Miami GP
Race 5 Summary
May 8, 2022
All flash and no substance. They really built this GP up. But obviously the race didn’t quite live up to the hype, but is anyone really that surprised?
BEFORE LIGHTS OUT
Drama continued to brew as the recently Covid-19-positive race director doubled down on the jewelry ban. I should clarify that the rule has been on the books for quite some time (2004 to be exact), but hasn’t been a priority/enforced lately. Many drivers wear rings (particularly wedding bands) and watches while driving (including Romain Grosjean during his fiery crash in 2020), but Lewis Hamilton usually wears the most jewelry in various forms (piercings, necklaces, etc…). One of the new race directors, and FIA president have claimed that it is for safety reasons (apparently citing Grosjean’s crash as a reason for the clampdown), but drivers are feeling like it’s silly, pointless, and personal, with some even agreeing that the enforcement of the rule is unfairly targeting one driver. Sir Lewis took to his first press conference wearing as many watches, rings, and necklaces that he could wear. Sebastian Vettel agreed that the rule feels like it’s targeting one driver, and it’s all a bit silly. He amped up the silliness by protesting the other aspect of the rule regarding fire-proof underwear, by wearing a pair of underpants over his racing suit.
I understand prioritizing safety, but if a driver is willing to take on the personal risk, assuming it doesn’t affect the safety of those around them (which, it doesn’t), why not let them wear what they want? They risk their lives every time they get in the car and race, and while safety measures have improved dramatically over the years, there is always a risk stepping into these machines. Drivers who are married, like having their wedding rings on, because it’s a reminder of their spouse/family. Pierre Gasly races with a cross necklace, and doesn’t want to race without it. There are many personal and private reasons why some drivers wear what they wear, outside of the fact that self-expression is something that is clearly important to the drivers. And while many drivers have voice their disapproval, Hamilton’s protest of the rule enforcement has opened up his body to the debate of the world, as the media (and honestly, the FIA) fixates on him. Everybody from fans to journalists have wondered what piercings he has, where they are, and why they aren’t removable. Something that should be personal and private has been discussed in great detail all over the internet, and based on continued coverage, there’s no sign of it dying down. Because of this fixation, the other drivers’ complaints about the rule are lost to the Hamilton vs FIA narrative.
“Hamilton’s protest of the rule enforcement has opened up his body to the debate of the world”
I am not surprised that the FIA and new race director have taken this hard of a stance on something so trivial. From week 1, Mohammaed ben Sulayem (FIA President) hasn’t been afraid of “enforcing” the rules stating, “If there is any breach, there is no forgiveness” in response to Lewis Hamilton not attending the end of year gala after the travesty of Abu Dhabi. I’ve seen the sentiment of “well you wanted to rules to be enforced, so you can’t be mad now” shared far and wide on the internet. If you are one of those people, please understand and remember a few things. One, Mercedes asked for consistency above anything else. Two, a blatant disregard for the rules regarding the safety car that 100% affected the outcome of not only a race, but a title-deciding race, is not the same. Hamilton’s choice to not attend the gala and to wear jewelry generally only affect him, not anyone else. Michael Masi’s inflated ego and horrible judgment under pressure cost a driver a championship, and the sport the center of a controversy. His decision impacted Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, their teams, and the F1 history books. It is not the same, and most teams after 2021 were asking for consistency, because Michael Masi was inconsistent ALL SEASON, from penalties to safety car procedure. The FIA is going after the low-hanging fruit, without actually making efforts to make rule enforcement more consistent.
Anyways, that’s enough of a detour, so let’s get into the action.
