Five Formula 1 Winners & Losers: Miami Grand Prix

Photo from The BBC

I have been skeptical the past few years about Miami as a Formula 1 race, but I have to be fair.

Sunday delivered in a big way.

The battles between Verstappen and the McLaren’s were fantastic.

There were however some losers from the weekend, so let’s get to it.

Losers

5. Liam Lawson

The year started horribly for Liam Lawson, and it just frankly has not gotten any better at all.

It feels like a lack of confidence, and I hope he can get that fixed.

If not, he won’t be long for F1.

4. Alpine

Alpine completely botched sprint qualifying for Jack Doohan, and completely botched grand prix qualifying for Pierre Gasly.

Thankfully for them, they weren’t the worst pit box performance of the weekend.

3. Aston Martin

This car just stinks.

It’s slow. It’s bad.

It’s just miserable to watch.

2. Jack Doohan

It was heavily speculated before the year even began that Doohan would be dropped for Franco Colapinto, so he was always playing catch up before he even stepped foot in a car.

And after a first lap DNF at Miami, it’s being reported that he will be dropped before Imola.

I frankly don’t think he’s been bad whatsoever, but he hasn’t been outstanding.

And when the team already has another driver in mind, outstanding is what he needed.

1. Ferrari

Ferrari had two chances to pass Kimi Antonelli and get 6th place in the race.

All they needed to do was let Lewis Hamilton by Charles Leclerc.

And they did! After waiting 6 laps.

So that didn’t work. Now Leclerc is going much faster than Hamilton. Ok great. So Ferrari can order him past Hamilton and he can go get Antonelli.

And they did! After waiting 6 laps again.

So both drivers had a chance to get Antonelli, and neither of them did, simply because Ferrari took way too long to make an obvious call.

They still just can not get out of their own way…

Winners

5. Kimi Antonelli

Extremely bad luck ruined Antonelli’s chance at a good finish in the Sprint race, but he did become the youngest ever pole sitter in Formula 1.

He followed that up with outqualifying his teammate George Russell for the first time with a 3rd place performance in Grand Prix qualifying.

He still needs to work on his race craft, but his pace is clearly excellent. He’s a star.

4. George Russell

But it was Antonelli’s teammate George Russell who got the last laugh, with another drama free race that leads to a podium.

He’s been Mr. Consistency all year long.

3. Lando Norris

This could have been a disastrous weekend for Norris.

He was going to be beaten by his teammate in both races, but a fortunate safety car in the Sprint got him the win.

And even though he lost to his teammate in the Grand Prix, he still fought his way back from a first lap incident that found him in 6th after a few corners.

Now, the McLaren was incredibly dominant all race long, but after multiple weeks of Norris underperforming in the best car due to unforced errors, working his way to 2nd cleanly was crucial for his confidence.

It’s an important step.

2. Oscar Piastri

But again, Norris’ teammate showed why he is the championship leader.

Piastri was patient and fair while trying to get by Max Verstappen, simply biding his time until the opportune moment to pass.

He made the pass, he built the 9 second gap over his teammate, and it was just simply saving the tires all the way to the checkered flag.

He’s on fire.

1. Alex Albon

Team orders exist for a reason.

And usually, I think it’s wrong and sometimes disrespectful to ignore team orders.

But then there are situations like Alex Albon, who heard a team order to stay behind his teammate Carlos Sainz, ignored it, and drove his way all the way up to 5th while his teammate finished 9th.

Piastri is my driver of the season so far, but Albon is a very close second.

He is thriving with Williams, and Williams is thriving with him as well.

It’s a beautiful pairing.