The F1 circus arrived in Miami for the all new Miami Grand Prix, taking full advantage of the new F1 fans found via Netflix. Slightly less popular than Drive to Survive are our thoughts and quick review of the fifth race of the season with our 2022 Miami Grand Prix Results, Lap by Lap, Review & Summary
Our review covers what happened in the race so you don’t have to in the laps that matter. Plus we throw in our Race Ratings, the Best (Great) and Worst (Grape) drivers of the race weekend.
The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered, or don’t have enough time.
2022 Miami Grand Prix Results, Lap by Lap, Review & Summary gives you just enough to catch up with.
And why not check out our Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Power Rankings which highlight our driver of the season so far and the last race.
—-
2022 Miami Grand Prix Results
THE LAPS THAT MATTERED
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Well here are the top laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.
Lap 0 – It’s a packed pre-race grid with loads of celebrities and a poor Martin Brundle attempting to interview some of them. Closer to the actual Grand Prix the two Aston Martin cars will start from pitlane, for Stroll he’ll miss out on starting 10th on the grid, and Vettel gets a chance to check his underwear again. (Long story short F1 bosses clamping down on underwear and Vettel wore his on the outside during weekend in protest).
It’s hot there in Miami which isn’t surprising, but we’ll see that heat offers up a surprise during the race. Maybe the teams can cool off in the fake Marina.
GRID – LEC SAI VER PER BOT HAM GAS NOR TSU STR
Lap 1 – Leclerc gets off the line best and leads into the first corner, Max Verstappen sneaks by Carlos Sainz into the first corner to take second (great move). All the drivers appear to behave themselves into turn one, which is a surprise and a mild disappointment. Lewis Hamilton is the big loser of the first lap dropping down to 8th – replays of start show he nearly ran up the arse of Perez into the first corner. His team mate George Russell also fared badly dropping down to 15th from 12th. The big winner was Fernando Alonso who bobs up in 7th up four places, he’s one place ahead of Hamilton which will make the Briton happy. Daniel Ricciardo also gained three places which is nice but is still 12th.
ORDER – LEC VER SAI PER BOT GAS ALO HAM NOR TSU
Lap 3 – Lewis Hamilton gets past Fernando Alonso a lot quicker than we first thought. Perhaps it’s the performing enhancing earrings the FIA want to take from him (another long and boring story).
Lap 6 – Lewis Hamilton moves up another place to 6th, and back where he started the race after passing Pierre Gasly on the pit straight. Seems the pre race doom and gloom about lack of overtaking isn’t quite true. Further back Mick Schumacher takes 10th place Yuki Tsunoda, the Haas’ going very well with Magnussen in 11th. Both have made good ground from the start.
ORDER – LEC VER SAI PER BOT HAM GAS ALO NOR MSC
Lap 7 – Zhou becomes the first retiree from the Miami Grand Prix for those betting on that result. The multiple Safety Car betting option appears less likely now.
Lap 8 – Max Verstappen is a little bit faster than Leclerc at the moment and gets within one second and into DRS territory.
Lap 9 – Max Verstappen overtakes Charles Leclerc for the lead of the Miami Grand Prix into the first corner. Leclerc doesn’t make life too hard, he’ll have his chance with DRS around the lap somewhere. DRS isn’t enough, and Max Verstappen creeps further and further ahead.
Lap 11 – Verstappen is now a second and a half in front of Leclerc and pulling away easily. Looks like we know who the fastest car today is, but will the Red Bull last the distance? Verstappen has a 50% DNF ratio this season.
ORDER VER LEC SAI PER BOT HAM GAS ALO NOR MAG
Lap 14 – George Russell overtakes Daniel Ricciardo for 11th. Doesn’t sound like much, but he does have the hard tyres on and won’t have to pit for a while.
Lap 15 – Verstappen has stretched the lead to Leclerc to three seconds and is doing it easy with the fastest lap in his pocket.
Lap 17 – TV showing the best battle on track full of Aston Martins with Haas and Williams cars. And Fernando Alonso who leads the group in 12th. At least it’s racing we guess.
Lap 19 – Even more pointless (as above group of car were outside the top ten) was yet another glimpse of David Beckham from the TV coverage. F1’s need to show celebrities to justify how great they are is almost as poor as TV News that needs to show how their news story is on the news in another country.
Lap 20 – Sergio Perez complaining about a loss of power. Is this the Red Bull curse again? Will it affect Verstappen at the front eventually.
Lap 23 – Quick check on the order as Max Verstappen sets another fastest lap. Charles Leclerc beats him a lap later. Lewis Hamilton pitted by the way dropped from 6th to 7th in case you were wondering. This race really needs a Safety Car.
ORDER – VER LEC SAI PER BOT HAM RUS RIC OCO GAS
Lap 25 – Leaders pit stops start in earnest. Who Earnest? You may ask, and wasn’t this Grand Prix in Miami. Sorry, got a bit distracted there. Leclerc drops to 4th from 2nd. Max Verstappen pits a lap later and comes out of the pits in second.
Lap 30 – Top four have all pitted now as has Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. George Russell has not stopped. Daniel Ricciardo hasn’t and is only delaying his eventual misery by staying out. Esteban Ocon is doing a good job in 10th from dead last on the grid with no stops.
