ORDER – PER ALO SAI GAS RUS VER MAG LEC OCO BOT
Lap 9 – With DRS in full flow, Max Verstappen takes George Russell for 5th. Gasly not far ahead and Max gets him at the end of lap nine. Fernando Alonso’s Saturday prediction of being overtaken by Verstappen on Lap 25 may have been too conservative. George Russel also demotes Pierre Gasly a few corners later.
ORDER – PER ALO SAI VER RUS GAS MAG LEC OCO BOT
Lap 12 – Frustrated faster drivers watch now – Charles Leclerc can’t get past Kevin Magnussen for 7th, and he’d better watch out as Esteban Ocon behind him looks keen to pass them both. Lewis Hamilton meanwhile is still 13th, stuck behind a Bottas bus whose passengers include Nico Hulkenberg, Alex Albon, Yuki Tsunoda, and Guanyu Zhou. Entertainingly, the Magnussen Maxi Taxi is slowly falling back towards the Bottas bus, and F1 gridlock could be coming. Na, Kevin Magnussen pits on lap 15. Lewis Hamilton finally gains a place on lap 16, overtaking Alex Albon.
Lap 14 – Max Verstappen is up to third, cruising pass Carlos Sainz into the hairpin at the end of the lap. Too easy, that car is so fast. Alonso is next and that won’t take long.
Lap 15 – Max Verstappen takes Alonso for second a lap later, so not the lap 25 Fernando predicted, and probably hoped for. Sergio Perez is 3.6 seconds up the road. Let’s see just a little hate between the two Red Bull drivers for our entertainment. For interest Perez is on a Medium tyre and Max the hard one. So maybe Perez’s tyres will go off soon, but Max can’t pit too early. Pitstops for the other top ten cars starting to ramp up, so we’ll see how the order shapes up soon.
Lap 20 – Carlos Sainz, on new tyres after his pitstop, overtakes Lewis Hamilton for 6th. He pit from 4th when right on Alonso’s tail. Although a few laps later comes the message he is being investigated for speeding in the pit lane, that rarely doesn’t end in a penalty, so he has hurt himself badly there.
Lap 21 – Sergio Perez pits for new tyres, he rejoins in 4th, behind Ocon but in front of Carlos Sainz who just overtook Nico Hulkenberg for 5th. Perez gets past Ocon a lap later with ease. He is 13 seconds behind his team mate after the move.
Lap 25 – For any US fans we may have, an update for their driver Logan Sargeant. He is 20th and last and 24 seconds behind second last. For our Australian fans, Oscar Piastri is only one position better. McLarens and Australians simply don’t mix.
Time for an order further ahead now that most of the pit stops of the leading cars have been done. Not Max Verstappen in first though nor Esteban Ocon in third.
ORDER – VER PER OCO SAI ALO HAM HUL RUS TSU GAS
Lap 27 – Alonso overtakes his compatriot Sainz for a net third. Alonso takes Ocon two laps later for actual third.
Lap 29 – The Red Bulls are 16 seconds apart, with Max trying to push out a margin to be able to keep first after the pit stop. But he will pit for new medium tyres, so even if he falls behind Perez it won’t take long to overtake as Perez’s tyres will be used hard ones. Unless they clash, which will be fun for this race and the season. By lap 31 Perez has gained a second and a half. Max is told he can start to push by his team. By lap 33 the gap has extended between the pair.
Lap 34 – A bunch of cars racing for 9th including Nico Hulkenberg, Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, Kevin Magnussen and Charles Leclerc in 12th. This race ain’t working out for him.
Lap 36 – The gap between the two Red Bulls remains static, which is some effort from Max Verstappen on 36 lap-old hard tyres. And it is at this point where we realise there have been no DNFs yet. Those first retirement gamblers are getting good show for coin today.
Lap 38 – George Russell looking kind of speedy, overtaking Carlos Sainz for fourth. Alonso is five second up the road.
Lap 39 – Charles Leclerc and Kevin Magnussen swap places a few times, and Leclerc finally stays in front. For 9th. Not forgetting earlier in the race where the now-race leading Verstappen overtook them both in one move.
Lap 40 – Sergio Perez falling further behind Max Verstappen, meaning Max will probably be able to pit and not lose the lead.
Lap 43 – With only Max Verstappen the only car not to have pit, it’s time for an order.
ORDER – VER PER ALO RUS SAI GAS LEC MAG HAM OCO
Lap 46 – Max Verstappen pits from first, and he does fall behind his team mate Perez. They are just two seconds apart.
Lap 48 – Max Verstappen overtakes Sergio Perez for the lead. He tries down the back straight on lap 47 but Sergio Perez blocks him well enough. Not long after Max tries down the pit straight and gets past. Perez makes him work for it through first and second turns but Max is long gone a few corners later.
Lap 54 – The joust for first is sorted, all that remains are the cars who have disappointed this weekend – Leclerc, Hamilton, Gasly in a mini battle. Hamilton gets by Leclerc the next lap.
