Formula 1 drivers had a whole lot more to get their heads around than usual at the Miami Grand Prix, what with the wholesale package changes most teams introduced and the small matter of changes to the rules.

Who adapted to those challenges best? Find out in Edd Straw's driver rankings - and if you're in The Race Members' Club you can quiz Edd on his choices and (for Champions tier members) submit your own rankings too.

How do the rankings work? The 22 drivers will be ranked in order of performance from best to worst on each grand prix weekend. This will be based on the full range of criteria, ranging from pace and racecraft to consistency and whether they made key mistakes. How close each driver got to delivering on the maximum performance potential of the car will be an essential consideration.

It’s important to note both that this reflects performance across the entire weekend, cognisant of the fact that qualifying is effectively ‘lap 0’ of the race and key to laying the foundations for the race, and that it is not a ranking of the all-round qualities of each driver. It’s simply about how they performed on a given weekend. Therefore, the ranking will fluctuate significantly from weekend to weekend.

And with each of the 11 cars fundamentally having different performance potential and ‘luck’ (ie factors outside of a driver’s control) contributing to the way the weekend plays out, this ranking will also differ significantly from the overall results.

Started: 4th Finished: 2nd

This was Lando Norris at something like his title-winning best, leading the line for McLaren and dominating the sprint components of the weekend with victory from pole position.

Although qualifying proper was a disappointment, the fact that both McLarens were well off their Friday single-lap pace supported the conclusion that conditions had indeed turned against aspects of their deployment characteristics that had been, as team principal Andrea Stella put it, "marginal" on Friday.

But he came through the first lap third and overtook Kimi Antonelli just before the safety car. He believed that had McLaren not let Mercedes pull an undercut, he'd have won, and he might very well have done.

Verdict: Back on top form.

Started: 8th Finished: 7th

This is the weekend Franco Colapinto needed, and comfortably the strongest all-round of his F1 career to date.

While the scheduled introduction of a new monocoque helped, and it should be noted he didn't have the Alpine rear wing upgrade, it would do a disservice to the work he did since Japan to get himself more in-tune with the car to credit that solely for the improvement in qualifying speed in particular.

The result was he outpaced team-mate Pierre Gasly throughout the weekend, finishing two places behind him in 10th in the sprint primarily thanks to the misfortune of being on the outside of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in Turn 2, which allowed his team-mate to get ahead.

His grand prix was outstanding, but the deciding factors in him being ranked second are the small negative of the contact with Hamilton, when the rear end stepped out as he relied on luck not to suffer a puncture, and the bad start. This puts him marginally behind in the two-driver top tier in these rankings.

Verdict: Connected up the peaks of pace throughout the weekend.

Started: 1st Finished: 1st

This marks the start of the second tier of performances for strong weekends, but that had some minor blemishes or limitations.

This arguably stands as the most impressive of Antonelli's trio of grand prix victories yet, hinging upon a strong outlap then keeping Norris covered having undercut his way ahead.

There are still rough edges, as shown by losing the position to Norris before the safety car in the grand prix and the track-limits penalties that turned fourth into sixth in the sprint - although it should be noted that Mercedes took responsibility for his poor start on Saturday thanks to giving him too aggressive a target for the launch after misjudging the grip.

He also dealt well with the gearshift problems that briefly manifested themselves in the grand prix, ensuring they didn't cost him. And most importantly, he comprehensively outperformed team-mate George Russell.

Verdict: Outstanding, but rough edges lightly dent ranking.

Started: 21st Finished: 12th

This was one of those weekends where you wouldn't necessarily notice how well Gabriel Bortoleto performed unless you looked closely given the pace of the Audi was only good enough to be just outside the top 10 and he was given limited opportunities to show his speed.

He couldn’t have done better in sprint qualifying, putting the car 11th on the grid just ahead of his team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, then holding that position in the race before being excluded when the car was discovered to have briefly exceeded the maximum permitted intake air pressure.

Problems ruined qualifying proper, as he was only sent out late and in no condition to set a good time in the hastily-repaired car, and from a lowly grid position he executed his long-first-stint strategy well to recover to 12th place. The main downside is he didn't have the chance to show just how strong he could have been consistently.

Verdict: Qualifying problem cost him likely points shot.

Started: 13th Finished: 9th

There wasn’t a great deal separating the two Williams team-mates, although Carlos Sainz had the edge overall. Neither of the qualifying sessions was optimised, in sprint qualifying partly down to struggles with deployment consistency and in main qualifying because it probably was possible to have picked off some or all of Hulkenberg, Liam Lawson and Ollie Bearman ahead given how tight it was.

Sainz had a solid sprint, losing two places then regaining them on-the-road to take 13th after Bortoleto's exclusion, while the race hinged on a good start, and the retirements of Gasly and Lawson ahead, to present a points-scoring opportunity. He moved ahead of team-mate Alex Albon, who didn't fight him, although Sainz was marginally the quicker.

Verdict: A strong weekend, although qualifying could have been better.

Started: 17th Finished: 15th

Fernando Alonso was at least happy with the fact the Aston Martin-Honda steering vibration problems have been cured, but beyond that there was little for him to get excited about.

However, he did beat the Cadillacs most of the time, the only exception being in sprint qualifying when he didn't get in a proper lap as he battled lock-up problems. There were also difficulties in main qualifying with the gearbox.

