Race start, Miami International Autodrome, 2023

Rate the race: 2023 Miami Grand Prix

2023 Miami Grand Prix

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What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Miami Grand Prix.

RaceFans has held polls on every F1 race since 2008 to find out which fans thought of each round of the season.

Join in the latest poll and give your verdict on the race: 10 being the highest and 1 the lowest. Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

What were the best and worst moments of the race? What was the main thing you’ll remember about it? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2023 Miami Grand Prix out of 10

  • 10 (2%)
  • 9 (2%)
  • 8 (7%)
  • 7 (22%)
  • 6 (20%)
  • 5 (14%)
  • 4 (10%)
  • 3 (10%)
  • 2 (4%)
  • 1 (10%)

Total Voters: 197

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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81 comments on “Rate the race: 2023 Miami Grand Prix”

  1. 4/10.
    This season gives me depression

    1. Yes, I must admit the choices of venues make this season horrible to watch so far. Time to leave the Mickey Mouse stuff behind us and go racing.

  2. I don’t think anyone can complain about a lack of action today.

    Liberty must be ecstatic with today’s race given the general state of competitiveness this season.

    1. Can I have some of what you’re drinking?

      @proesterchen

      1. What more could have Liberty hope for given the lack of competitiveness of 9 of the 10 Formula 1 teams?

    2. That’s some thick sarcasm

  3. 1/10. Incredibly dull. Dominant car with one driver miles ahead of his team mate on a skill level and that with DRS makes this season very boring

    1. Yellow Baron
      7th May 2023, 22:20

      Worse than the Merc years only 2020 is comparable and that still had good races. Admittedly this is only race 5 so we will see but I’m really giving up on F1. Especially with better alternatives like indy car and Moto GP. I frustratingly give F1 priority out of habit.

      1. To me personally it is not (yet) worse than the Mercedes years. That were 7 straight years of 1-2’s without a shred of self reflection or perspective from the lead driver. So, I can understand the disappointment since it seems it is happening again but it’s ‘just’ the second year, so imho to early to jump to conclusions.

  4. Better than I expected & also better than the inaugural race.

  5. 8/10
    We witnessed one of the greatest drives in F1 history.

    1. m8 the pole is for the f1 race, what you were watching?

      1. typo: poll

      2. @bluechris I was 100% sure that Perez – barring any incident – would lead the championship after this race. This is a very unexpected result. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it unfold.

        1. @paeschli It wasn’t really unexpected given the pace advantage Verstappen had in practice and qualifying up to his mistake, almost half a second (!!). What was unexpected, for me, was the calm start and lack of virtually any incident. When Max sailed past two cars simultaneously, including a Ferrari, on hard tyres, he looked like winning.
          Great driving – sure. Verstappen is phenomenal. But Perez on a more flowing circuit (which Miami is, despite being a street circuit) is simply nowhere near him. He’s slow even by Red Bull second driver standards.

        2. You’d probably enjoy watching paint dry too.

    2. Sorry @paeschli, but you must not have been watching F1 for very long if you believe this to be true

      1. At least someone enjoyed it. What a waste of time and resources. Another USA parking lot race fiasco. Can’t wait for Las Vegas that will be lovely too

        1. It’s horrible, ain’t it? parking lot races is a nice description. Terrible scenery, fences, little flow. Baku similarly horrible. This sport shouldn’t have street tracks at all. It’s an insult to the teams and drivers (and quite frankly also me)

  6. DRS once again ruins an otherwise potentially interesting race

    1. As a Hamilton fan, I can see this is not universally true. Some cars – like Mercedes – still have trouble overtaking with the DRS. There are few other cars, this weekend it was unexpectedly Ferrari and you saw what that did to Leclerc´s race.

      It is mainly Red Bull that makes the use of DRS overpowered and that is down to their superiority. Yes it is frustrating to watch but today, had there been no DRS, there would be only few passes and most done by Verstappen alone.

    2. This is the first race where DRS produced some interesting takeovers lec/mag for example. But in general I agree with you.

    3. DRS is a problem, especially now Red Bull and others are finding a way to increase the effect, but we shouldn’t lay *all* the blame there

      Many overtakes in the second half of the race were just as much due to tires that were shot. It adds a lot of interest to positions, but also makes a lot of mismatches

  7. BLS (@brightlampshade)
    7th May 2023, 22:09

    Not the worst of the season but then that’s a pretty low bar unfortunately

  8. 3. That was dull. Kind of obvious Max would win after he had a clean getaway. Can’t wait for him to start from pole and run away to 30 second victories for the whole summer. I won’t actually see it, but I’m sure it will be thrilling.