Last lap – Max Verstappen cruises to the win, with his team mate 5 second behind. Alonso is 20 seconds further down the road, proving that Red Bull is just too good.
FINAL ORDER – VER PER ALO RUS SAI HAM LEC GAS OCO MAG
| Pos | Drivers | Grid | Time |
| 1 | Max VERSTAPPEN | 9 | 57 Laps |
| 2 | Sergio PEREZ | 1 | + 5.384 |
| 3 | Fernando ALONSO | 2 | + 26.305 |
| 4 | George RUSSELL | 6 | + 33.229 |
| 5 | Carlos SAINZ | 3 | + 47.511 |
| 6 | Lewis HAMILTON | 13 | + 51.249 |
| 7 | Charles LECLERC | 7 | + 52.988 |
| 8 | Pierre GASLY | 5 | + 55.67 |
| 9 | Esteban OCON | 8 | + 58.123 |
| 10 | Kevin Magnussen | 4 | + 1m 03 secs |
| 11 | Yuki TSUNODA | 17 | + 1m 04 secs |
| 12 | Lance STROLL | 18 | + 1m 05 secs |
| 13 | Valtteri BOTTAS | 10 | + 1m 11 secs |
| 14 | Alexander Albon | 11 | + 1m 13 secs |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | 12 | + 1m 15 secs |
| 16 | Guanyu Zhou | 14 | + 1m 18 secs |
| 17 | Lando NORRIS | 16 | + 1m 27 secs |
| 18 | Nyck de Vries | 15 | + 1m 28 secs |
| 19 | Oscar Piastri | 19 | + 1 lap |
| 20 | Logan Sargeant | 20 | + 1 lap |
Here we go through the field and highlight the very best (Great) of the race, and the plodders, the over-ambitious, the out of luck, and simply hopeless (Grape).
These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. Five points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 /-2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.
THE GREAT-EST – MAX VERSTAPPEN
Caught out in qualifying by a poor first lap in Q3 and Leclerc’s crash, but carved through the field with ease. Found his way to the front easy enough, then kept his team mate at bay on harder, older tyres.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
FERNANDO ALONSO – Another heroic best of the rest performance.
GEORGE RUSSELL – Solid fourth position, and some good racing after his pitstop put him behind slower cars. Including his team mate.
KEVIN MAGNUSSEN – Fourth in qualifying and a point on race day is a good end result.
THE GRAPE-EST – CHARLES LECLERC
Rubbish weekend for Charles Leclerc. Street track specialist looked to potentially cause msichief in qualifying but spun into the barrier. Then spent a large chunk of the race behind the Haas of Kevin Magnussen around the edges of the top ten. A truly poor weekend.
DIS-HONOURABLE MENTIONS
LEWIS HAMILTON – Ended up in the points but tough going for long periods of the race. Seemed to be in 13th for a good half of the race. Good late overtaking made up for some of it. But still not where he wants to be.
CARLOS SAINZ – Could have been best of the rest, but underwhelmed. Under big pressure for his Ferrari seat you’d imagine.
SERGIO PEREZ – Harsh for taking pole and finishing second? The manner of the defeat to his team mate will hurt. Lost an opportunity given he started the race first and Verstappen 9th. Could have taken lead in Championship.
MCLAREN – Another terrible weekend. Lack of retirement means their positions are worse than usual in 17th and 19th.. Lando Norris must be sniffing out a change of scenery.
LOGAN SARGEANT – Dead last and well off the pace of second last. Which was only a McLaren.
Was it a good race, loads of action, tense, or just a big, fat, snooze-fest.
We rate the big race itself so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.
Note: this is for the combined races.
SEASON IMPORTANCE – 6 / 10
Another season defining display of Red Bull dominance as it appears it is merely the order of the two driver to be sorted out in 2023, and today’s race hints that it will be Max’s season.
ON TRACK ACTION – 8/10
Plenty of good overtaking throughout the field, which is a good effort on such a tight track. DRS balance seemed about right, and the mixed up grid did help.
ENDING 6 / 10
A pass for the lead, which was inevitable enough, but exciting for a lap or so.
OVERALL RATING 20 / 30
No rain, but no problem. A decent race helped by a mixed up grid. A magnificent driver from Max Verstappen. Some good racing up and down the grid, and a battle for the lead, of sorts.
2023 SEASON RATINGS SO FAR
Want to know what we thought of previous races? Or which ones to to back and watch?
R1 – Bahrain Grand Prix –
R2 – Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – 10/30
R3 – Australian Grand Prix – 23/30
R4 – Azerbaijan Grand Prix – 8/30
2023 F1 Season Power Rankings
Stay tuned for our Power Rankings from the race soon as it is currently being calculated and will be ready on Monday.
Who not check out last season: Our 2022 F1 Season Driver Ratings
