Verstappen joins an exclusive club of drivers who’ve won from eight grid positions, Hamilton records a rare non-Q3 appearance and Tsunoda’s consistent start to 2023 continues. Here’s a statistic from each driver’s 2023 Miami Grand Prix weekend!
🇳🇱 Max VERSTAPPEN
Despite qualifying only ninth for the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, Max Verstappen now holds the Track Record at Miami International Autodrome. His lap time of 1:26.814, set in Q2 on used tyres, was faster than any lap time set in Q3.
Starting ninth didn’t stop Verstappen from winning the race. He became the first driver to win from ninth on the grid since Niki Lauda at the 1984 French Grand Prix. The ninth grid slot has by far the fewest wins of any grid position in the top ten. Verstappen’s victory was only the fifth from ninth on the grid in Formula 1 history. Verstappen became only the eighth driver to have won from as many as eight different grid positions during his career. He needs to win from one more grid slot to equal Alonso’s record of most different grid slots from which a driver has taken victory.
Recording the 38th victory of his career at the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, Verstappen equalled Sebastian Vettel as the driver to have won the most races with Red Bull. Only Lewis Hamilton (with Mercedes) and Michael Schumacher (with Ferrari) sit ahead of Verstappen on the list of most wins with a single team.
Having also won the inaugural race in Miami, Verstappen’s 2023 Miami Grand Prix win makes this the 18th time that the same driver has won each of the first two races at a new venue in Formula 1.
Scoring points for the 24th race in a row, Verstappen equalled Michael Schumacher for the fourth longest points streak in Formula 1 history.
Verstappen recorded the 23rd fastest lap of his career, equalling Juan Manuel Fangio, Nelson Piquet and Fernando Alonso for 12th place in the list of most fastest laps.
🇲🇽 Sergio PEREZ
Sergio Perez secured pole position for the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, making Miami International Autodrome the second track at which the Mexican driver has taken pole position. Perez finished as runner-up, becoming the first polesitter to do so since the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix. He became the 36th F1 driver to record 30 podium finishes, equalling Juan Pablo Montoya’s number of top three results.
🇲🇨 Charles LECLERC
Bringing out the red flags with a crash in Q3, Charles Leclerc qualified only seventh for the 2023 Miami Grand Prix. He equalled his worst qualifying result of the season to date, having also qualified seventh at the Australian Grand Prix.
🇪🇸 Carlos SAINZ
Carlos Sainz recorded his first top three qualifying result of the 2023 season at the Miami Grand Prix. This was the first time Sainz qualified in the top three since the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Sainz finished the race in fifth place, recording his first consecutive top five results of the 2023 season.
🇬🇧 Lewis HAMILTON
For only the 22nd time in his 315 Grand Prix career, Lewis Hamilton failed to qualify in the top ten. Qualifying 13th, the 2023 Miami Grand Prix marked the first time in Hamilton’s career that he qualified outside of the top six on American soil in his F1 career.
Hamilton gained seven positions over the course of the 2023 Miami Grand Prix. Having started 13th, he finished the race sixth. That saw him record consecutive sixth place finishes for the first time since the 2010 Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix. Hamilton is one of only two drivers who recorded the same result in Miami in both 2022 and 2023. The other is Max Verstappen, who won both races.
🇬🇧 George RUSSELL
George Russell equalled Mercedes’ best Miami Grand Prix qualifying position with sixth place. Having started sixth and finished fourth, Russell made the 2023 Miami Grand Prix the third consecutive race in which the driver starting sixth has finished fourth. Russell equalled his best result of the season to date, having also finished fourth in the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
🇫🇷 Esteban OCON
Both Alpine drivers qualified in the top eight in a conventional qualifying session for the first time since the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix and both of the team’s drivers scored in the race for the second time in 2023. Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon finished eighth and ninth respectively in the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, the reverse of how they finished in the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
🇫🇷 Pierre GASLY
Pierre Gasly qualified in fifth place for the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, recording his first top five qualifying result since the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix. The Frenchman finished eighth in the race, picking up points in the United States for the first time in his Formula 1 career. Gasly’s previous best result in America was 12th place with Toro Rosso in the 2018 United States Grand Prix.