QUALIFYING
I didn’t watch any free practice sessions, but I’ll talk about it in the Mercedes section a little. But, the main things to know before I talk Qualifying:
-Sainz crashed in Turn 14 during FP2
-Ocon crashed in Turn 14 during FP3
-Both drivers complained about track safety before the race
-Verstappen had steering issues and a smoking rear brake, which ended his FP2 before setting a time
Okie dokie, so Qualifying. Q1 saw a lot of shuffling, as drivers were trying to get as many reps on track as possible. That also meant that there was heavy traffic. Hamilton had issues early in the session clocking a solid time because of traffic, but put in a pretty great lap that put him in P5 during the first session. Ocon didn’t run during Qualifying, as they were still repairing his car from the crash earlier in the day. Zhou Guanyu got a little unlucky during Q1, as a cluster of 3 or 4 cars prevented him from improving his time. Schumacher out qualified his teammate, Magnussen, who made it into Q2, but only managed P15. Ricciardo had been putting in solid qualifying times in Q1, often ahead of his teammate, but struggled in Q2, only managing P14. Russell also struggled in Q2, only managing P12. He said after qualifying that he just didn’t have the confidence in the car that day. Like Hamilton in Saudi Arabia, if you’re not 100% confident in your car on a street circuit, you’re going to struggle to push the car to the limit. Stroll and both Alpha Tauri drivers made it into Q3, which was pretty impressive. Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen had a good back and forth in Q3 for pole position, but it was ultimately Leclerc who came out on top. Sainz managed P2, as Verstappen had an error that caused him to abort his final lap. Max ended up in P3, with his teammate in P4. Bottas out-qualified his former teammate, which honestly, isn’t the world’s craziest thing, as Bottas has proved he is skilled in qualifying. Hamilton secured P6, which wasn’t too bad, especially considering the car would probably have only allowed for P5. The remainder of the top 10 was Gasly, Norris, Tsunoda, and Stroll.
RACE SUMMARY
First thing’s first: about 30 minutes before go time, they announced that both Aston Martin drivers would be starting from pit lane. They had a fuel temperature issue (the fuel was too cool), that would have potentially resulted in a disqualification if they didn’t resolve it (all those fun F1 technical rules like how much fuel is allowed and how much should be left over at the end of the race, and even fuel temp. are under the scrutiny of the Stewards).
Also fun fact: I rewatched the race a second time because I LOVE to consume boring content.
Verstappen had a good (and aggressive) start. He came up the outside of Carlos Sainz, who was stuck behind his teammate. Since Sainz had no where to go, Verstappen was able to brake much later, and overtake Carlos on the inside of Turn 2. Sainz defended as hard as he could, but Max had the better grip, and was never going to yield. Elsewhere at the start, both Mercedes drivers struggled at the start. George started the race on Hard tires, in hopes to have a long stint, make-up ground, and maybe even get lucky with a safety car. George dropped back to P15, while Lewis was hit by Alonso, dropping him to P8. Honestly, I’m over Alpine… How many times are you gonna hit Merc?! I said during FP1 that I shouldn’t have edited out my joke about what would happen if Alpine did it again, but they not only had an unsafe release again in the pit lane, BUT Fernando Alonso decided Miami was a beautiful place to have a round of bumper cars hitting Hamilton at the start, and Gasly towards the end of the race (and for the record, the hit on Gasly was ultimately responsible for Gasly’s suspension damage which played a huge factor in his crash with Lando Norris). I think it’s all a part of “El Plan”. Anyways, my main threat (if you can even call it that) was that they would end up in my “Losers” section for the rest of the season. Since I didn’t publish it with that comment, I will now officially say that any more contact initiated by an Alpine driver onto a Mercedes driver, puts Alpine in the losers section for the rest of the season.
We were obnoxiously cut to commentary from Christian Horner, and how on Earth are we back with Christian Horner again this weekend?! If he’s the only one that will do the pit wall interview/commentary mid-race, please just stop having this segment. It doesn’t enhance the race much, and I’m tired of hearing from Horner.
Anyways, Hamilton had a good series of recovery laps after the contact, passing Alonso and Gasly by lap 7, and putting him back where he started. Zhou was unlucky again, retiring on lap 7 due to a problem with the car.
