The Miami Grand Prix 2022 was the 5th round of the 2022 F1 season, and took place at the Miami International Autodrome in Miami, USA, during the weekend of the 6th to the 8th of May.
Max Verstappen won the race after starting in the 3rd position, followed by Charles Leclerc, who originally had the pole position, and Carlos Sainz completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 25 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 14-16: 4 stops
- Laps 26-27: 4 stops
- Laps 40-42: 9 stops
The fastest pit stop was Sergio Pérez's, stopping the clock at 18.433 seconds during his pit stop on lap 41, while the slowest one was was Mick Schumacher's, who stopped the clock at 32.381 seconds, 13.948 seconds slower than Pérez, during his pit stop on lap 54.
These times include the time the driver spent going through the pit lane, as well as the actual time he stopped for the mechanics to work on his car.
Strategy
We saw a variety of options in terms of pit stop strategies during this race, however most drivers chose a 1 stop. Only Yuki Tsunoda, Kevin Magnussen, Mick Schumacher, Pierre Gasly, Sergio Pérez and Daniel Ricciardo decided to try something different with a 2 stops strategy.
The race winner, Max Verstappen, was on a 1 stop strategy.
1 stop
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-Fernando Alonso
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9Alexander Albon
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11Lando Norris
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-Lewis Hamilton
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1Charles Leclerc
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2Valtteri Bottas
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2Max Verstappen
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1Carlos Sainz
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5Nicholas Latifi
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10Lance Stroll
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7George Russell
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17Sebastian Vettel
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12Esteban Ocon
2 stops
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3Yuki Tsunoda
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-Kevin Magnussen
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-Mick Schumacher
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11Pierre Gasly
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-Sergio Pérez
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1Daniel Ricciardo
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy gained 1.91 positions on average, while those on a 2 stops strategy lost an average of 0.5 positions.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 1 stop strategy was the best option.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Miami International Autodrome, as the conditions might change from year to year, in terms of wheel degradation, accidents, safety cars, etc.
Incidents
There were some incidents during the race, with 5 drivers who didn't manage to cross the finish line.
These included, Kevin Magnussen, who took damage to the front wing on lap 56, Sebastian Vettel, and Lando Norris, both retired dure to damage caused by a collision with other cars, Pierre Gasly, who suffered a suspension problem on lap 45, and Guanyu Zhou, who suffered a water leak on lap 6.
Front wing
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Kevin MagnussenLap 56
Collision
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Sebastian VettelLap 54
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Lando NorrisLap 39
Suspension
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Pierre GaslyLap 45
Water leak
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Guanyu ZhouLap 6
Qualifying
Charles Leclerc dominated all the qualifying sessions and took the pole by 0.19 seconds, with a final lap time of 1:28.796. Carlos Sainz was right behind him, helping Ferrari score a one-two and monopolize the first line of the grid.
The second line fo the grid was dominated by Red Bull, with Max Verstappen in third position, and Sergio Pérez in fourth.
Track evolution
As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and all of the drivers that took place in Q2 improved their times in this second session.
The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. It therefore comes as no surprise that 8 out of the 10 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.