Written by Owen Bradley, Edited by Sasha Macmillen
F1 returns to the streets of Miami for 2023, a race which last year had more people talking about Martin Brundle’s celebrity-laden grid walk. But in 2023 it seems as though we might well have something on-track to talk about, which is Sergio Perez and his dominance on street circuits. We should be in for quite the interesting weekend.
Miami is still a very new circuit to the Formula One calendar, and therefore we have limited knowledge and data of this venue. The one thing we do know however, is that this circuit is seemingly unable to produce much racing action. However, hopefully this is set to change in 2023, as we’ve got a far closer fight between the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin.
Miami will also be looking to undo the reputation it managed to garner in 2022, which was honestly a pretty embarrassing display of everything wrong with modern Formula One. Clueless celebrities were invited to the Grand Prix, who were clearly unsure when talking about F1, evidently with one man telling Martin Brundle that he is “an internet sensation”. We still don’t know who this man is.
However, there is some hope that this year's Grand Prix could be more interesting, because if recent performances are anything to go by, then we might see a very intriguing battle between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
Perez has so far won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the Azerbaijan Sprint and the race itself. He also took victories last season at Monaco and Singapore, two more street tracks. As Miami is a street circuit, we can expect Perez to do well once again and challenge his superstar teammate. Verstappen will most likely feel a little bit aggrieved by the result of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as he pitted just as the safety car came out, which cost him the lead of the race to his teammate.
The other thing to think about is the championship battle between the two Red Bull drivers, with the points difference now at a narrow 6 points, a reflection of Perez’s poor qualifying result in Melbourne. For Perez to just be 6 points down on Verstappen at this point in the season, is quite impressive to say the least.
Miami is full of long straights, particularly down towards the final braking zone, and this circuit should theoretically be one which can produce some good overtaking opportunities. With a closer field in 2023, at least in the midfield, this race will hopefully be worth tuning in for. There are many people who are sceptical of the Miami Grand Prix, and the other American circuits as well - but in theory the 2023 Miami GP holds high hopes.
Another factor to consider is that the Aston Martin car seems to hold exceptional pace on acceleration coming out of corners, as well as some solid straight line speed. With Red Bull of course being the main team to watch out for in regard to winning the race, Fernando Alonso might just be another driver which many people should look out for this weekend.
Well, that’s all for now then - you can watch the Miami Grand Prix this weekend in the UK on Sky Sports F1, or Now TV. Sunday’s Grand Prix gets underway at 20:30pm UK time.
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