Tag: Miami Grand Prix

Monaco Grand Prix

Image obtained from F1.com

Boring!

To try and get away from the race in Monaco being a precession, the FIA introduced a mandatory two stop race. The hype was there before the race; the TV pundits were pondering when people would stop and what strategies the teams might employ. What was to come, I don’t think anyone except the teams considered.

Instead of throwing some intrigue and strategy into the race, what we got was a grid of drivers driving as slowly as they could. At one point Norris in the lead was lapping almost 10 seconds a lap slower than his qualifying lap and some drivers were going even slower. It seemed the race strategy was to sacrifice the lower placed driver to get them to hold as many people up as possible, to generate a large enough gap for the lead driver to pit comfortably. It was an absolute shower of sh!t.

Has F1 Outgrown Monaco?

In short yes. The current era of F1 cars are too long, too heavy and too wide and with 2026 regulation changes coming, it is only going to get worse. The streets of Monaco are simply not wide enough to get past, all the lead driver needs to do is sit in the middle of the road and its game over. With the drivers lapping so slowly, it also takes out any jeopardy of mistakes and accidents happening after the opening laps.

What really grinds my gears is the fact you have other historic tracks that produce some great racing, that are constantly fighting to keep their place on the grid. In my opinion, it is criminal that circuits like Silverstone and Spa are always at risk of being dropped off the calendar and yet this circuit, that has not produced a decent race in years, seemingly is impervious. We all know the reason for this, it’s because of the people the event attracts. The rich and famous, most of whom don’t pay to attend and don’t care about the sport.

Formula Time Trial

Considering this is supposed to be the pinnacle of motorsport, this weekend’s race saw the drivers driving as slow as they possibly could. Don’t get me wrong this happens regularly at other races, but this race with the introduction of the mandatory pit stops has exasperated the formula time trial experience the fans get.

There seems to have also been some confusion for the fans at the race, many of whom seemed to be unaware of the regulation change for the race, with many fans left puzzled as to why Verstappen pitted from the lead with 1 lap to go.

Redemption for Norris

Norris secured a stunning pole for the race with the fastest ever lap around the principality. He followed it up with what was really a comfortable win, Leclerc never really looked like he was able to keep up with the McLaren and the only real time for concern was when he was behind Verstappen, who left it as late as possible to make his final pit stop, hoping for a safety car which never came.

Around the grid

Everyone else pretty much finished where they started. Alonso suffered an engine failure after running strongly in the top 10 and Gasly retired after running into the back of Tsunoda on the 7th lap.

A shout out to Hadjar who is proving me wrong by having another solid race, he was helped by his teammate holding everyone up but he made no mistakes and achieved the best result he could.

Results

1st	Lando Norris	11th	George Russell
2nd	Charles Leclerc	12th	Oliver Bearman
3rf	Oscar Piastri	13th	Franco Colapinto
4th	Max Verstappen	14th	Gabriel Bortoleto
5th	Lewis Hamilton	15th	Lance Stroll
6th	Isack Hadjar	16th	Nico Hulkenberg
7th	Estaban Ocon	17th	Yuki Tsunoda
8th	Liam Lawson	18th	Kimi Antonelli
9th	Alex Albon	DNF	Fernando Alonso
10th	Carlos Sainz	DNF	Pierre Gasly

Race Rating: 1/10

What’s next?

Barcelona is next up, it will be the last time the Spanish Grand Prix will be held in Barcelona for some time with the introduction of a boring street race in Madrid for 2026.

Let me know what you think below:

Miami Grand Prix

Image obtained from BBC Sport

Piastri Hatrick Hero!

Oscar Pastri became the first McLaren driver since Mika Hakkinen (Jerez 97, Australia 98 & Brazil 98) to win 3 races in a row. A mind-blowing stat, which shows the torrid time McLaren have had in the years since. It was a win that was in some ways gifted to him, due to the shenanigans on the first lap. He made the most of the opportunity given to him and in the superior car, once he got past Max, he was never really going to be trouble.

