2023 Miami Grand Prix

## Lap Leaders

The **2023 Miami Grand Prix** (officially known as the **Formula 1 Crypto.com Grand Prix 2023**) was the fifth race of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship, held at Miami International Autodrome on the weekend of May 5 to May 7, 2023.

## Background

### Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Max Verstappen leads the World Drivers' Championship with 93 points, 6 points from his teammate Sergio Pérez, second, and 33 from Fernando Alonso in third. Red Bull Racing, with 180 points, lead the Constructors' Championship from Aston Martin by 93 points and Mercedes by 104 points.

### Entrants

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.

### Tyre choices

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C2, C3, and C4 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event.

### Track changes

The first and second DRS activation points were moved 75 metres (246 ft) farther ahead, being positioned 105 metres (344 ft) after turn 9 and 525 metres (1,722 ft) after turn 16, respectively.

## Qualifying

### Qualifying Report

Qualifying was held on 6 May 2023 at 16:00 local time (UTC−4).

During the first segment, a potential impeding incident between Lewis Hamilton and Kevin Magnussen was reported, though no further action from the race stewards was taken. By the end of the session, the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, Yuki Tsunoda, Lance Stroll, and Logan Sargeant were all knocked out of the session.

The second segment saw Sergio Pérez make contact with the wall at turn four, his car was undamaged. Alexander Albon, Nico Hülkenberg, Lewis Hamilton, Zhou Guanyu, and Nyck de Vries were all knocked out. The third segment saw the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc spin out and hit the wall at turn 7, following a similar incident during the second practice session; the session would be stopped prematurely, bringing a red-flagged end to the session. Leclerc would start seventh; Pérez took his third career pole position ahead of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz Jr.; Haas's Kevin Magnussen took fourth. Max Verstappen was unable to set a time and ended up ninth after Leclerc's crash brought out the red flag; Valtteri Bottas was also unable to set a time.

## Race

### Race Report

The race was held on May 7, 2023, at 15:30 local time (UTC−4).

Polesitter Sergio Pérez kept the lead going into the first turn; his teammate Max Verstappen, who started in ninth, lost a position to Esteban Ocon, but regained it going into turn twelve. Meanwhile, Nyck de Vries's car locked up, going into the rear of Lando Norris' McLaren, and Lewis Hamilton was caught behind Nico Hülkenberg. Norris and De Vries found themselves at the back of the grid, Norris seventeenth and De Vries eighteenth. Logan Sargeant went into the pit lane on lap two to swap his front wing, switching his medium tyres to a hard compound in the process. Norris, who started the race on the soft compound, would follow suit; Oscar Piastri would also do so by lap five. Charles Leclerc would try to pass the Haas of Kevin Magnussen for seventh, but he went wide at turn one. His teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. locked up going into the pit lane, coming out in seventh place; he was given a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. His final finishing position was not affected. Having locked up in the pit lane the lap prior, Sainz would then lock up again at turn one while trying to pass Hülkenberg. With Fernando Alonso going into pit lane soon after Sainz had stopped, he exited in fifth and passed both Sainz and Ocon.
Verstappen would make his way up the field, starting with the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas. He would find soon himself behind Leclerc and Magnussen, passing both for sixth. He then passed George Russell, Pierre Gasly, Sainz, and Alonso. Verstappen would slowly make his way up to Pérez and he would pass his teammate during the closing stages of the race. He would go on to win the race, with Pérez and Alonso making up the final two places on the podium, respectively.

## Notes

1. ↑ Includes one point for fastest lap.
2. ↑ Carlos Sainz received a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. His final position was not affected by the penalty.