Formula One Vault

PRIXVIEW – Miami Grand Prix

Round six takes F1 across the Pacific Ocean and the continental United States to the Sunshine State of Florida on the Atlantic Coast for the Miami Grand Prix. The first of three trips to the United States see the sport come to a 3.363-mile circuit around the Hard Rock Stadium, while not on public roads the circuit is classed as a street circuit.

The nineteen-corner circuit was a result of seventy-five designs and thirty-six simulations, the designer wanted to create a circuit which maximised the space and creates opportunities for overtaking. However, despite those simulations, the racing at the front hasn’t been as close but that could be down to the domination by Max Verstappen.

Miami held its first Grand Prix almost a century ago in 1926, this being the fourth alteration of the Grand Prix previously being the CART IndyCar World Series and an Indy Racing League in 1980s until 2010.

The race can be traced back to the pre-war era and has been used as a title for many different series over the last century, including F1’s predecessor Grand Prix racing in the 1920s and 1930s, although organised not by what became the FIA.

The first Grand Prix was a non-championship round of the pre-war AAA Contest Board, the American version of the Grand Prix racing which later evolved into F1. It was intended to be the winter home for motorsport but it was more an American-style banked oval circuit. Only one race was held won by Peter DePalo. Grand Am would also use the title as a support race between 1998 and 2012, all these races taking place on different circuits in Miami.

Miami also held Formula E in 2015, before the plans for F1 began to come together for 2022.

The circuit is a tricky given it’s one where you need to balance risk versus reward, its design was a result of seventy-five designs and thirty-six simulations, the designer wanted to create a circuit which maximised the space and created opportunities for overtaking. A temporary circuit, and does not use any public streets that are located around Hard Rock Stadium, though it does cross public roads. Each year and a few weeks before the race weekend, the circuit and its safety features are assembled just for the race weekend.

Drivers appeared to enjoy this circuit and we saw plenty of action through qualifying and the race last year. There are three main straights followed by herd-breaking zones, the circuit often being the main opportunities for overtaking are at the end of the two straights which are hard braking.

However, being a street circuit, the usual caveats apply there the high chances of safety cars, red flags and yellow flags meaning the normal strategy variations. But this to me felt like a go-kart circuit but one of very high spec, we are beginning to see come almost the standard in the sport.

This appears as its another circuit with its long straights and technical corners which will again suit Red Bull. It was at this race last season where Verstappen would begin a run which would see him win ten races and set a record of ten Grand Prix wins in a row, plus the sprints in Spielberg and Spa.

It’s a strange mix a bit like Albert Park, but the circuit doesn’t use public roads in the area rather the car parks of the Hard Rock Stadium.

The first race in 2022 saw Charles Leclerc beat his teammate Carlos Sainz to pole by two tenths with the Monacan topping all three parts of qualifying. Max Verstappen looked to have the edge going onto the final runs, however, couldn’t repeat the form he had shown earlier in the session, before making a mistake on the final lap leaving him almost two-tenths behind his rival.

Verstappen went onto take victory by four seconds after passing the Ferrari, he dominated the race and would have probably won by eight seconds but in the final quarter of the race Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris crashed.

Sainz recovered from his difficult start to the weekend to finish third seven-tenths behind. The Spaniard managed to hold on to third despite coming under pressure from Sergio Perez, who tried to use the advantage of switching to new medium tyres to pass the second Ferrari.

Race & Circuit Guide

Fast facts

• The very first Grand Prix of Miami took place in 1926. It was held on a board track – a banked oval course, the surface of which was made up of wooden planks.
• F1’s first visit to the third-most populous state in the USA came in 1959 when Sebring International Raceway hosted the first World Championship United States Grand Prix.
• The winner of the inaugural Grand Prix of Miami, held in 1926, was Pete DePaolo. DePaolo had won the Indianapolis 500 one year previously. He went on to sing “Back Home Again in Indiana” as part of the pre-race traditions before the start of the 1971 Indianapolis 500.
• If Logan Sargeant scores it would be his first points at his home race as is from Fort Lauderdale thirty miles up the coast. Though he did score in Austin last year.