Like I said, I rewatched the race, and I think Crofty and Martin Brundle forgot about the extra DRS on the short pit straight. That DRS zone was particularly close to another, and Martin Brundle even said that many people didn’t think it would be effective. Well, Max took the lead of the race on lap 9, while Ted Kravitz was talking about Williams. Whoops, broadcasting blunder.
By Lap 20, Perez starts complaining about losing power. His engineer told him it’s because he lost his tow, but Perez maintained that he was losing power. He was (reasonably) quite frustrated when his team told him it’s fine, when they’ve clearly had issues with PU failure this season already. Ultimately it was fine but he probably could have legitimately challenged for P3 (and kept it) if the Power Unit wouldn’t have had issues.
The race was quite a snoozer, so let’s jump ahead to the remaining action: Lap 39 or 40 Pierre Gasly was hit by Alonso, and Gasly struggled handling the car around the track, as there was likely damage to his suspension. After going wide on lap 41, Norris and Gasly collided in a racing incident that devastated my husband (lots of screaming by my McLaren-loving man, and I think I heard him sigh after the crash happened when I was rewatching it). That incident knocked both Gasly and Norris out of the race and had the race under safety car for several laps. Russell and the other hard compound runners got what they were hoping for and were able to pit. I’ll chat more about the strategy in a bit, but let’s see the checkered flag first, alright?
Lando Norris walking back to the pits.
After the debris was cleared and the safety car called in, Leclerc had a few attempts at Verstappen, and Perez had his shot at Sainz. Perez made a lunge on Sainz, but couldn’t complete the move, as he locked up going into turn 1. The two nearly (or maybe did actually) touch, but Sainz took advantage of Perez’s error and went back up the inside, and holding onto P3. Once Leclerc lost DRS, his couple laps of challenging for P1 were over, and Max could comfortably manage P1.
The fun’s not over yet! On Lap 54, Mick Schumacher hit the inside of Vettel, which every pundit and commentary channel seized the opportunity to say how the mentee hit the mentor. Mick was running in the points, and this was definitely his best shot at some points. It was very reminiscent of George in 2020. The contact forced Vettel to retire from the race.
Lap 56, THE SECOND TO LAST LAP OF THE RACE, Stroll and Magnussen hit, causing Magnussen to retire just before the end of the race, and that pretty much brings us to the checkered flag.
WINNERS AND LOSERS
Winners:
-Red Bull
-Ferrari
-Mercedes
Red Bull- Here’s what I’ll say about RB… They have their pit stops and strategy down. They had the pace, and you know what, straight line speed is extremely helpful, huh?
Ferrari- P2 and P3 for their drivers, and a good chunk of points. I don’t have much else to say.
Mercedes- Listen, VSC/SC strategy aside, because I’ll get there, but their two drivers finished where they should based on the current ability of the car. The drivers maybe didn’t finish in the order that they should have, but P5 and P6 is a solid result.
Losers:
Honestly, every team other than the 3 winners of the week have a right to be down here, but here are my 3:
-Haas
-McLaren
-Alpha Tauri
Haas- Pretty disappointing weekend for them, which should speak to how much they’ve improved this year. Magnussen struggled to find his usual pace during qualifying, which knocked him out in Q1, and Schumacher out-qualified his teammate. Mick actually looked like he had decent pace during the race, which makes his error of running into Vettel that much more frustrating. Schumacher’s error combined with Magnussen getting knocked out in an incident with Lance Stroll, saw both Haas drivers well outside of the points.
McLaren- Where to begin? Their pit stops were not great this weekend. Ricciardo struggled in qualifying, and despite having the longest stint on Medium tires, couldn’t make up ground, and ended up P13. Norris, who started P8, had a slower stop (3.60 seconds), and that 1 second margin proved to be costly. It dropped him to the back of a DRS train, compromising his race. Not a good weekend for them.
