Grading Team Performances in Miami

Red Bull: C- (Verstappen: D, Perez: C+)

For any other team, this would've been a stellar weekend. Grabbing 2nd and 4th in the grand prix, alongside a double podium in the sprint, should never be considered a failure, but here we are. In fact, the 1st and 3rd placements of Verstappen and Perez in the sprint is the only thing keeping this from being a complete lost weekend for Red Bull. Despite the unfortunately timed (for Red Bull, that is) safety car that kept Norris in the lead, Verstappen was still expected to catch Norris by the end of the race. In the event, Norris actually outpaced Verstappen after returning from the yellow flag, winning by nearly 8 seconds.
While some floor damage from a strange collision with a cone might've limited Verstappen, this weekend raised the question as to whether Red Bull finally has real competition. To be fair to Red Bull, Sergio Perez had a very solid weekend, but he placed right in line with his expected finishes, which isn't enough to save Red Bull's grade.

Ferrari: B+ (Leclerc: A-, Sainz: B)

This was a very solid weekend for the Ferraris. Charles Leclerc managed another podium, and Carlos Sainz placed 5th. This was a virtual repeat of the sprint, in with Leclerc finished 2nd and Sainz 5th again. The only thing holding Ferrari back from an A grade this week was Sainz's interactions with Oscar Piastri. After a brush with Piastri that virtually everyone but Sainz didn't think was a penalty, Sainz repeatedly insisted that Piastri yield his position. As expected, Piastri didn't receive any penalty, and Sainz actually earned a penalty himself by diving in on Piastri soon after, knocking his final position from 4th to 5th. The entire debacle was a strange showing of immaturity from a driver who has earned a reputation for having high sportsmanship.

McLaren: A+ (Norris: A+, Piastri: B+)

Let's be real, no one saw this coming. During a live interview, team CEO Zak Brown commented jokingly that "this was Lando's simulation," but I refuse to believe either McLaren was prepped for the positions they found themselves in. While the sprint saw relatively pedestrian results (6th for Oscar Piastri, while Lando Norris didn't complete a lap), the Grand Prix saw the best case scenario to end all best case scenarios. First, Oscar Piastri got off to a blazing start by taking advantage of Sergio Perez's turn 1 overstep, bringing himself up to 3rd. While damage caused by a collision with Carlos Sainz derailed Piastri's race, he still fought valiantly to gain six positions after pitting. While you can debate whatever you want about how Piastri's race should be considered, there's no debating the drive of Lando Norris. After the top 5 pitted over the course of laps 18-27, Norris climbed into the lead, holding off a pit stop as long as possible to maintain his lead. The gamble paid off perfectly, as a collision between Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant allowed a virtually free pit for Norris. Following the green flag, Norris outraced Verstappen virtually every step of the way. He held off early attacks from Verstappen, gained enough space to avoid activating Verstappen's DRS down the back straight, and simply outpaced Verstappen lap-over-lap. Norris' first Grand Prix victory was a darn good one, and the performance of both McLarens suggests this isn't all we'll hear from the orange cars this season.

Mercedes: C (Hamilton: C+, Russell: C)

A solid Grand Prix salvaged an otherwise poor weekend for the two Mercedes. The sprint was a lost race, with both drivers finishing outside of the top 10. However, a solid qualifying placed both drivers in position for points, which they held on to, with Lewis Hamilton finishing 6th and George Russell hanging on to 8th. While there are still major issues with the car that need to be addressed if Mercedes are to compete with the top three teams going forward, these two drivers obviously have the talent to take a good car and compete, but only one driver on the grid has shown the ability to compete for podiums in a tractor, and that driver is in an Aston Martin.

Aston Martin: D- (Alonso: B-, Stroll: F)

Fernando Alonso doesn't make any sense. The man finished dead last in Q2 after nearly being eliminated in Q1, yet managed to not only score points in the race, but outpace a superior Haas vehicle down the stretch. However, that doesn't excuse the horrendous weekend by Aston Martin as a whole. Yes, Alonso scored points, but he looked awful in both the sprint and qualifying. We knew Aston Martin were having issues with pure speed (see: Lance Stroll crying like a child about straight-line speed on international television at Suzuka), but this lack of potential in a single lap scenario is appalling. Stroll isn't free from my criticism, either. After a strange collision in Shanghai last race, Stroll came out and crapped the bed at every opportunity. He did not finish in the sprint, was eliminated in Q1 on Saturday afternoon, and then finished 17th in the Grand Prix. Just another showing of the most lopsided team in F1.