🇬🇧 Lando NORRIS
Lando Norris made his 87th start with McLaren at the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, overtaking Denny Hulme as the driver to have made the ninth most starts with the team. In qualifying, both Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri recorded the third Q1 exits of their respective careers. Piastri has reached that number in five races, while Norris has taken 87 races to do so. Norris finished 17th in the Grand Prix for the third time in the five races so far in the 2023 season.
🇦🇺 Oscar PIASTRI
With both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri out in Q1, McLaren recorded their first double Q1 elimination since the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix. This was Piastri’s third Q1 exit and, qualifying 19th , his first back row qualification.
🇫🇮 Valtteri BOTTAS
Valtteri Bottas gave Alfa Romeo their first Q3 appearance of the season at the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, though the timing of the red flag in the final session meant that Bottas failed to set a lap time in Q3. This was Bottas’ first Q3 appearance since the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix.
🇨🇳 ZHOU Guanyu
Zhou Guanyu is one of three drivers to have competed in both the 2022 and 2023 Miami Grands Prix without scoring a point. The other drivers to have done so are Yuki Tsunoda and Lando Norris.
🇪🇸 Fernando ALONSO
Fernando Alonso lined up on the front row of the grid for the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, recording his first top five start in the United States since the 2007 United States Grand Prix. This was the first time Alonso qualified on the front row of the grid – without any grid penalties – since the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix. It was the first time he did so in a dry Q3 session since the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix.
In the race, Fernando Alonso recorded a podium result for the fourth time in the first five races of the 2023 season. This was his 102nd podium result, putting him one short of equalling Kimi Raikkonen for fifth in the list of most Formula 1 podium finishes. With Alonso finishing in the top three, Spain overtook Austria for ninth on the list of most podiums for a nation in Formula 1. This was the 119th podium finish for a Spaniard.
🇨🇦 Lance STROLL
Lance Stroll was eliminated in Q1 at the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, ending Aston Martin’s 100% Q3 appearance record in 2023. It was Stroll’s worst qualifying performance since the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix.
12th place for Lance Stroll in the race marked the first time he has finished a Grand Prix without picking up points since the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix, where he finished 15th. Neverthelesss, from the two races held in Miami so far, it is Stroll who has gained the most positions. He gained ten positions in 2022 and six in 2023.
🇩🇰 Kevin MAGNUSSEN
Qualifying fourth for the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, Kevin Magnussen equalled his best ever starting position for a Grand Prix. He also started fourth on debut at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix and at the 2014 German Grand Prix. This marked Magnussen’s first Q3 appearance since the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix – a race weekend in which he secured pole position for the F1 Sprint.
Finishing the race in tenth place, Magnussen recorded his second point of the 2023 season. He also scored a single point with a tenth place finish at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
🇩🇪 Nico HULKENBERG
Nico Hulkenberg made this the second consecutive Miami Grand Prix in which a Haas driver finished 15th. Mick Schumacher finished 15th with the team in 2022.
🇯🇵 Yuki TSUNODA
Yuki Tsunoda was out-qualified by Nyck de Vries for the first time as AlphaTauri team-mates at the 2023 Miami Grand Prix. Tsunoda could qualify no higher than 17th, recording his second Q1 elimination of the season. 17th place marked Tsunoda’s worst qualifying result since the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix.
For the fourth time in the last six races, Tsunoda finished in 11th place. Tsunoda is having a consistent start to the 2023 season, having finished 10th in the other two races so far this year.
🇳🇱 Nyck DE VRIES
Nyck De Vries was eliminated in Q2 at the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, qualifying in 15th. De Vries equalled his best qualifying result of the season so far. He also qualified 15th at the Australian Grand Prix.
🇹🇭 Alex ALBON
Qualifying in 11th place for the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, Alex Albon maintained his record of out-qualifying his team-mate at every race in the 2023 season. Fernando Alonso is the only other driver to have done so after the first five races.
🇺🇸 Logan SARGEANT
On his first home race appearance, Logan Sargeant was eliminated in Q1 at the 2023 Miami Grand Prix. Setting the slowest time of the 20 drivers, this was the second time that a Williams driver has qualified on the back row at the Miami Grand Prix. Nicholas Latifi qualified 19th last year. It was the second time that Sargeant has qualified last, having also set the slowest qualifying time at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.