    1. Kind of obvious Max would win after he had a clean getaway.

      How is it obvious that a guy starting 9th will win the race after lap 1 when he’s teammate in the same car is starting 1st?

      1. It’s obvious because said driver is significantly more talented than his teammate…

        1. Why didn’t he blow past him in Baku then?

          1. Baku is one of the few tracks where Pérez can stay quite close to Verstappen. It suits his style and skill very well. It was the same in previous seasons when Pérez was usually a few cars behind Verstappen in the other races.

      2. Because it was Max Verstappen against Sergio Perez. It was going to happen unless something went wrong for Max

        1. Imagine what a fight we would have had if Red Bull had had the balls to put an top class driver in that 2nd car. Alonso & Verstappen pairing would had made a far better season.

      3. @paeschli Because it turned out that he’d chosen the right tyre on which to start the race, and had got through the biggest downside to having said tyre without any particular incident.

        1. (I think Max’s race yesterday might have been one of the greatest drives of all time. It just happens that other factors unconnected to the quality of Max’s drive ended up dominating the excitement level of the race for me).

  9. Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
    7th May 2023, 22:11

    Quite decent overall,with clean racing throughout the field. The season can’t offer much action for the lead(or even the P3 position),but there are some interesting battles at the midfield every race. A 5/10 as the Red Bull strategic battle, who midways looked like it might have been interesting, didn’t deliver at the end

    1. Yellow Baron
      7th May 2023, 22:25

      May have been clean, but seems like no idy wants to put up a fight anymore like they did in the past due to tyres overheating. The era of F1 I grew up watching. It was always a battle. These drivers are playing top trumps

  10. Well, it was more interesting than Baku and there were some pretty nifty moves…

  11. I’ll give it a 7/10. A decent race overall.

  12. That was pretty good actually. Why is everyone cynical? I was for a large part thinking Perez was saving his hards to then go all out on the last part trying to deny Verstappen. That didn’t happen. But still. I was expecting a circus with reds and safety cars, a non race. But there were many battles to enjoy. Shout out to Magnussen.

  13. Meh! Boring and quite predictable.

  14. Yet another dull, predictable race. What an awful start to the season it’s been. 4/10. God bless those who somehow enjoyed it, I envy you.

  15. 4. It quickly turned after 2 laps into when Verstappen would catch Perez, not if. Disappointingly uneventful.

  16. I’m at a loss for words. I’ve seen so many terrible races in the last 30 years but I don’t remember one that was worse. 0/10.

    1. some racing fan
      7th May 2023, 23:22

      What about Imola ‘94? Or Suzuka ‘14? Or on a pite entertainment level Hockenheim ‘10, Indianapolis ‘05 or Austria ‘02? Or every race at Abu Dhabi?

      1. A race is bad because it has a fatal accident? I don’t agree, a race should be considered for its own merits, and as I was 2 years old I don’t remember if anything interesting happened in imola, although I believe schumacher was unchallenged, but suzuka 2014, as a full wet race, was very eventful, would get a 9 or 10 from me; indianapolis 2005 was unique, how often does it happen to get a 6-car race? Austria 2002 was no worse than russia 2018, tainted by unnecessary team orders and that, in the case of austria, have been really talked up for the little impact they had, hockenheim I guess it’s the fernando is faster than you one, so same reason.

        1. Jockey Ewing
          8th May 2023, 0:58

          Although to some extent I agree with Espolatore as well. But not fully.
          I think the worst scores should be given to races where the organisers are clearly responsible for tragic or bad events.

          Or too much red flags for the show can or could be quite much downrated. Or races where they are doing a third of the race distance behind the safety car, despite the track is being dry, because they are unable to decide whether the barriers can be repaired quickly or not. (Instead of having a rule for example, what mandates to red flag the race if 3 laps behind the SC is not enough to solve a problem. There could be a rolling restart after that, to avoid tampering with the results too much, as it is not a sprint discipline, but more close to the endurance discipline nowadays, as I perceive by now. If finishing under green is so important for them -to me it is not-, too much laps behind the Safety car, is not any better than finishing under SC conditions. )

          On the other hand imo, a very fine grained VSC implementation could entirely replace the Safety car, but maybe the manufacturers would not be that happy without the advertisement opportunity.

          Or races where it is possible to get away with unsportsmanlikeness, or with similar things what no one wants to see would deserve the lowest scores.
          These are theoretical ideas, so I will not provide examples although.

