Miami Grand Prix Driver Ratings
RaceFans driver ratings for the Miami Grand Prix
Our driver ratings assess driver performance across all three days of a grand prix weekend.
Naturally, performances during competitive sessions – qualifying, sprint races and grands prix – will carry the most weight in each driver's rating.
However, practice performance can also affect a driver's rating in the event of a major mistake, such as a crash, consistent errors throughout practice sessions or if a driver shows a notably impressive speed throughout all free practice sessions relative to their team mate.
The system attempts to take into account the relative performance of each car and the expected results from that, meaning that a driver who wins a race in a car clearly superior to the rest of the field may not necessarily score as highly as a driver who claims a low points finish in a midfield car.
Ratings also attempt to take into account mitigating factors outside of a driver's control. If a driver is forced to miss considerable track time due to car problems, is the victim of being blocked in qualifying, finishes far lower than expected because of a heavily botched pit stop or suffers any other misfortune they cannot be reasonably expected to control, their rating should not be penalised.
Max Verstappen - 7/10 Sprint race start: Pole Sprint race finish: Winner Qualified: Pole (+3 places ahead of team mate, -0.219s) Start: Held position Strategy: One-stop (M-H) Finished: 2nd (+2 places ahead of team mate) +/- Verstappen dominated the opening two days of the Miami Grand Prix weekend and looked like he would take a routine victory on Sunday until his error led to him clattering the bollard at the chicane.
Although Norris had some good luck to get the lead from Verstappen, the world champion could not match the McLaren on the hards and accepted he was beaten on merit after the race.
Still, Verstappen had more to be satisfied with in his performance than he had to be frustrated with.
Sergio Perez - 5/10 Perez almost ended Red Bull's race at the first corner Sprint race start: 3rd Sprint race finish: 3rd Qualified: 4th (-3 places behind team mate, +0.219s) Start: -1 place Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-M) Finished: 4th (-2 places behind team mate) +/- Beaten to front row for sprint by Leclerc after admitting to not "maximising" soft tyres - lost out to Ricciardo at start of sprint race but reclaimed it to finish third - qualified fourth behind both Ferraris on grand prix grid after losing tenth with error - almost took out team mate at turn one then pitted for hards early - pitted for used mediums under SC to restart sixth - held off Hamilton over final stint to finish fifth.
A very average weekend for Perez. He did not make any major errors, but a couple of small mistakes at crucial times prevented him from better results. He was very fortunate he did not wipe out Verstappen at the start of the grand prix and while he was only seven seconds from his team mate by the finish, he had lost out to both Ferraris too. Not his best performance of the year so far.
Lewis Hamilton - 6/10 Hamilton put Saturday's frustrations behind him Sprint race start: 12th Sprint race finish: 16th Qualified: 8th (-1 place behind team mate, +0.04s) Start: +1 place Strategy: One-stop (H-M) Finished: 6th (+2 places ahead of team mate) +/- Eliminated from SQ2 but virtually matched team mate's best time - lucky to not get a penalty for lunge at start of sprint race but penalised for pit lane speeding - lined up alongside team mate in eighth on grand prix grid - started on hards and battled with Hulkenberg before pitting just before SC - passed Tsunoda after restart but couldn't find way by Perez to finish sixth.
A decent recovery for Hamilton, who described his Miami Grand Prix experience as "the best day of racing I've had this year", after securing his first top six finish of the season. While unable to beat his team mate over a single lap across the weekend, his race pace was certainly superior, especially on the hards. However, his sprint race performance was not Hamilton at his best or his most aware by any means.
George Russell - 5/10 Sprint race start: 11th Sprint race finish: 12th Qualified: 7th (+1 place ahead of team mate, -0.04s) Start: -3 places Strategy: One-stop (M-H) Finished: 8th (-2 places behind team mate) +/- Failed to reach SQ3 by 0.013s but just beat team mate - dropped four