The seeds of Sergio Perez’s defeat in the Miami Grand Prix were sown in the opening stint of the race, his Red Bull team believe.
Despite starting from pole position on the medium tyre compound, Perez failed to pull out a significant lead over team mate Max Verstappen, who closed in on him despite starting from ninth place on the hard tyre compound.“I think the damage was done to Checo in that first stint and he didn’t have enough of a buffer for later in the race,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said afterwards.
Verstappen emerged from the pack of cars which separated him from Perez by lap 15. At that point there was just 3.7 seconds between them, and Verstappen was easily able to draw close to Perez and put him under pressure.
“The first ten laps [Perez] was very much managing the pace,” said Horner. “I think he was nervous about the front-right.
“As we started to see other teams start to get a bit of graining, I think he was driving well within himself and the car to protect that front-right.”
While Perez replaced his medium tyres after 20 laps, other drivers such as Fernando Alonso and Zhou Guanyu went further on them. Horner suspects Perez needed to increase his pace earlier in the race to stand a chance of out-running his team mate.
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“He started to push after the first 10 laps and started to build a lead. I think probably with 20-20 hindsight, if he looked at the race again he’d push harder in that first stint because the medium tyre actually turned out to be a very good tyre as we saw with Fernando actually going quite a long way.”
However Verstappen’s sheer pace was always going to make it difficult for Perez to contain the threat from his team mate, said Horner.
“On that first stint when Checo pitted he was know just over a second, a second-and-a-half behind. And then the real crux of the race was the next 22 laps of Max on the hard tyre basically was a race against the stopwatch and on 20-lap older tyres. That’s where he was truly impressive to match the lap times, sometimes better the lap times of what Checo was able to do. That was where he won the race.”
Verstappen failed to rejoin the track ahead of Perez after his pit stop, due in part to a slightly slow pit stop. However Verstappen lost no time passing his team mate for the lead of the race and was on his way to an emphatic victory.
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2023 Miami Grand Prix lap chart
The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
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2023 Miami Grand Prix race chart
The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
2023 Miami Grand Prix lap times
All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded). Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and toggle drivers using the control below:
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2023 Miami Grand Prix fastest laps
Each driver’s fastest lap:
| Rank | No. | Driver | Car | Lap time | Gap | Average speed (kph) | Lap no. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | 1’29.708 | 217.1 | 56 | |
| 2 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1’30.519 | 0.811 | 215.16 | 57 |
| 3 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | 1’30.560 | 0.852 | 215.06 | 57 |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’30.669 | 0.961 | 214.8 | 57 |
| 5 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1’30.862 | 1.154 | 214.35 | 44 |
| 6 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | 1’30.901 | 1.193 | 214.26 | 36 |
| 7 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1’31.015 | 1.307 | 213.99 | 57 |
| 8 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT | 1’31.038 | 1.330 | 213.93 | 56 |
| 9 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1’31.143 | 1.435 | 213.69 | 56 |
| 10 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 1’31.362 | 1.654 | 213.17 | 55 |
| 11 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’31.434 | 1.726 | 213.01 | 57 |
| 12 | 21 | Nyck de Vries | AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT | 1’31.562 | 1.854 | 212.71 | 57 |
| 13 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’31.691 | 1.983 | 212.41 | 53 |
| 14 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’31.736 | 2.028 | 212.3 | 56 |
| 15 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’31.838 | 2.130 | 212.07 | 56 |
| 16 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | 1’31.852 | 2.144 | 212.04 | 55 |
| 17 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | 1’31.971 | 2.263 | 211.76 | 55 |
| 18 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’32.006 | 2.298 | 211.68 | 56 |
| 19 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | 1’32.384 | 2.676 | 210.82 | 50 |
| 20 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’32.401 | 2.693 | 210.78 | 47 |
2023 Miami Grand Prix tyre strategies
The tyre strategies for each driver:
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2023 Miami Grand Prix pit stop times
How long each driver’s pit stops took:
| Rank | No. | Driver | Team | Complete stop time (s) | Gap to best (s) | Stop no. | Lap no. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 21.884 | 1 | 20 | |
| 2 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 21.942 | 0.058 | 1 | 39 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 22.068 | 0.184 | 1 | 17 |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 22.15 | 0.266 | 1 | 37 |
| 5 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 22.205 | 0.321 | 1 | 5 |
| 6 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 22.278 | 0.394 | 1 | 18 |
| 7 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 22.335 | 0.451 | 1 | 17 |
| 8 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 22.39 | 0.506 | 1 | 36 |
| 9 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 22.417 | 0.533 | 1 | 15 |
| 10 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 22.482 | 0.598 | 1 | 22 |
| 11 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 22.616 | 0.732 | 1 | 14 |
| 12 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 22.631 | 0.747 | 1 | 24 |
| 13 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 22.651 | 0.767 | 1 | 42 |
| 14 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 22.688 | 0.804 | 1 | 45 |
| 15 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 22.796 | 0.912 | 1 | 31 |
| 16 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 23.12 | 1.236 | 1 | 33 |
| 17 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 23.158 | 1.274 | 1 | 15 |
| 18 | 21 | Nyck de Vries | AlphaTauri | 23.487 | 1.603 | 1 | 15 |
| 19 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 24.09 | 2.206 | 1 | 4 |
| 20 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 48.938 | 27.054 | 1 | 2 |
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BassClef (@bassclef)
8th May 2023, 13:17
Did Perez’s engineer tell him to push when they saw the rate at which Max was coming through the field? My guess is no.