        2. some racing fan
          8th May 2023, 2:24

          So what you are saying is that fatal accidents don’t matter as long as the race is entertaining? That’s a disturbing statement to make. Are you OK?

          A race is automatically bad because of a fatal accident, because such an accident overshadows an event, and its own merits don’t matter anymore. The weekend is effectively soiled by such a happening. I don’t care how exciting Imola ’94 (it wasn’t) or Suzuka ’14 (I never watched it) may have been as races, fatal accidents are unacceptable on any level of motorsports, let alone F1.

      2. Jockey Ewing
        8th May 2023, 0:36

        I tend to agree with “some racing fan” here.

        There was some excitement, some action, some nice driving, but not an extra amount of any of these. But on the upside, nothing horrible happened, neither on track, nor off-track (besides rating dull races a bit low, I reserve the very worst scores for those cases). It could have been more amazing, so if there could be half-point awarded, I would say it was an 5.5/10 or else a weak 6.

        1. some racing fan
          8th May 2023, 2:30

          I would give this race a 4.5/10. A 0/10 is any race with a fatal accident during the race, Indianapolis ’05, Hockenheim ’10, Austria ’02, and as mentioned Russia ’18. Spa 2021 doesn’t fall in that category because there was never a race that actually happened under green flags. So a rating is not applicable.

      3. Abu Dhabi 2012 was great! Really the only one I remember fondly…

    2. You missed Spa 2021 in those 30 years?

      1. @spafrancorchamps Since that race technically wasn’t eligible to be considered a race in the first place, probably.

        1. @alianora-la-canta according to the FIA it was though

          1. @spafrancorchamps It had to ignore its own regulations to say it.

  17. Fairly decent race due to a few cars out of position and ok different tyre strategies. Glad there was no safety car/vsc/red flag interruption which often kills the strategy and puts everyone on the same tyres to the end.

  18. Meh venue, meh track, but the race was surprisingly good fun.
    I don’t know if Perez had any issue in the second stint. If not, this race outlines perfectly the difference between a good driver and a top one.

    Having a driver pull out faster laps with the same compound but 30+ laps worn out is embarrassing.

    Hamilton and Ocon made pretty decent races, I enjoyed the scrap between LEC & MAG (lol), and Russell did also a solid job.

    6/10

  19. Average race made to feel wirse by been on one if the worst and most uninspiring (Actual car park) circuits of the season.

    Even when there was something going on it just never felt all that interesting because of how awful the visual spectacle from the car park was.

    The crowd also seemed completely uninterested, Stuff would happen yet only a few would react and it also looked like some of them started to leave after about 20 laps.

    There was just no passion or anything from a crowd that seems to be mostly made up of people who don’t seem to be fans of the track action given how little they reacted to it. Is this really the sort of ‘fans’ Liberty want to go after in place of those of us with an actual passion and understanding of the sport?

    1. The racing is utterly boring, you can hardly blame the crowd. When a team is over a second per lap quicker than the next fastest team it’s understandable people were leaving early. I guess at least this weekend there was a couple of changes in position; I watched the Baku race on delay which was fortunate because I just repeatedly fast-forwarded it and every time I did every car was in the exact same position 10 laps later! I’d rather watch paint dry.

  20. Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
    7th May 2023, 23:14

    This race was honestly decent. a few cars out of place, including Verstappen, and some decent overtakes every once in a while, especially from Hamilton and Tsunoda.
    7/10

    Still wouldn’t miss this track if it dropped from the calendar. It desperately lacks character

  21. some racing fan
    7th May 2023, 23:19

    Max had a superior strategy and was able to make his tires last. Checo came in too early and went out on the hards. Max then went out on the mediums with 10 laps to go and there was no way he couldn’t win.

  22. Rated a 5 because it was just a thoroughly average F1 race. I don’t think the venue was the main issue though, much like the dominant Mercedes days the sport would be a lot better place without Red Bull right now. I just can’t see any other team being competitive now until 2026.

  23. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
    7th May 2023, 23:38

    Masterclass from Max. Can we agree in the spirit of entertainment to superglue Red Bull’s DRS flaps closed for the season.

    1. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
      7th May 2023, 23:39

      Oh and went for a 7. Yes Red Bull are dominant but that was a great display by Max and some other good battles out there today. Granted all DRS though.

