2023 F1 Miami GP: Preview and Predictions

The 2023 F1 Miami GP will be the second edition of the race after a decent debut last season. The race comes on the heels of a rather uneventful sprint format weekend in Baku where Sergio Perez dominated and won both races.

It's a bit strange (and hectic) to have a doubleheader like this where we are talking about traveling from Baku to Miami, that too after a stressful sprint weekend. Having said that, here we are in what will be the 5th race of the season.

So, what can we expect from the 2023 F1 Miami GP weekend? Let's take a look in our preview.

Key Storylines

#1 The racing and the DRS zones

Baku arguably had one of its worst races in a while as the event featured very few overtakes. Fingers have been pointed to the reduced DRS zone, especially after what happened in Australia where wheel-to-wheel racing was markedly better.

Unlike Baku, no comments have been made about the DRS zones for the 2023 F1 Miami GP. The track layout is decent and it resulted in decent racing. Nothing truly stood out the first time we were there last season.

Everyone will be keeping a keen eye on how the racing unfolds as many would have been caught off-guard by the lackluster race in Baku.

#2 The upgrades

One of the key takeaways after the race in Baku was the fact that the upgrades cannot come sooner for the rest of the grid. Red Bull enjoys a gap of around 7/10ths of a second over the closest chasing pack and that is surely a demoralizing number.

With Red Bull's limited development time expected to help the chasing pack catch up, it remains to be seen what the teams can do. The major upgrade packages are scheduled for Imola but even at Miami, we will be looking at a few upgrades making their way to the car.

#3 The pecking order

Mercedes plummeted quite a bit from being the second-fastest car to the 4th fastest in Miami. What was surprising was Ferrari's jump to being the second fastest and even snatching pole position from Red Bull.

Normal service resumed on Sunday as Red Bull eased its way past Charles Leclerc but a podium was still salvaged in the end.

In the slightly warmer conditions of Miami, Ferrari could struggle a bit with tire wear. It does remain to be seen how the pecking order shapes and how far they are from Red Bull at the 2023 F1 Miami GP.

On form

Sergio Perez won the race in Baku and the way he did was a true statement of intent. The Mexican beat his teammate in a head-to-head battle and proved that he could do this more often.

Heading into Miami, the gap to Max Verstappen is only 6 points and this has to be the perfect situation for Perez to build on the momentum from Baku.

Out of form

Carlos Sainz finished the race in Baku around 25 seconds behind Charles Leclerc. Just to put things into context, race winner Sergio Perez had a gap of around 20 seconds to Leclerc in P3. The race was a case study in how to utterly dominate your teammate and it would have severely affected Sainz's confidence as well.

Coming to Miami, the Spaniard will be hoping to gain some level of respectability as pressure mounts on him to do a better job.

2023 F1 Miami GP: Predictions

Who wins the race?

One could get a sense after the race in Baku that Max Verstappen realized he had a challenger for the title this season. Unlike the first two seasons where he had to fight hard early in the season, 2023 was supposed to be a cakewalk.

Well, after effectively five races this season, he's won two and lost three (including one sprint). Max Verstappen is a special talent and we expect the Red Bull driver to turn things around and put together a masterclass. We're picking Max Verstappen to win the 2023 F1 Miami GP.

Surprise of the weekend (Team)

Alpine was very unlucky at Baku and it could not even properly set up the car it ran in the race. The car is fast. It is good enough to be P5 but the team expected to close the gap to the top 4 with its upgrades.

The 2023 F1 Miami GP weekend is expected to be a smoother one. There aren't going to be the hassles of a sprint weekend and it will give Alpine the time to put the pieces together.

We're backing the French team to not only get back to the top 5 but challenge the likes of Mercedes and Aston Martin in the qualifying as well.

Surprise of the weekend (Driver)

One of the better drives at Baku was from Lewis Hamilton on Sunday. it did appear that the Mercedes driver had a fire lit under him and was pulling off some impressive moves during the safety car restart.

For the 2023 F1 Miami GP, we're backing Lewis Hamilton to take things up a notch. Much has been said about George Russell having an edge over Lewis in qualifying. We're backing the veteran F1 driver to dominate this weekend.

Disappointment of the weekend (Team)

AlphaTauri had a good weekend in Baku but it would be foolish to forget that Pierre Gasly had an even better one at the same venue last season. As far as the entire season is concerned, the race in Baku proved to be an outlier for the team as it continued to struggle.

It will be tough for AlphaTauri to continue building on the kind of strong form it has shown in Baku and at the 2023 F1 Miami GP, we expect the team to struggle once again.

Disappointment of the weekend (Driver)

Coming into the 2023 F1 Miami GP, Nyck de Vries should be a bit nervous with the way things have been going. The experienced driver was brought into the team to bring a certain sense of stability.

That has not really happened and the Dutch driver is under pressure. At the 2023 F1 Miami GP, with the car expected to once again struggle, we're expecting another underwhelming weekend from De Vries.