The 2023 USA Miami Grand Prix Thread

[cmlean]

This is the place to discuss everything related to the 5th round of the 2023 season taking place at Miami from May 5th-7th.

The event timetable for the USA Miami Grand Prix.

Friday
Practice 1 14:30 local time - 18:30 GMT
Practice 2 18:00 local time - 22:00 GMT
Saturday
Practice 3 12:30 local time - 16:30 GMT
Qualifying 16:00 Local time - 20:00
Sunday
Race 15:30 local time - 19:30 GMT

[cmlean]

Well, this weekend we are back to the other side of the Atlantic where we enter into our second visit to the US Grand Prix in Miami.

The teams really seemed to use the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix to their advantage with many far exceeding my expectations. Possibly the most improved was McLaren. Sure, both cars didn't finish in the points but considering where they were a month ago, their improvement was exceptional.
Aston Martin and Ferrari performed well managing to keep sort of close to the Red Bulls but this could have been an anomaly in the 2023 championship. Time will tell.
Williams also showed signs of improvement with Alexander Albon making Q3 as well as teammate Logan Sergeant making it into Q2 for the first time.

Let us see what will happen in around 30 odd hours time when the first practice session commences.

[cmlean]

FP1 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		Team
1	1:30.125	George Russell	Mercedes
2	1:30.337	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
3	1:30.449	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
4	1:30.549	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing
5	1:30.724	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari
6	1:31.104	Pierre Gasly	Alpine
7	1:31.231	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin
8	1:31.337	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin
9	1:31.392	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas
10	1:31.542	Esteban Ocon	Alpine
11	1:31.566	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing
12	1:31.810	Oscar Piastri	McLaren
13	1:31.853	Kevin Magnussen	Haas
14	1:31.902	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo
15	1:31.903	Alexander Albon	Williams
16	1:31.997	Lando Norris	McLaren
17	1:32.134	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo
18	1:32.169	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri
19	1:32.619	Logan Sargeant	Williams
20	1:34.637	Nyck De Vries	AlphaTauri

[cmlean]

The session was basically a standard first practice with the green track slowly evolving as cars circulated laying down rubber.
Near the mid point of the session, Nico Hulkenberg looped his Haas in turn 3 and ended in the barriers. This brought out the only red flag for the session. The driver is fine however the car sustained substantial damage to the right side.

[cmlean]

FP2 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		Team
1	1:27.930	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing
2	1:28.315	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari
3	1:28.398	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
4	1:28.419	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing
5	1:28.660	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin
6	1:28.741	Lando Norris	McLaren
7	1:28.858	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
8	1:28.930	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin
9	1:28.937	Esteban Ocon	Alpine
10	1:29.046	Alexander Albon	Williams
11	1:29.098	Pierre Gasly	Alpine
12	1:29.171	Kevin Magnussen	Haas
13	1:29.181	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo
14	1:29.189	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo
15	1:29.216	George Russell	Mercedes
16	1:29.339	Oscar Piastri	McLaren
17	1:29.393	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas
18	1:29.613	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri
19	1:29.928	Nyck De Vries	AlphaTauri
20	1:30.038	Logan Sargeant	Williams

[cmlean]

Charles Leclerc brought out the red flag when the rear of his Ferrari stepped out in turn 7 and he ended in the barriers. Quick work enabled the cars to return to the circuit with 4 minutes remaining enabling the teams to practice their starts.
Max Verstappen showed how good his Red Bull is topping the time sheets.
The Ferrari's are there abouts with the Aston Martins probably next best.
The bottom 10 drivers are separated by one second so anyone could fall from hero to zero in the blink of an eye.

