Verstappen takes the inaugural Miami Grand Prix win, Leclerc inherits the longest finishing streak and Albon reaches 200 points scored. Here are the facts and statistics from the 2022 Miami Grand Prix.
VERSTAPPEN WINS IN MIAMI
Max Verstappen took victory in the 2022 Miami Grand Prix, taking the 23rd victory of his Formula 1 career. He equals Nelson Piquet and Nico Rosberg for 12th in the all-time list of most F1 wins.
Verstappen becomes the 17th driver to record wins at multiple World Championship events in the United States, as well as the 20th driver to record four podiums in the country.
This was Red Bull’s third win in the United States – they also won the 2013 and 2021 United States Grands Prix at Circuit of the Americas.
Verstappen’s win makes this the first time that Mercedes have not won the first race at a brand new venue since Lewis Hamilton took victory for McLaren at the 2012 United States Grand Prix. It was also the first time since then that the first race at a new venue was not won by the polesitter and the first race at a new venue not to be won by a Mercedes-powered car since Sebastian Vettel’s victory for Red Bull at the 2011 Indian Grand Prix.
Verstappen recorded the 63rd podium finish of his career, moving ahead of David Coulthard and into the top ten of most podiums in Formula 1. Verstappen’s podium was also his 63rd with Red Bull. That sees him equal Alain Prost’s number of podiums with McLaren; fourth in the all-time list of most podiums with a single team.
Setting the fastest lap of the race for the 18th time in his career, Verstappen also equals Coulthard for 20th in the all-time list of most fastest laps. This is the first time Verstappen has set the fastest lap at consecutive races since the 2021 Azerbaijan and French Grands Prix.
Verstappen’s win takes the total number of points scored by car number 1 to over 4,000. It is only the second car number to reach that milestone, after car number 5.
The 2022 Miami Grand Prix was the first race at a new venue not to be won from the front row since the 2010 Korean Grand Prix.
Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day. It’s the fifth time he has won the accolade in the past six races in the United States.
ON THE PODIUM
Both Ferrari drivers finished on the podium, making this the first time since the 2017 United States Grand Prix that both Ferrari have finished in the top three in the United States. It’s also the first time both Ferraris have finished on the podium in the first race at a new venue since the team’s 1-2 finish at the 2004 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc’s second place means that Clay Regazzoni remains the last driver to win the first race at a new venue in the United States from pole position. He did so at Long Beach, for the 1976 United States Grand Prix West.
This was Leclerc’s 17th podium finish, seeing him equal Alberto Ascari, Keke Rosberg and Sergio Perez for 57th in the all-time list.
Leclerc became the first polesitter to finish as runner-up since Lewis Hamilton at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.
With Lando Norris retiring from the race, Leclerc is now the driver with the longest active finishing streak in F1. He has finished all of the last 16 races, with the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix being the last race which he failed to finish.
Carlos Sainz returned to the podium for the first time since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. This was the ninth podium result of the Spaniard’s career.
THE POINTS SCORERS
After starting 12th, George Russell finished in the top five once again. He maintains his record of finishing in the top five at every race so far in 2022. He is the only driver to have done so.
Lewis Hamilton finished in sixth place, making this the first race in the United States which he has competed in and finished outside of the top four.
With seventh place, Valtteri Bottas maintains his record of scoring points in every race which he has finished so far with Alfa Romeo.
After starting 20th on the grid, Esteban Ocon picked up four points with an 8th place result. He is the second driver to score from 20th on the grid so far this year, with Alex Albon also having scored from 20th in Australia.
Ocon gained 12 positions from his grid slot, which is the most he’s ever gained in a Grand Prix. However, he made up only nine of those positions on track. The two Aston Martins started from the pit lane, while his team-mate Fernando Alonso was demoted from eighth place following a post race penalty.
Alex Albon scored points for the second time this year, finishing in ninth place. His two points take his career total to 200 points. Albon is one of only seven drivers to have scored 200 points without winning a Grand Prix.
Having started from the pit lane, Lance Stroll finished the Miami Grand Prix in tenth place. He scored a point for the second race in a row. It’s the first time he’s scored at successive races since the 2021 French and Styrian Grands Prix.
With both Stroll and team-mate Sebastian Vettel starting from the pit lane, this was the first race to have multiple pit lane starters since the 2021 Dutch Grand Prix. That was also the last time a driver scored having started from the pits.
THE OTHER FINISHERS
After picking up two 5-second time penalties and dropping out of the top ten, Fernando Alonso became the first driver to fail to score from 11th on the grid since the 2021 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Nicholas Latifi recorded his best finish of the season to date with 14th place. He and Mick Schumacher are the only full-time drivers yet to score in 2022.
THE RETIREES
Zhou Guanyu was the first driver to retire from the Miami Grand Prix. He recorded the first retirement of his Formula 1 career. This was also the second DNF for Alfa Romeo in the 2022 season.
Lando Norris was eliminated from the race in a collision with Pierre Gasly. Norris recorded his first retirement since he was taken out on the first lap at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix. Gasly recorded his second retirement of the year.
Sebastian Vettel failed to finish the race following a collision with Mick Schumacher. It was Vettel’s second retirement in the last three races.
Kevin Magnussen pulled into the pits before reaching the finish line. As a result, he recorded his first non-finish since the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix. The Miami Grand Prix is only the second race of the year at which he has not scored.