2023 F1 Miami GP FP3 report: What did we learn?

The final free practice session for the 2023 F1 Miami GP ended with Max Verstappen dominant as ever on top of the timesheets. The third and final session for the team to sort their setups out saw drivers struggling massively on the track with small locks and moments here and there.

When it was all said and done though, we had Max Verstappen at the top of the standings followed by Charles Leclerc, a whopping 4-tenths behind.

Sergio Perez was P3 followed by Carlos Sainz in P4. The third row in P5 and P6 was occupied by the Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, respectively.

After what was the last opportunity to fine-tune their cars before the all-important qualifying, what did we learn? Well, let's take a look.

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2023 F1 Miami GP FP3: Key Learnings

#1 Max Verstappen is making a statement at Red Bull

Max Verstappen did not make much of a fuss after Sergio Perez got the better of him in Baku. The driver went back, studied what went wrong, was focused this weekend and in typical Max Verstappen way he's making his statement. There aren't too many proclamations, there aren't too many statements, there's the stopwatch and there's Verstappen getting the better of all the competition involved.

The business part of the weekend is yet to come and one should not ignore that fact but the foundation has already been set up and signs are ominous for any possible challenge that gets put in front of Verstappen.

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#2 There's still hope for a Charles Leclerc pole position

If you're an optimist then this point is solely for you! There's still hope for a Charles Leclerc/Ferrari pole position charge as the car was still Verstappen's closest challenger. Albeit the gap was 4 tenths between the two drivers, we should not forget that Ferrari tends to run a conservative engine mode throughout qualifying.

If that caveat holds true here and Leclerc could gain a couple of tenths because of that, he might be the man posing the most challenge to Verstappen this weekend.

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#3 Mercedes are struggling for speed at the 2023 F1 Miami GP

It was evident that Mercedes were running a much conservating power mode during the session but despite that, the car just does not look good on track. Somehow, it has not looked as hooked up as other cars have and hence it is leaking lap time at almost every part of the track.

Expect the team to get back some of the deficit in qualifying but the hopes of a front or a second row from the team look far-fetched at the moment.

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#4 Alpine could possibly battle Haas and McLaren during the 2023 F1 Miami GP

Things could get interesting if Alpine, Haas, and possibly McLaren are able get within a second of Red Bull's benchmark time in qualifying. This is because that is the region where both Aston Martin and Mercedes reside at the moment. While those two teams might pull away in the race, it's evident that the midfield teams were somewhat more comfortable over a single lap.

McLaren, running a higher fuel load was not much of a factor in FP3 but keep an eye on the team for qualifying as the car is certainly handy around Miami. Alpine and Haas too have put together impressive times. It's going to be a very interesting tussle as the battle after the front two rows could possibly be wide open.

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#5 We might see a few crashesin the 2023 F1 Miami GP qualifying

One of the features of the 2023 F1 Miami GP racetrack is the kind of challenge the Sector 1 and Sector 2 pose for the driver. With the new track surface reducing the margin for error to a minimum, the consequences of overshooting the racing line have already been witnessed in the 2023 F1 Miami GP race weekend.

The track has far too many mistake-inducing zones this time around and the resurfaced track has not helped in that respect either. Taking all these factors into consideration, while the 2023 F1 Miami GP race could prove to be eventful, the same could be said for qualifying where a red flag stoppage is not beyond the realms of imagination.