Lap 32 – Ricciardo pits and drops to 17th, and is now stuck behind the train of Haas and Aston Martins. We told you so above.
Lap 39 – Chat of possible weather on Team radios, which would be great. Verstappen is over seven seconds in front of Leclerc. Alonso and Gasly look to clash, it was ambitious from Alonso. He gets a five second penalty for his troubles.
Lap 41 – CRASH – Lando Norris clashes with Pierre Gasly and flings himself into the wall. It was at a reasonably fast section too. Virtual Safety Car to begin with then a full Safety Car after a minute of that.
Replays show Gasly running off line before the crash and coming back onto the track and getting in the path of a speedy Lando Norris. Lando Norris’ basketball helmet is pretty cool.
George Russell finally pits and ends up 7th. Perez pits for Mediums. Ocon makes his only stop for the day.
ORDER – VER LEC SAI VET BOT HAM RUS ALO MSC MAG
Lap 43 – Lewis Hamilton gets grumpy on team radio when they ask if he wants to pit. Hamilton telling his team it’s their job to do the strategy. Still behind the safety car.
Lap 47 – SAFETY CAR ENDS
Cars are bunched up but no major moves happened. Kevin Magnussen and Lance Stroll clash on the lap but rejoin.
Lap 49 – Perez v Sainz is a decent little battle to watch.
Lap 50 – Even better battle with Bottas v two Mercedes for fifth. Throw in that Charles Leclerc is also right on Verstappen’s tail now too and this race has come alive.
Lap 52 – Perez dived down the inside of Sainz going into the first corner and temporarily takes 3rd, but runs deep and is replaced by Carlos Sainz back into third place
Lap 53 – Top two are still close but Leclerc not just close enough.
Lap 54 – Vettel T-Bones Mick Schumacher. Not the steak, but an accident. Both continue somehow. Just a front wing change for the Haas.
Lap 55 – Charles Leclerc’s gap to Max Verstappen is more than one second, so no DRS and no chance for an overtake.
FINAL LAP – Verstappen keeps Leclerc at bay for first and a big win. The two numbers twos are third and fourth. The Dutchman did it easy really and it looks ominous for the other teams this season.
FINAL ORDER – VER LEC SAI PER RUS HAM BOT OCO ALB STR
2022 Miami Grand Prix Results
RACE RATING
Was it a good race, loads of action, tense, or just a big, fat, snooze-fest.
We rate the big race itself so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.
SEASON IMPORTANCE – 5/10
Seemed the celebrities were more important than the race itself. Poor Martin Brundle on the grid walk talking to people he didn’t know instead of the drivers most had tuned in to see.
ON TRACK ACTION – 5 /10
There was an overtake for the lead. There was a nice long train of cars with occasional trading of positions from time to time. And a decent sized prang. But in between it was meh.
ENDING 9 / 10
The crash and safety helped break up the last part of the race. It led to some great battles on the track, which kept those entertained.
OVERALL RATING 19 / 30
It’s a new track which is exciting to a degree. We’re not fooled though by the new track or overhyped bling off the track. It’s still a track in a carpark that goes under a highway. It wasn’t the worst race of the season, and that final part of the race was good fun.
2022 SEASON RATINGS SO FAR
Want to know what we thought of previous races? Or which ones to to back and watch?
R1 Bahrain Grand Prix 26/30
R2 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix 21/30
R3 Australian Grand Prix 16/30
R4 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix 17/30
2021 Miami Grand Prix Results
GREAT & GRAPE OF THE RACE
Here we go through the field and highlight the very best (Great) of the race, and the plodders, the ambitious, the out of luck, and simply hopeless (Grape).
These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. Five points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 /-2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.
It used to be called the good, bad and ugly, but everyone is using that now. And who doesn’t like grapes.
THE GREAT-EST – MAX VERSTAPPEN
Hard to argue with a dominant race winner not being the ultimate winner of the weekend.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
CHARLES LECLERC – Took pole, and while he may have got the win he wanted it was a strong second place, and he soundly beat his team mate again. He’s still the World Championship front runner after all.
VALTTERI BOTTAS – Another tremendous drive for Bottas in the Alfa.
GEORGE RUSSELL – Seems to be handling the Mercedes better than his illustrious team mate, and his strong races are starting to erase his reputation as a Mr Saturday who faded on Sunday.
ESTEBAN OCON – Decent drive to get from back of the grid to 8th.
ALEX ALBON – Proving he’s no muppet after taking more points for a Williams car which probably shouldn’t be better than a McLaren, but appears to be..
THE GRAPE-EST – DANIEL RICCIARDO
Another poor weekend as he failed to make Q3, and then spent a large part towards the back of the field. This is looking more like his last season in F1.
DIS-HONOURABLE MENTIONS
LANDO NORRIS – Crash robbed him of a chance for more points.
LEWIS HAMILTON – Another bad weekend for Mercedes. Finished behind the teammate again.
2022 F1 Season Power Rankings
Stay tuned for our Power Rankings from the race soon as it is currently being calculated.