Alpha Tauri- Both drivers were starting in the top 10, with Gasly in P7 and Tsunoda in P9. They should have absolutely had a good race, but by lap 9 Tsunoda was already down in P12, and was really no where to be found all race. He managed to finish P12, but that was due to penalties and DNFs in front of him, as he was running P18 after his pit stop, and found himself at the back of the DRS train. Gasly had a chance for some points, but Alonso hit him on lap 39, which compromised him, and then was knocked out after the collision with Norris. No points for the team.
My Driver of the Day: Esteban Ocon: 51G crash Saturday in FP3, missed Qualifying, started from back of the grid, ignored team orders (reportedly) to slow down other drivers behind him to leave a 5-sec gap for Alonso (who had been penalized for hitting Gasly), and secured P8.
>SILVER ARROW POINTS
>The car: So they brought some improvements this past weekend, and showed some impressive pace on Friday. Obviously the main issue wasn’t solved (and they didn’t claim that these upgrades would), so they still lacked in overall pace. All in all, I’m choosing to feel optimistic about the anticipated floor upgrade that should come in Barcelona.
>Strategy: Listen, when you’re the front runner with a nice gap, you can be a little more reserved with strategy. You can just respond to what the teams around you do, and your pace and drivers will do the rest. That’s not the situation this year (or last). Some creative strategy would probably be a good idea. It doesn’t have to be anything groundbreaking, but have the willingness to think outside the box a little bit. But more importantly, let’s talk about Safety Cars. In their race debrief, Mike Elliott with Mercedes, answered fan questions about the Miami GP. One of those questions was about Hamilton’s strategy. Elliott goes on to explain that they pitted Russell as soon as the VSC was brought out (because, duh, that’s what they were waiting for), and that they felt fine with Hamilton’s position as Russell was far enough back, and Bottas was also on Hard tires (like Hamilton). Well, when the safety car was called out, all the cars bunched up, and eliminated the gap they were comfortable with. Had Hamilton pitted, he would have lost a couple track positions, and it would have been a tall ask for the W13 to overtake multiple cars on a not great track for overtaking. My biggest issue with this is that with all the data and analysis y’all do, you couldn’t potentially have foreseen a VSC or Safety Car? In fact, your strategy with George hinged on one, and successfully getting into the pits (unlike Lewis in Saudi Arabia). Once you brought Hamilton in for pit stop 1, you should have been strategizing for a VSC or a Safety Car. In either case, you should have set a range of laps that you would feel comfortable pitting him for tires. Also, how could you not have guessed that it would be a full Safety Car? There was a ton of debris, and you could have asked either driver if they thought it was enough debris to warrant a full safety car. I understand that the tires Lewis had available might have still affected his ability to pit under the Safety Car, but don’t say you couldn’t see it coming.
>I want to see Mercedes be more proactive with their strategy, particularly with Lewis. As soon as Russell said “let’s just hold out for a VSC” over team radio, they should have told Lewis and planned a double stack. It’s about making in-race adjustments and fighting to win, not racing not to lose (does that make sense?). They need a mentality shift this season. I want to see more bold calls like Barcelona in 2021.
Speaking of Barcelona…
This should be pretty interesting, as they’ll be able to compare their updated W13 with their original design unveiled for Barcelona pre-testing, test. They are reportedly bringing upgrades, so hoping for an exciting weekend.
Other F1 commentary to check out:
Quick Stop F1 Podcast: Miami GP Review. “Nyasha and Thandie are joined by friend of the pod and super-producer Tomi to break down the ballers only Miami GP! We discuss whether or not we would like to go to the Grand Prix, Martin Brundle's grid pathetic attempt at a grid walk and the FIA targetting Lewis with the jewelry ban.”
On the Chicane: Miami GP Race Rundown. “Join Paris and Marium as they discuss all of the highlights from the first ever race weekend at Miami. A social media extravaganza, celeb spotting, and oh yeah a RACE!”
Until next race!