  24. Pjotr (@pietkoster)
    7th May 2023, 23:46

    As a race and mainly a Verstappen fan I must say that I really miss the Hamilton Verstappen battles. Decisions made by race control in Abu Dhabi questionable (totally out of Verstappens control) but that was a fantastic season. Today I miss those battles. Verstappen is just to good, and Mercedes gave Hamilton a wreck of a car.

    1. Yes, verstappen is a really threatening competitor for anyone, it’s a shame those that can really challenge him (including alonso, see how he just let him past in this case, due to the car difference) don’t have the car to do so.

    2. And ofc verstappen showed what kind of competitor he is in 2021, against all odds, mercedes slightly stronger over the season, bad luck with bottas playing bowling, exploding tyres, red flags favouring his opponent, a generally weaker team mate, which means he ended up having to do 1 vs 2 with the mercedes, and yet he was still in contention the last race and a little luck break with masi’s mistake was enough.

      1. And of course Red Bull cheated on the budget cap, don’t forget that one.

  25. I thought Hamilton was suppose to be the GOAT?

    1. He catched up 7 positions with an average car, lacking top speed. Did pretty well.

    2. Of course he isn’t. That was just a hype back when he had the best car. Now someone else has got it. He just happened to have had it for a longer time than any of his predecessors leading to the distorted view he would be the goat.

  26. I can only assume that someone else, in addition to myself – assumed that the ratings were laid out lowest to highest.

    Lucky for me it made little difference as my rating was (generously) near the middle, but they must have accidentally selected “10” believing it was the lowest rating as it was on the left..

  27. Just boring. The only thing that would have saved the race would have been RB pitting PER at the end to get fresh tires and fastest lap. Would have been standard procedure if anyone else was leading. I fear the season is going to get worse based on the radio chatter from this race and last race. Driver X, don’t bother fighting driver Y, your battle is with driver Z. In past years if I couldn’t watch a race live, I would make sure to avoid all media, so the race result wasn’t spoiled. I think I’ll do the opposite this year and read the headlines and decide whether or not it is worh watching the race.

  28. ttongsul (@ccpbioweapon)
    8th May 2023, 2:20

    1/10 shocking rac

  29. I think more than anything this race demonstrated that quality trumps quantity when it comes to overtaking. Red Bull in particular has no reason to take risks as they know they’ll be able to breeze past any competitor when DRS becomes available. There was no tension even for a fight at the front. Max was inevitably going to breeze past his teammate in the same car. That simply shouldn’t happen. Remove DRS and Max would have had the tyre advantage but I reckon we’d have had a decent scrap for a few laps at least.

  30. Maybe because I was there and didn’t watch it on TV, but for me an 8. There were actions to follow through the whole field. Seeing how Mercedes and Ferrari changed fortunes during the race was interesting. Seeing both Alpines doing well, but then fading. And of course seeing how Max climbed up, finally changed tires and then passed Perez was great. Not one such pass happened where I sat, but that doesn’t matter for me. Seeing the results develop made it a great race.

  31. Nothing special, but not too bad. 7/10

  32. The race itself was probably a 7/10, but with the utter dominance of Red Bull there is not and will never be a battle for the positions that matter. By lap 5, it was clear Verstappen was going to catch Perez and when he did the game was over. Is Verstappen that superior to anyone else? Maybe, but the car sets them apart.

    The gaps are bigger than they ever were for Mercedes or for Red Bull with Vettel. The closest to this is the 2002 Ferrari, but I don’t think Schumacher would be a guaranteed win from P9 with that car. Perhaps it’s the most dominant car in all my time watching this sport (~25 years), and that just detracts.

    I’m a 4/10 for that reason, and if this season progresses without battles for the win that is likely to deteriorate further.

  33. 1/10. Let’s get rid of tracks like these. If you need FE style fences around a track, it is not a track.

  34. Is it just me or Mercedes dominance was better than Red Bull’s?

  35. 5/10 for me. OK race. Not any great excitement. One or two interesting moves for the places outside the top 3. It always seemed likely that first three would be the Red Bulls and Alonso.

    The Red Bull is very dominant and DRS just accentuates this. A not bad race for Mercedes in the end. They made the best of what they have. Ferrari were poor. They just went nowhere really and were pretty lucky to finish 5th and 7th.

  36. Pjotr (@pietkoster)
    9th May 2023, 8:56

    Great race, pity that two high rated teams are so slow. Even so called champions are so bad it hurts the eyes.

  37. 1/10 for me. DRS is destroying the racing. Worse than refueling or grooved tyres and the track is terrible. Being back Malaysia!

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