Visa Cash App RB: A (Tsunoda: A, Ricciardo: B)

When I first considered VCARB's weekend after the Grand Prix on Sunday evening, it appeared like it might be a tough task to rate the team's performance. However, when I actually thought about it, this was a relatively easy A grade. First, there was the sprint, where both drivers scored points for VCARB, with Daniel Ricciardo's stunning fourth place starting position and finish being the headline of the race. Then there was the Grand Prix on Sunday, and while Ricciardo's last-place start put him out of position for any points, he still climbed five positions and was as high as 10th before pitting, and Tsunoda picked up the slack by tying his best performance of the year, placing 7th. This is a good weekend for VCARB to build off of, with both drivers showing high potential going forward.

Haas: D (Hulkenberg: C-, Magnussen: F)

My enjoyment of Mario Kart games growing up was one of the factors of my entry into the F1 fandom. However, when I began watching races, I wasn't expecting to see a red shell named Kevin Magnussen flying around the track, wreaking havoc on everyone. This strategy of making Magnussen a walking yellow flag has given Haas seven total points this year, all belonging to Nico Hulkenberg. However, that strategy barely worked this weekend. While Hulkenberg grabbed 7th in the sprint, he lost several positions to a pit stop and then was outdueled by Fernando Alonso down the stretch for the final point position. And, while Hulkenberg was battling for points, Magnussen was Tasmanian-deviling his way to back-to-back finishes at the bottom of the grid among drivers that completed the race. He also decided he was gonna be a little extra rude this weekend and take out Logan Sargeant on a track 20 minutes from Sargeant's hometown (For those of you saying Sargeant was at fault, the FIA note on the penalty states that in accordance with driver regulations, Magnussen needed to be at least equal with Sargeant heading into Turn 3, which he wasn't). Worth noting for Magnussen is the fact that he's at 10 penalty points, placing him two points-and potentially one incident-away from a race ban.

Alpine: A (Ocon: A, Gasly: B+)

I think Alpine's weekend really flew under the radar. The first signs that something was happening was Pierre Gasly's 9th place finish in the sprint. While it wasn't enough to net a point due to the tighter point positions in sprint races, Alpine would get their first point soon enough, as Esteban Ocon finished 10th in the Grand Prix. Yes, you heard that right, Alpine scored a point. Honestly, if I was to predict one team that wasn't going to score a point this year, Alpine had my vote all the way until this weekend. And let's not discount the fact that Gasly placed 12th, a major improvement for him as well. Qualifying speed is still an issue, but Alpine have appeared to figure something out in the races.

Williams: D- (Albon: F, Sargeant: D)

Don't get me wrong, Williams certainly deserved an F grade this weekend. Alexander Albon had arguably his worst weekend of the year thus far, placing 13th in the sprint before finishing 18th in the Grand Prix, by far his worst finish of the year in a race he completed. However, I'm going to go easy on Williams because of how bad I feel for Logan Sargeant. Sargeant is clearly getting demoralized at this point. Every radio message he seems more and more resigned to the fact that this is likely his final year in a Formula 1 car. The worst part is he was showing promise early on. After a 10th place finish in the sprint, it appeared Sargeant might actually have a shot at securing the second points finish of his career, at his home race no less. Then disaster struck when Kevin Magnussen attempted to sneak inside Sargeant on Turn 3. Sargeant didn't see him, took his normal racing line, and ended up in the barrier and out of the race. Williams needs something to click here going forward from either racer if they're going to see the top 10 even once.

Kick Sauber: D (Bottas: D-, Zhou: C-)

Remember when Valtteri Bottas was considered an elite driver? Well, even if you still do, his uninspired driving this year is bound to make you forget soon enough. Bottas, once infamous for being the middle of the dreaded HAM-BOT-VER podium, now hasn't scored a point through six races. In fact, he's been virtually outdone by a third-year teammate with 150 times less career points than him. Zhou Guanyu has split races head-to-head with Bottas thus far in 2024, while also sweeping both sprints. Zhou isn't even performing spectacularly, either, with an average finish of 15 in Grands Prix. With Zhou producing pedestrian results and Bottas falling from the heights of his great career, Kick Sauber is looking more in trouble than ever.