F1i's Driver Ratings for the 2023 Miami GP

Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull Racing RB19 leads at the start of the race. 07.05.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 5, Miami Grand Prix, Miami, Florida, USA, Race Day. - www.xpbimages.com, EMail: requests@xpbimages.com © Copyright: Price / XPB Images'
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There had been high hopes that this year's Miami Grand Prix would prove to be a thriller, but in the end that wasn't the case. The slippery new surface caught out several teams and drivers, while at the sharp end the sheer dominance of Red Bull and Max Verstappen rather squelched any sense of excitement. But all 20 drivers did get to the finish, giving us a rare level playing field to see how they all did.

Logan Sargeant (P20): 4.5/10
Logan Sargeant will have enjoyed the experience of driving in his first home Grand Prix, but that's about as far as the good news goes for the young American. The slippery track and the tricky nature of the street circuit didn't make this a good circuit for a rookie driver to shine and it took all his skills just to avoid finding somewhere to crash. In the end he kept it mostly clean save for some front wing damage on the opening lap requiring an early visit to pit lane for repairs. Being in the bottom two on Friday and then qualifying on the back row on Saturday showed that either he or perhaps the Williams FW45 were out of their depth in the Miami marina paddling pool, but he did survive the whole race distance (less one lap after being passed by the leaders). It's all good experience for the 22-year-old from Fort Lauderdale just up the road from Miami; it'll be interesting to see what he does in Austin and Vegas later in the year.

Oscar Piastri (P19): 5/10
He finished in the points in Melbourne and was only one step away from the top ten in Baku, but any sense of progress or momentum for Oscar Piastri and McLaren as a whole was stopped dead in its tracks this weekend in Miami. He had a surprisingly strong start to the weekend, finishing FP1 in 12th ahead of his team mate Lando Norris, but it was all downhill from there and by the time it got to qualifying he was last but one in qualifying and duly started from the back row. Soft tyres gave him an initial advantage and he sprang up to 14th place on the first lap, but the compound was a bad choice and he was obliged to pit for hard tyres just five laps into the race which sent him tumbling down the order. After that he started to suffer from ERS-related technical issues and he became lodged at the tail end of a long DRS train from which there was no escape. Along with Logan Sargeant, he was one of only two drivers to be lapped during the 57 laps in Miami.