Five Formula 1 Winners & Losers: Miami Grand Prix

Photo by Wilfredo Lee from the Associated Press

Still waiting on a fun race, to be honest!

To be quite honest, this was maybe the best race we’ve had so far this season, and that’s not saying a whole lot.

But hey, we still gotta talk about it!

Here are this week’s winners & losers from down south in Miami.

Losers

5. Nico Hulkenberg

Not the best week from Hulk, as he was handily beaten by his teammate for the first time all year and ended up outside of the points.

But he’s had a great year so far, so everyone’s due a bad weekend.

4. Logan Sargeant

The American from Florida finally got to race in his home state. It was probably a super cool moment for him.

That doesn’t make his weekend any less terrible, though.

He qualified 20th, and he finished 20th after damage on the opening lap.

Rookies have growing pains in Formula 1, and Logan is definitely going through his right now.

3. McLaren

Last week at Baku, McLaren looked like they were turning a page.

This week, they were back to absolutely nowhere, with Piastri finishing 19th and Lando Norris finishing 17th.

Just a putrid weekend for the whole team.

2. Charles Leclerc

One week after a pole position that seemed to show Leclerc and Ferrari finding their footing, Leclerc crashed twice, once in qualifying on his final run, and ended up spending Sunday fighting with a Haas for position.

Looks like Baku was an outlier.

1. Lance Stroll

You know how Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin are having a great season, while Mercedes is really struggling and their car is terrible?

Did you know that Aston Martin is only 6 points ahead of Mercedes in the constructor’s standings?

Alonso is outscoring Stroll almost 3:1 so far this year, and that is not good enough for a team that wants to finish 2nd in the constructors standings this year.

Aston needs more from Lance, and quick.

Winners

5. Kevin Magnussen

Magnussen was sort of getting schooled by Hulkenberg this year, so it was good for him to have the weekend he did, with a 4th place qualifying performance and a point in the race.

Plus, it got people free Chipotle.

That’s always nice!

4. Fernando Alonso

We have had 5 race weekends this year, and in those race weekends Fernando Alonso has 4 podiums and 15 points in each weekend.

Not only very good, but very consistent as well!

3. George Russell

George got a little bit of luck due to Leclerc’s crash in qualifying, as he got to start 6th in a car that didn’t really have the pace this weekend, but a solid and consistent race brought him home 4th and got a good chunk of points.

Sunday is when it counts.

2. Lewis Hamilton

And never is that more true than with Lewis Hamilton, who had a putrid qualifying session where he put his Mercedes 13th. It looked like he was headed for a disastrous weekend.

But a great Sunday had him finish 6th and bring home a good chunk of points.

Earlier, I pointed out that this horrible Mercedes car is only 6 points out of 2nd in the constructors standings.

Solid Sunday’s like this from both drivers is a big reason why.

1. Max Verstappen

I said it last year, I said it at Australia, and I’ll say it again.

The ultimate growth from Verstappen in his career has been his patience.

He knows he’s in the fastest car. He knows he’s arguably (likely) the best driver on the grid at the moment.

There’s no reason to take unnecessary risks, and no reason to panic.

That’s why, after Leclerc’s crash in qualifying ruined his session and had him start 9th, he patiently put in a fantastic first stint on his hard tires, and made a solid move around his teammate with 10 laps left to secure the win.

It’s why he’s the 2 time champion, and the clear favorite to 3-peat this season.