The third instalment of the Miami Grand Prix saw a weekend where very few drivers shone across both the Sprint and GP itself. Nonetheless, we saw a maiden winner and some solid drives from the midfield. Find out who made the cut in the latest report cards from the 2024 season:
Top of the class:
Lando Norris – Shootout: 9th | Sprint: DNF | Qualifying: 5th | Race: 1st
“Lando Nowins” no longer applies as he took his first maiden F1 win in Sunday’s Grand Prix with a measured drive from the third row of the grid. It was far from a perfect weekend, but his performance hinted at an upgraded McLaren being a challenger at the front of the field.
He certainly didn’t hide it, Saturday was bitterly disappointing for Lando. Having topped the first two shootout sessions, he would only set a lap good enough for ninth on the grid for the Sprint. His Sprint was over at turn 1 as he was the innocent part in the contact between the two Aston Martins and Lewis Hamilton.
He recovered quickly with a better qualifying session, setting the fifth-fastest time, just under four-tenths off Max’s pole time. Holding position through the opening phases of the race, he was released when the front four pitted.
Pumping in strong laps saw Norris build a sufficient gap to pit under a mid-race safety car that saw him come out leading. In fact, he was so far out front that the Safety Car didn’t pick him up.
Norris survived the restart and eased ahead of the chasing pack to put to bed the memories of Sochi 2021, taking the top step of the podium and McLaren’s first win since Daniel Ricciardo’s triumph at Monza 2021. Lando also moved to fourth in the standings, level with fifth place Sainz.
Yuki Tsunoda – Shootout: 15th | Sprint: 8th (promoted from 9th) | Qualifying: 10th | Race: 7th
A handful of points for Yuki, which hauled him into the Top 10 in the Driver’s Standings. Safe to say, it was a particularly strong weekend yet again for the Japanese Driver.
Sunday’s race was a particular highlight, running a long first stint meant he was able to pit under the safety car, coming out in P7. He didn’t have the arsenal to hold back Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, but he comfortably held back the other Mercedes of George Russell to equal his best result of the season. He was helped along by the clash between Sainz and Piastri, as it caused the Australian to drop down the order.
Saturday also saw another point scored, though this was inherited following a penalty for Lewis. It was a good recovery nonetheless from a disappointing Sprint Shootout, and fully stamps his authority in the VCARB team at present.
Esteban Ocon – Shootout: 13th | Sprint: 15th (promoted from 16th) | Qualifying: 13th | Race: 10th
The Frenchman has gone quietly under the radar this season simply because Alpine have brought a terrible car to start the 2024 season, but a run of Q2 appearances finally got awarded with a point in Sunday’s race.
Like Tsunoda, Ocon took advantage of the safety car to make his mandatory pit stop, coming out in P10. He wasn’t able to hold off Alonso but put up a staunch defence and gapped Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg in the final laps to take home P10.
The result is a resounding vote of confidence in the upgrades Alpine are bringing and takes them up to P7 in the Team’s Standings, but the French outfit still have a long way to go to hit their targets.
Honourable mention goes to Charles Leclerc, a double podium finish closes the gap to Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez to just five points in the Driver’s Standings. Charles didn’t quite have enough to challenge the very top step of the podium, but he kept Max honest in the Sprint and was in striking distance again in Sunday’s race. It was a solid round considering his struggles there 12 months ago.
The struggle bus:
Kevin Magnussen – Shootout: 14th | Sprint: 18th (demoted from 10th) | Qualifying: 19th | Race: 19th (demoted from 18th)
After becoming the Danish Minister of Defence back in Saudi Arabia, KMAG reunited with the role in Saturday’s Sprint Race. However, his methods of holding on to P8 and the last point saw him pick up a season ticket in the Steward’s Office.
Not one but three 10-second penalties for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, and a further 5-second penalty for track limits. Sunday’s race didn’t get much better; as he tangled with Logan Sargeant at turn 3 midway through the race. For which he got a 10-second penalty and a post-race drive-through for failing to change tyres during a pitstop under the safety car.
This leaves KMAG with 10 penalty points to his name, all of which he has earned this season. So he will have to be on his best behaviour to avoid a race ban, which is only adding to his challenge to securing a 2025 season, as teammate Nico Hülkenberg is comfortably beating him.
Lance Stroll – Shootout: 7th | Sprint: DNF | Qualifying: 11th | Race: 17th (demoted from 13th)
To give Lance some slack, he beat Fernando Alonso in both the Sprint Shootout and in Qualifying, but this is the only positive to take from the weekend. He ultimately made the first contact in the turn-one melee in the Sprint, which wrecked both his and Alonso’s Saturday.
On Sunday, Stroll never really challenged for points and took a 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in his battle with Alexander Albon.
Are Aston Martin as strong this year as they were in 2023? No. Should Stroll find himself behind VCARB’s Yuki Tsunoda in the Driver’s Standings? Also, no, but this is the reality after a pointless weekend in Miami.
Daniel Ricciardo – Shootout: 4th | Sprint: 4th | Qualifying: 20th (demoted from 17th) | Race: 15th (promoted from 16th)
A real tale of hero to zero for the Honey Badger as a strong Sprint was quickly forgotten by a mediocre Grand Prix.
Daniel struggled in qualifying, only setting the 17th best time, and with a three-place grid penalty hanging over him from China, he was consigned to starting last. Ricciardo ultimately made little progress on Sunday and finished nine places behind teammate Tsunoda.
At least he had a strong Sprint and held on well to P3 until he succumbed to Pérez, but six points are better than zero. He is still being outshone by Yuki, and those claims to the second Red Bull seat are dwindling fast.
The dishonourable mention goes to Sergio Pérez, three-tenths off Max in the Sprint Shootout and lost a place to Ricciardo at the start of the Sprint. He finished ahead of the Australian in the end, but that didn’t soothe the burn. A similar gap in qualifying followed a near disaster at turn 1, as an optimistic lunge nearly took him out as well as Max and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
The Mexican struggled with his flat spotted tyres and ended up in a second-half battle with Hamilton. He would ultimately hold onto fifth and scrapped into fourth as Sainz took a penalty for his collision with Oscar Piastri. Not the worst, but overall a weak weekend in Miami, all things considered.
The paddock hops back over the Atlantic to head to the infamous Imola for Round 7 of the Championship. Having been cancelled last year due to flooding in the Emilia Romagna region, Ferrari have a second home race and with some big upgrades planned. Can they take their second victory of the season?
Tune in on Sunday 19th May with lights out at 2 pm UK time, qualifying is at 3 pm on Saturday.