2024 Miami Thoughts
THE BIG PICTURE: Luck is all about timing and taking advantage of it. We can talk all day long about safety car deployment and car performance in dirty vs. clean air. But when it came down to mano-a-mano, Lando Norris grabbed the Red Bull dragon by the tail and slayed it convincingly.
EVENT: Everybody who attends in person raves about the atmosphere and energy. Who are we to argue?
TRACK: It was a very difficult track for teams to get a handle on this year. Slight temperature or wind changes had drastic effects even from run to run.
SPRINT QUALIFYING: Once again when it matters most Verstappen comes through, Leclerc surprises after missing most of FP1, Ricciardo shocks the field, McLaren's high hopes are dashed, Mercedes fails again, and Williams seems to be getting worse.
SPRINT: This is why a sprint race at a street circuit is not a good idea even if some of the lower position battles were fun to watch. And kudos to much maligned Ricciardo for a solid drive.
SPRINT START: Verstappen is very aggressive, Leclerc still gives it a try, and Norris is the innocent victim of a three-car domino affect all kicked off by Hamilton diving into Turn 1 which also ends Stroll's race.
QUALIFYING: Verstappen continues his sweep of poles this season, Ferraris get ahead of Perez, McLarens fail again in Q3, Mercedes continues to look lost, Stroll outdoes Alonso for the second time this weekend, and Ricciardo is back to failing in Q1.
RACE: You wanted to believe Red Bull may be beatable here but were afraid to believe it. Well, McLaren believed it!
START: Leclerc gets off to a slow start, but Perez messes up trying to take advantage of it, while Piastri does take advantage jumping three spots to third, as Russell and Alonso also make large leaps.
NORRIS: Absolutely crushed it the last 25 laps. A well deserved debut win.
PIASTRI: Pitted one lap too early and then got caught up in a Sainz tussle.
MCLAREN: Their strategy won this race. They realized they could go long on medium tires, so waited as long as they could for a possible safety car. And they got it. They made their own luck.
VERSTAPPEN: It was foreshadowed when Max was genuinely surprised at the speed Norris had in the middle of the race. He told his engineer that pace was insane.
PEREZ: Just imagine if Sergio had taken out his teammate at Turn 1 at the start. Talk about inches...
RED BULL: It turned out to be similar to Singapore, where the car just didn't suit itself to this sort of track.
LECLERC: Beat Sainz for the second race in a row.
SAINZ: Also pitted a lap too soon. And then drove a bit desperate.
FERRARI: They now have their work cut out for them having to deal with McLaren as well.
MERCEDES: Just flat out inconsistent.
TSUNODA: Another solid run ... when it counted.
RICCIARDO: Another disappointing run ... when it counted.
ALPINE: They got a point!
HULKENBERG: As expected, heading over to the Audi project next year.
MAGNUSSEN: There is no truth to the rumor they are going to rename the FIA penalty system to the Magnussen penalty system.
SARGEANT: What a lousy way to end his hometown grand prix.
NEWEY: The silly season has really kicked off now because the most valuable free agent is now on the market. And it's not a driver, but the greatest designer in F1 history.
F1 ACADEMY: This time it was Brit Abbi Pulling who grabbed two dominating wins both from pole. Breakout performances where from American Chloe Chambers who started seventh and finished third on Saturday with possibly the move of the weekend passing two cars at the same time on the outside. And Filipina Bianca Bustamante who started and finished second on Sunday.
WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Smile.
STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 15 -- A lot has been said about Lando Norris having the record for most podiums without a win. Now that has ended, but he did tie the record for most podiums before getting his first win with four other drivers -- Mika Hakkinen, Eddie Irvine, Jean Alesi, and Patrick Depailler.
HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: This isn't the first time Miami has seen street racing. The long standing Grand Prix of Miami at Bicentennial Park took place as an IMSA sanctioned sportscar event for 1983-1993, Trans Am headlined it in 1994, and CART IndyCar took over in 1995. An American Le Mans/CART IndyCar doubleheader event took place at Bayfront Park in 2002-2003. CART also ran at Tamiami Park in 1985-1988.
TWEET OF THE WEEKEND: From @Planet_F1: BREAKING: Kevin Magnussen has gone 10 minutes without a penalty. A new personal record this season.
QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: You could hear the nerves from the McLaren pit wall when they gave this instruction to Oscar Piastri who was fighting hard with Carlos Sainz: "Oscar, reminder, Lando is leading the race - we do not want to cause a Safety Car here."
QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: David Coulthard commentating on F1 TV, "Anymore penalties and Magnussen will find himself back at the hotel."
SCHEDULE: The McLaren upgrades obviously worked. Big time. And they feel Miami wasn't even the track to properly show them off. Yet, Red Bull should be extremely strong at a track like Imola. We're eagerly looking forward to it.
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