A Florida Man…Ends Up Dead Last
A weekend for double overtakes in Miami, Monaco and Valencia
Formula One
Miami brought a scorching, slippery and shaken-up race weekend brimming with celebrities and chicanes. On par with the sweltering, rubber-rendering Baku pre-race sessions, tire degradation paired with a jet-black burning tarmac and pinched corners meant little forgiveness for slip-ups.
The race weekend, drenched in American fanfare, offered an unusual starting order that matched the chaotic energy of the raucous city. After three slick practice sessions and one underdog-overshadowed qualifying, pole-position veterans like Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and qualifying overachievers like Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc were knocked down to best-of-the-rest territory.
Leclerc’s hot, or flying, lap was cut short as his blurred red Ferrari pirouetted into the wall during qualifying. The mistake, an aggressive push on a melting track, bumped Leclerc down to seventh and cost Verstappen his one last chance to regain position following an oversteer in turn four.
Leclerc stumbled two places behind his fellow Ferrari, Carlos Sainz, who—finishing fifth—has proven more consistent in keeping the car firmly on the pavement. Ferrari’s floor improvements didn’t seem significant enough to boost either driver’s performance.
Kevin Magnussen (Haas) stunned as he crossed the checkered flag in fourth during Saturday’s qualifying, setting him up for success come Sunday’s race. Unfortunately, the Danish driver fell back into 10th, barely making it within the points. Although he couldn’t hold onto his fourth-place start, Magnussen’s one-point finish for Haas was a welcome sight amid a flurry of finishes behind his teammate, Nico Hulkenberg, and a bleak past few seasons for the American team.
Lewis Hamilton’s black Merc started 13th off the back of a frustrating qualifying that left both Mercedes drivers complaining about the drivability of the once bullish car. Hamilton made an impressive comeback, finishing sixth. The once reigning world champion has consistently fallen behind his teammate’s race pace. George Russel gained two places on Sunday, finishing fourth.
Hamilton’s seven-position hurdle and Yuki Tsunoda’s six-position leap were overlooked as fans focused on the raging Red Bull. However, with the tight threshold between cars muddling the order as pit stops pulled drivers down the ranks, both feats were first-class acts.
Alpine also celebrated two drivers within scoring range as Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon cruised just above 10th.
While the previous two races have looked optimistic for McLaren, Miami was a hard pill to swallow as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished just shy of last in 17th and 19th. Piastri’s fellow rookies didn’t prove to fair much better, with Nyck de Vries shunting his AlphaTauri into Norris on turn one of lap one.
The American newbie who grew up 17 miles from the track had a rough weekend. Logan Sargeant (Williams) finished last while watching the lead cars lap him at his home race.
Verstappen, the triple threat, snagged the top podium place, Driver of the Day and fastest lap along with a double overtake on Leclerc and Magnuson to top it off.
While fans pointed to the gap between the two Red Bulls and Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin as evidence of the dominant team withholding their full engine capacity in previous races, the gap hasn’t differed drastically from one race to another.
The season started with a 38.6-second gap between Alonso in third and Verstappen in first. In Jeddah, Alonso (again in third) was 20.7 seconds behind Perez in first. Australia was the tightest margin with Hamilton (Mercedes) and Alonso finishing 0.179 seconds and 0.769 seconds behind the two-time world champion. Perez jetted to the front in Baku with a 21.2 and 22-second lead ahead of Leclerc in third and Alonso in fourth.
Miami wasn’t revolutionary: The 26.3-second gap between Perez’s Red Bull finishing first and Alonso in third was just above, in mathematical terms, average.
The sunshine state and the American antics that set apart Miami from the previous four races didn’t seem to impress the drivers with NBA-like intros and celebrity cameos. For fans, the charade only added to the entertaining, if not cringe-worthy, weekend.
F1 Academy
F1 Academy, taking over from the women’s F1 W Series, kicked off their second race weekend of the year in Valencia, Spain. The series aims to propel drivers into Formula 3, eventually forming a pipeline through which women can enter F1.
The race weekend format is a thrilling divergence from typical F1 events with two practice sessions, two qualifying sessions and three races. Race two offers a grid shake-up, with a reverse order for the top eight qualifiers, meaning the first-position qualifier will start P8 and the eighth-place qualifier will jump to the front. The experimental grid order offers a more equitable race for the five teams and forces dominant drivers to prove why they’re the best as they bolt down the straights at speeds hitting 149 mph, according to Sky Sports.
The finishing order saw four different drivers claim pole this past weekend across the seven events. Nerea Martí (Campos Racing) started the weekend strong with a win in the first practice session and a successful pole position in the first qualifying. Bianca Bustamante (PREMA Racing) and Hamda Al Qubaisi (MP Motorsport) both had a first-place podium in race one and race two respectively. Marta García (PREMA Racing) outperformed the 14 other drivers by securing pole in the second free practice which set her up for a win in the second qualifying session and a top-step podium in the third race.
García’s double overtake on lap four in race two was made more impressive by the limited time for gaining positions. Race one and three featured 17 laps while race two only included 11.
García also sped past the rest in the first race of the season in Spielberg, Austria. The inaugural race weekend saw the Spanish driver closing out both qualifying sessions in first, setting her up to win both the first and third races.
The PREMA racer currently holds a 26-point championship lead ahead of H. Al Qubaisi with 71 points.
With five races to go and each weekend holding uncertain potential for any and every driver, the championship is anyone’s to claim.
Formula E
Racing returned to the motherland, aka Monaco, with the ninth ePrix of the 2023 season. The track known for impossible overtaking and swerving through the old principality welcomed the electric cars with open arms.
The Monaco F1 Grand Prix averages just 12 overtakes per race, deeming it the most boring race for many fans despite the sport’s history in the small country. Formula E spiced things up. The 2020-2021 season saw 150 position changes in Monaco over the course of 45 minutes.
Why are electric cars supreme at overtaking? According to Motorsport.com, the 2023 models contain more drag causing a greater slipstream, meaning cars that tail those ahead experience reduced air pressure resulting in faster speeds and easy overtakes.
With more than 100 overtakes, this year’s Monte Carlo race proved to be just as exciting.
Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy leads the championship after this past weekend with a first-place podium despite starting ninth on the grid. The Australian driver launched forward as the lights went out and immediately gained two places.
With cars brushing each other around the hairpin corner, it is astounding no cars found the wall. After dropping back one place, Cassidy completed a double overtake while spinning around that tight and historic turn. By lap 13, he was runner-up.
The second Envision Racing driver, Sebastien Buemi had less luck, hanging solidly onto 15th place.
The battle was close between the top three with constant position swaps as Cassidy, Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti) and Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) jolted into first, fell to second and slowed to third interchangeably.
Although a mere 20 points behind Cassidy in the championship, Pascal Wehrlein (Tag Heuer Porsche) had a rough weekend. After starting 12th, the Porsche driver only advanced one position.
Finishing on a safety car, the 29-lap race showed just how close the championship battle is between the 11 teams and 22 drivers.