Norris and Verstappen Clash Again

Verstappen out braked himself into turn one which allowed Norris through, it looked like Norris was ahead going into the slight right hand of turn two but was forced off by another aggressive defensive move, the stewards however saw nothing wrong with the move. The incident cost Norris a potential lead and a potential win, he dropped down to 6th and by the time he got back into second Piastri was to far ahead.

“But it is the way it is with Max, it’s crash or don’t pass”

Lando Norris on the incident with Verstappen

Norris was understandably frustrated with Verstappen after the race, but he needs to reassess how he approaches these battles with him. In my opinion he should have had the foresight to know that he was going to be squeezed out, he had the far superior car. He should have taken a step back and waited to get him a few laps later, that’s easy to say sat on the sofa. After watching the battle had with Piastri and compare that to his battle with Norris, I do feel that he tries to push Norris further than he does others. I don’t know if it’s because they are friends or if he knows that he can get easily get into his head and bully him, but I would like to see Norris be a bit more aggressive towards him, but he needs to try and be smarter.

Tea Break Time at Ferrari

As the race weekends go by it seems to be getting worse for Hamilton and Ferrari. This weekend the traditional slowness of Ferrari’s decision making potentially cost them more points, they left the decision to allow Hamilton past Leclerc go for far too long. Hamilton cooked his tyres and could make no significant in-roads on Antonelli and eventually gave the place back to Leclerc.

Hamilton on team radio asked if the team were having a tea break and it transpires that they told Hamilton they would be swapping positions but failed to relay that message to Leclerc. Towards the end of the race as Hamilton let Leclerc back past, he sarcastically asked if he was to allow Sainz past as well.

There are bigger problems at Ferrari however, the car is not consistent, and the Miami weekend has been their weakest showing of the season so far. They are quickly losing ground to Mercedes and Red Bull.

Antonelli Shines in Sprint Quali

Antonelli produced a great showing in Sprint qualifying. He became the youngest driver to take a pole position in F1, although records in the sprint technically do not count towards the main overall statistics in F1 it is still a great accomplishment. Unfortunately, both races did not go his way, and he fell back down the order.

Around the grid

The crisis at Red Bull just a few races ago appears to have been a knee jerk reaction to a bad weekend. The car is clearly more suited to Verstappen’s style, and he clearly gets more out of it, but it is by no means a slow car. Take McLaren out of the equation and Verstappen would lead the championship.

Mercedes had a strong weekend, although qualifying is clearly their strength. Russell benefited from the VSC around his pit window that pushed him into 3rd.

Williams have had another strong weekend. Albon scored decent points and Sainz also finished in the points, they solidify their position as the top of the midfield teams. Hopefully they can carry this form on the rest of the season, but it just shows what is possible when you put two top drivers in the car and you don’t have to spend each weekend rebuilding it.

Since the Miami race, Alpine have a new Team Principle and driver. I said before the season started that it wouldn’t be long before Colapinto was in the race seat and I wasn’t wrong. I will cover that in more detail in another post.

Not much else to say for the other teams really, Hadjar had another strong showing. The race was a race of two halves. The second part of the race was a bit flatter, and the grandstands looked empty towards the end.

Results

1st	Oscar Piastri	11th	Isack Hadjar
2nd	Lando Norris	12th	Estaban Ocon
3rf	George Russell	13th	Pierre Gasly
4th	Max Verstappen	14th	Nico Hulkenberg
5th	Alex Albon	15th	Fernando Alonso
6th	Kimi Antonelli	16th	Lance Stroll
7th	Charles Leclerc	DNF	Liam Lawson
8th	Lewis Hamilton	DNF	Gabriel Bortoleto
9th	Carlos Sainz	DNF	Oliver Bearman
10th	Yuki Tsunoda	DNF	Jack Doohan

Race Rating: 6/10