Todfod (@todfod)
8th May 2023, 13:55
@bassclef
My guess is Perez was driving as fast as he could. He was just no match for Verstappen.. like most of his races since he’s joined Red Bull.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
8th May 2023, 14:13
I am 100% certain Perez and his engineer spoke about this pre-race. They already knew Max would be coming strong, so you can’t tell me Perez was caught by surprise over this.
As @todfod said, I think this was all Perez had. Max had half a second on him all weekend and that did not change in the race. Perez could occasionally match his laptime for maybe one lap, but when Max is doing it lap after lap and Checo isn’t, eventually something’s gotta give.
BasCB (@bascb)
9th May 2023, 11:50
I think Perez might have been able to go quicker at the start of that stint, but then his pace would have dropped off more towards the end. It could be that the result would have been somewhat better with hindsight, but I am pretty sure Perez himself (nor his engineer) felt confident driving faster would help him out.
We’ve seen often enough that as soon as the fronts are what limits pace more than the rear Max has been better with these cars at getting the most out of the tyres and especially doing that super consistently when needed, while Perez just cannot maintain that pace or consistency.
BasCB (@bascb)
9th May 2023, 11:51
that should be – NEITHER Perez himself (nor his engineer)
grapmg
8th May 2023, 16:57
You can check it on the on-boards at F1 TV. I followed some onboard lap’s from Checo and every lap I saw he was informed of Max his lap time. However it was mentioned on F1 TV he wasn’t updated all the time but that sounds very unlikely to be honest.
J3d89
8th May 2023, 19:26
Perez reported having issues with his tires.. so no.. pushing harder was out of the question… So please stop, Perez Simply had no answer for. Max yesterday
Mayrton
10th May 2023, 11:39
Max stint on the hards was impressive. Being faster while nursing. Checo knows it is game over. He might win Monaco or another Mickey Mouse track, but over the course of a season.. I would love to see Hamilton or Alonso in that second RedBull. Max won’t shy away from it. He can handle them mentally for sure but most likely on skill level as well, especially given the age difference which must account for something (however small it may be).
Edvaldo
8th May 2023, 15:04
Perez completely failed to take advantage of Verstappen coming from the back. When he went for tyres Verstappen was already all over him.
But he said he was having his worst weekend of the year and only got pole for a set of circunstances, so i guess it was expected.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
10th May 2023, 3:18
Yes, I’m guessing he could’ve been 3rd on the grid if it hadn’t been for leclerc’s mistake, which ruined his own lap and prevented verstappen from having a second go.
HK (@me4me)
8th May 2023, 16:58
Many naive comments on here and social media in general regarding the lack of (aired) communication between Perez and his engineer. Aside from the obvious fact that they’ll have discussed this scenario ahead of the race, and was further updated at least once after his pitstop.. Since when is a driver free from responsability of his own destiny? Perez is responsible for his own success. If he felt that he required further information he should’ve demanded it over the radio.
Verstappen, Hamilton, Rosberg, Russel, Alonso.. they all request and demand the proper information whenever it suits them.
bosyber (@bosyber)
8th May 2023, 17:27
Yeah, I sort of agree. I also think that Horner/Red Bull saying this is typical of the way they ‘support’ Perez. I do believe he gets all the info he asks, but in the end the team lead expect and want Verstappen to win when the flag/season end drops.
Mooa42
9th May 2023, 6:58
I think just about any driver who had the same margin back to Alonso that Perez had at the end of the race would have at least asked to bolt on a set of softs to go for fastest lap, that was the bit that surprised me especially after Perez being upset on Max taking it from him in an earlier round.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
10th May 2023, 3:20
I think the gap was unsafe, he risked to end up behind alonso.
David
8th May 2023, 20:54
Perez should have started on the hards, big mistake.
I have an opinion
9th May 2023, 5:23
If you look at the other drivers on the H/M strategy, it was not notably advantageous. The drivers that did well were those that were arguably “out of position” from qualifying. Perez’s only strategic mistake was to not drive as well as Verstappen throughout the whole race.
Sihrtogg (@sihrtogg)
9th May 2023, 5:51
… as to give Alonso a chance at the start? Not a good idea. Defending against Alonso will cost time too.