[cmlean]

FP3 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		Team
1	1:27.535	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing
2	1:27.941	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
3	1:28.050	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing
4	1:28.125	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari
5	1:28.407	Esteban Ocon	Alpine
6	1:28.428	Pierre Gasly	Alpine
7	1:28.456	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo
8	1:28.497	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas
9	1:28.561	Alexander Albon	Williams
10	1:28.606	George Russell	Mercedes
11	1:28.607	Kevin Magnussen	Haas
12	1:28.618	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin
13	1:28.718	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
14	1:28.723	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin
15	1:29.074	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo
16	1:29.179	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri
17	1:29.264	Logan Sargeant	Williams
18	1:29.375	Oscar Piastri	McLaren
19	1:29.401	Lando Norris	McLaren
20	1:29.447	Nyck De Vries	AlphaTauri

[cmlean]

Qualifying

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		Team
1	1:26.841	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing
2	1:27.202	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin
3	1:27.349	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari
4	1:27.767	Kevin Magnussen	Haas
5	1:27.786	Pierre Gasly	Alpine
6	1:27.804	George Russell	Mercedes
7	1:27.861	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
8	1:27.935	Esteban Ocon	Alpine
9	No Time		Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing
10	No Time		Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo
______________________________________________________
11	1:27.795	Alexander Albon	Williams
12	1:27.903	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas
13	1:27.975	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
14	1:28.091	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo
15	1:28.395	Nyck De Vries	AlphaTauri
______________________________________________________
16	1:28.394	Lando Norris	McLaren
17	1:28.429	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri
18	1:28.476	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin
19	1:28.484	Oscar Piastri	McLaren
20	1:28.577	Logan Sargeant	Williams

[cmlean]

Qualifying is in the books and what a session it was.
Q1 saw the struggles that Mercedes and McLaren were having with Mercedes getting both cars through to Q2 after bolting on another set of tyres. McLaren weren't so luck with both cars failing to progress. Another to be eliminated was Lance Stroll who admitted that they had made a mistake by not using a new set to ensure their progression to Q2.
Q2 and, for the first time in a race in the USA, Lewis Hamilton failed to progress to Q3. Truth is that, with the struggles Mercedes have had since the initial practice session, they just haven't been on the pace.
Q3 commenced and Max Verstappen with Sergio Perez led the charge to set a time. Max had a small moment in turn 3 and decided to return to the pits. Sergio Perez went on to set the fastest time for the initial runs by cars who took to the track.
With the final runs commenced, Charles Leclerc had a moment at turn 7 and, for the second time this weekend, lost his Ferrari into the barriers. This brought out the red flags ending the session.

So, the grid is interesting with Red Bulls on pole with Sergio Perez and in 9th with Max Verstappen with lots of fast cars between each. Will Sergio Perez be crowned king of the street circuits for the second week in succession? Time will tell.

[cmlean]

Race

Code: Select all

Pos	Driver		Team
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing
2	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing
3	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin
4	George Russell	Mercedes
5	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari
6	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
7	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
8	Pierre Gasly	Alpine
9	Esteban Ocon	Alpine
10	Kevin Magnussen	Haas
11	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri
12	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin
13	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo
14	Alexander Albon	Williams
15	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas
16	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo
17	Lando Norris	McLaren
18	Nyck De Vries	AlphaTauri
19	Oscar Piastri	McLaren
20	Logan Sargeant	Williams

Next: Round of Italy Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix '23
Date: May 19-21 2023

[DarOv]

Qualifying is in the books and what a session it was.
Q1 saw the struggles that Mercedes and McLaren were having with Mercedes getting both cars through to Q2 after bolting on another set of tyres. McLaren weren't so luck with both cars failing to progress. Another to be eliminated was Lance Stroll who admitted that they had made a mistake by not using a new set to ensure their progression to Q2.
Q2 and, for the first time in a race in the USA, Lewis Hamilton failed to progress to Q3. Truth is that, with the struggles Mercedes have had since the initial practice session, they just haven't been on the pace.
Q3 commenced and Max Verstappen with Sergio Perez led the charge to set a time. Max had a small moment in turn 3 and decided to return to the pits. Sergio Perez went on to set the fastest time for the initial runs by cars who took to the track.
With the final runs commenced, Charles Leclerc had a moment at turn 7 and, for the second time this weekend, lost his Ferrari into the barriers. This brought out the red flags ending the session.

So, the grid is interesting with Red Bulls on pole with Sergio Perez and in 9th with Max Verstappen with lots of fast cars between each. Will Sergio Perez be crowned king of the street circuits for the second week in succession? Time will tell.

Hamilton very unexpectedly failed to progress to Q3. There's something wrong with the guy. And Mercedes and McLaren are gone, too. I thought the result would be better.

[Tim]

Weclome DarOv