Nicholas Latifi (P14): 4/10
Nicholas Latifi is settling into a worrying pattern of total inertia in 2022. It's not that he's done anything majorly wrong in recent races, more than it's been so thoroughly tepid. Slowest of those completing push laps in all three practice sessions and again in qualifying, he started the race in effective 17th place after Esteban Ocon missed qualifying and both Aston Martins started from pit lane. A very early pit stop in the race for Yuki Tsunoda staved off the inevitable ignominy of running in last place, but that eventually came to pass on lap 24. A second stop by the AlphaTauri briefly saw him ahead of the Japanese driver again, and incidents for Sebastian Vettel and both Haas cars meant that he finished in what might appear to be a moderately decent 14th place. However, looking past the opportunities he had been gifted on Sunday, the reality is that Latifi was unquestionably the slowest man in Miami and deserved no better than last place at any point.
Daniel Ricciardo (P13): 5.5/10
Daniel Ricciardo must have been hoping that sixth place in Melbourne would mark the renaissance of his sophomore season at McLaren, but finishing last at Imola and now an undistinguished performance in Miami appear to have undone a lot of that heard work and progress. He started off with P10 in first practice but gradually slid backwards from there, and while he made the cut at the end of the first round of qualifying he wasn't able to do much more than that, eventually lining up in 14th place on the grid for Sunday's race. He made a good start and was up to 11th at the end of the first lap - both Aston Martins being forced to start from pit lane a notable factor, as was George Russell initially struggling to get going on the hard tyres. Ricciardo initially succumbed to both Haas cars before overtaking Yuki Tsunoda, but he was then dispatched by the recovering Russell. Despite starting on the medium tyres, he made the compound last longer than anyone else before pitting on lap 31 but the strategy didn't really pan out and once he did make his stop he found himself down in 17th. The timing of the safety car for his team mate Lando Norris' accident helped those who had started on the hard tyres but did little for Ricciardo. He picked up some spots due to a cluster of late incidents and retirements, and passed Lance Stroll with three laps to go. Alonso's brace of penalties should have gifted Ricciardo a point for tenth place, but but he was handed his own penalty for gaining a lasting advantage by leaving the track leaving him in P13. It rather summed up a dispiriting weekend for the Aussie.
