Although Qualifying left him with plenty to do, Max Verstappen made the alternative strategy work to win the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, with polesitter Sergio Perez coming home second and Fernando Alonso third.
George Russell salvaged fourth for Mercedes ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who picked up a five-second penalty for speeding in the pits, and Lewis Hamilton came home sixth after starting in 13th.
Team errors such as a slow pit stop or poor strategy do not affect our ratings as they are no fault of the drivers. Instead, our ratings solely look at how well the drivers got on throughout the weekend in Miami.
2023 Miami GP Driver Ratings
Max Verstappen 8.5/10
Started: 9th – Finished: 1st
Verstappen had full control of proceedings until a sloppy mistake in Qualifying left him down in ninth. Nonetheless, he made up for it with a storming drive on hards.
Sergio Perez 8/10
Started: 1st – Finished: 2nd
Confidence was lacking during the weekend, but Perez gave himself a great chance of winning with pole position. However, despite a solid first stint, Verstappen was just too strong.
Fernando Alonso 8/10
Started: 2nd – Finished: 3rd
An unexpected podium for Alonso, who surprised many with a front-row start before running his race, securing his first podium in America since winning the 2019 Daytona 24 Hours.
George Russell 7.5/10
Started: 6th – Finished: 4th
Solid weekend’s work for Russell, enjoying a fine race which secured him more good points on what was a tricky circuit for Mercedes.
Carlos Sainz 6.5/10
Started: 3rd – Finished: 5th
After suffering confidence issues in Baku, Sainz picked up decent points but was lucky not to lose too much ground after picking up a five-second penalty for speeding before his first stop.
Lewis Hamilton 6.5/10
Started: 13th – Finished: 6th
Hamilton had been downbeat as Mercedes struggled for pace and grip. However, following a sluggish first stint, he picked off Gasly and Leclerc in the final laps to ease the pain of Qualifying.
Charles Leclerc 5.5/10
Started: 7th – Finished: 7th
One to forget for Leclerc, crashing twice before spending far too long of the race observing Magnussen’s rear wing. Seventh was all he could manage.
Pierre Gasly 6/10
Started: 5th – Finished: 8th
Following his horror show in Baku, Gasly badly needed points, and he delivered with eighth after spending most of the race defending from faster cars.
Esteban Ocon 6/10
Started: 8th – Finished: 9th
Quiet weekend for Ocon, who ran as high as fourth before being shuffled back to ninth after being caught by Hamilton and Leclerc.
Kevin Magnussen 7.5/10
Started: 4th – Finished: 10th
Results may not show it, but Miami was a good weekend for Magnussen, after qualifying an excellent fourth before getting his elbows out in the race to secure 10th.
Yuki Tsunoda 6/10
Started: 17th – Finished: 11th
Back to reality for Tsunoda after a Q1 exit left him with plenty of work to do, pace was there, but in the end, it was another near miss.
Lance Stroll 4.5/10
Started: 18th – Finished: 12th
With the second fastest car in Formula 1, Stroll had no excuses for an abysmal performance which saw him get knocked out in Q1, followed by a fruitless race.
Valtteri Bottas 5/10
Started: 10th – Finished: 13th
Q3 was an unexpected surprise for Bottas, but his race was tough as he simply had no pace to try and stay in the points.
Alex Albon 5/10
Started: 11th – Finished: 14th
Albon was unlucky to miss out on Q3 by less than a tenth. In the race, he drifted from the top 10, making his day a long one.
Nico Hulkenberg 4/10
Started: 12th – Finished: 15th
Hulkenberg’s first trip to Miami wasn’t a happy one, as a crash in FP1 put him on the back foot, and although he rallied points was too far.
Zhou Guanyu 4.5/10
Started: 14th – Finished: 16th
Zhou simply couldn’t match his teammate in Miami, and Alfa Romeo’s struggle for speed made his race challenging and ultimately pointless.
Lando Norris 4/10
Started: 16th – Finished: 17th
A frustrating race for Norris, who had all manner of problems during the race, a slow pitstop, and simply couldn’t make much progress.
Nyck de Vries 4.5/10
Started: 15th – Finished: 18th
After the debacle of Baku, De Vries put himself back in Helmut Marko’s good books by out-qualifying Tsunoda. Sadly a clumsy mistake in Turn 1 undid all of his hard work.
Oscar Piastri 4/10
Started: 19th – Finished: 19th
A painful first visit to Miami for Piastri as McLaren’s lack of pace meant he could make little progress and had the indignity of being lapped.
Logan Sargeant 2/10
Started: 20th – Finished: 20th
The hometown hero had a truly horrendous homecoming, qualifying last before damaging his front wing and putting himself a lap down.