Sprint Format

Friday

• lunchtime sixty minutes of free practice
• Late afternoon sprint qualifying
  • SQ1 twelve minutes with the bottom five cars being knocked out
  • SQ2 ten minutes with the bottom five cars being knocked out
  • SQ3 eight minutes with the top ten fighting for pole

Saturday

• Morning 100km + 1 lap sprint in 19 laps
• Saturday afternoon Grand Prix qualifying
  • Q1 eighteen minutes with the bottom five cars being knocked out
  • Q2 fifteen minutes with the bottom five cars being knocked out
  • Q3 twelve minutes with the top ten fighting for pole

Sunday

• afternoon the Grand Prix 300km + 1 lap in Miami fifty-seven laps or three hours

Event timetable

What happened in 2023?

Sergio Perez beat Fernando Alonso to pole setting his fastest time on the penultimate run in Q3 as the final runs had to be abandoned after Charles Leclerc crashed bringing out the red flag. Max Verstappen had aborted his first attempt, the one which would decide pole, after going off at Lot Five.

Leclerc’s second mistake of the weekend through the same section of track, showing he couldn’t bounce back like Perez. Carlos Sainz was third half a second off pole and ahead of the Haas of Kevin Magnussen, who put in a decent performance to go fourth. Logan Sargeant was slowest, the Floridan going nearly a tenth behind Piastri ahead of his home Grand Prix.

Verstappen craved his way through the field thanks to a long opening stint and not stopping until way into the final quarter of the race and passing Perez with eleven laps to go. For a long period the race seemed set for a grandstand finish as the margin remained around sixteen seconds, four seconds less than the time Verstappen would need to complete his pit stop.

Verstappen would go on to dominate the European season over the next twelve races and would not be beaten for four months. Fernando Alonso third, twenty seconds behind Perez. The Spaniard continued his superb season for Aston Martin to take his fourth podium finish in five races with an outstanding performance of his own. The veteran two-time champion stayed impressively close to Perez in the first stint while holding off Sainz.

What to watch for?

Max Verstappen goes into this weekend as the driver to beat, he has won the last two races in Miami and the continuing dominance by Red Bull makes that highly likely to continue this weekend. The circuit I feel is one which is quite difficult to overtake, as it’s a tight circuit and that can make overtaking more difficult. But it’s not impossible, I do feel this is the worst street circuit of recent years.

As always at street circuits the watchword is communication, I feel this is more a Monaco than Baku, which means there is a chance of mistakes and thus safety cars or red flags. Qualifying has in my view been really tight that means very busy sessions and the track will just get faster and faster during the weekend.

However, despite that, last year’s race featured no retirements but I feel given the type of circuit that is unlikely to happen two years in a row. We also have the sprint to mix things up and there is no guarantees as shown by Lewis Hamilton in Shanghai, if you do well in the sprint qualifying and race you will do well in the Grand Prix.

Red Bull have such a big advantage now I think that will make them the favourites once again, but because of the reasons above they can’t take that for granted. Also, at the last circuit like this they had a difficult weekend and Verstappen, though he retired from that race never looked comfortable that weekend and that opened the door for Ferrari and Carlos Sainz to take victory.

Ferrari, I believe now are the leader of the chasing pack, as we saw in Shanghai they aren’t perfect whether the tyre performance issues were a circuit-specific issue or just a thing they’ve not had but will be an issue at high-speed circuits we should get answers this weekend. I think they could be heading into no mans land, behind Red Bull and ahead of the rest of the grid.

Mercedes and McLaren I feel is a battle we could see all season, though it looks as if McLaren are slightly ahead and could be punching a little more than Mercedes at the moment. I think McLaren are the team which are delivering and Lando Norris has been able to take second and beat Ferrari and was on course for a sprint win in Shanghai.

Logan Sargeant needs and will want a decent weekend at his home race, I think he needs to be fighting for points but that could be hard given Williams’s performance and the fact they might still be on the back foot after the chassis written off in Melbourne.

2023 vs 2022 Race Data

2023 Lap time comparison

Tyres