He raced as well as he could have done, passing Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez late on in the sprint to take 16th, then finishing as well as he could have done in the grand prix on a compromised strategy dictated by running longer than anyone before making his pitstop on lap 41 in the hope of rain.

Verdict: Performed well, but limited opportunities given the machinery.

Started: 7th Finished: 3rd

Now we move onto the third tier of drivers who had good but uneven weekends with deficits on pace or execution.

Oscar Piastri was clearly the second-best McLaren driver on a Miami track surface that doesn't play to his strengths, although deployment troubles played a part in his qualifying deficits of 0.239s and 0.317s in the sprint and main sessions respectively.

His run to second in the sprint was straightforward, but the grand prix required what he called "a late charge" to climb from fifth to third by passing Verstappen and then Charles Leclerc.

As Piastri put it, "I've been just that tenth or two off most of the time, which has made life a little bit trickier than it should have been at points, but in terms of being able to maximise the result after qualifying, I did a good job". This was a good example of coming away with good results despite not being at your best.

Verdict: Dogged, but lacked that last edge of pace.

Started: 20th Finished: 16th

Despite problems in FP1 and there only being time for one attempt in sprint qualifying thanks to there not being enough time to refuel during SQ1, Perez outpaced the struggling Cadillac team-mate Valtteri Bottas. That turned around in second qualifying, with Perez failing to hit a button he should have done on his second run and then locking up entering Turn 14 on the final run when he arrived significantly faster than anticipated thanks to erratic deployment.

In both races, he was feisty and mixed it with faster cars early on but delivered good race drives that on both occasions allowed him to finish ahead of Stroll.

Verdict: Led the line for Cadillac.

Started: 15th Finished: 10th

The sprint part of the weekend was ruined by a track-limits violation in SQ1, one that wasn't picked up until he'd already participated in SQ2 and shaded Williams team-mate Sainz. That showed he had good pace, although the imprecision left him down the grid when he lost his SQ2 and best SQ1 time.

He ran behind Sainz for much of the sprint race, but had a late pitstop to confirm some unusual front-wing performance data by switching to a spare nose. The gap of just under four tenths in main qualifying wasn’t representative owing to his deployment being compromised by the misfortune of having to let Sainz past just before he started his lap.

A good start and capitalising on the chaos caused by Verstappen's spin got him into the points, and although he played the team game in falling behind Sainz because he felt he shouldn't fight him hard, he was marginally the slower of the two. But he drove a good, tidy race to keep control of the final points position.

Verdict: Sprint qualifying error and slight pace deficit made this a mixed weekend.

Started: 18th Finished: 17th

Like his team-mate Alonso, Stroll suffered from the limited opportunities to show what he could do in an Aston Martin that proved tricky under braking. That contributed to his failure to set a laptime in sprint qualifying, although while battling similar gearbox problems to Alonso in qualifying proper he lapped just 0.072s slower than his team-mate.

He ran ahead of Alonso for much of the sprint before falling behind, while he made a good start in the grand prix before slipping back. He diverged from the orthodox one-stop strategy but that didn't help his cause, although he finished only eight seconds behind Alonso.

Verdict: Lacked Alonso's edge but wasn't far off.

Started: 12th Finished: 11th

The combination of the circuit and the fact the team didn't make as big a step with upgrades as some of its rivals meant the Haas wasn't the easiest car to drive. Bearman struggled for grip in the qualifying sessions, although he did produce an outstanding lap in Q1 that would have put him 11th on the grid had he been able to repeat it in a disappointing Q2 session.

He slipped behind his team-mate Esteban Ocon on his way to 12th in the sprint, while in the main race falling behind the two Williams cars at the start, during which he described himself as "unlucky", ultimately cost him a points finish even though he kept them in sight for much of the race before falling away in the closing stages.

Verdict: Showed good speed at times, but points were possible.

Started: 9th Finished: DNF

Gasly was puzzled by his struggles for traction throughout the weekend, saying the Alpine felt very different to how it did previously. Most likely, that was down to the grip characteristics of the track surface and high temperatures rather than anything fundamental, and he didn't attempt to attribute it to the rear wing upgrade only he was running, saying after qualifying "I don't think it's down to the parts we have on the car".

The result was he was outpaced by Colapinto, who was 0.154s and 0.54s quicker in the respective qualifying sessions, although Gasly did seize on his team-mate's compromised wide line through Turn 2 at the start of the sprint to jump ahead and ultimately bag a point.

He was hindered by Verstappen's spin at the start of the main race, dropping to 12th, and the early exit after being tipped into a roll by Lawson was not of his making. His sprint performance showed that a decent result would otherwise have been on the cards.

Verdict: Second-best Alpine driver.

Started: 11th Finished: DNF

He didn't deliver on the potential in sprint qualifying, with a late exit from the garage compromising his prep lap and leading to a lock-up at Turn 1 on his first flier. The resulting flatspot caused significant vibrations and meant his second attempt, which left him six-tenths off Racing Bulls team-mate Arvid Lindblad, was unrepresentative.

After losing a couple of places at the start, he regained them to finish 15th on the road in the sprint, which became 14th when Bortoleto was excluded.

Qualifying proper went better, although he lost a little time to an error at the chicane that perhaps cost him one place on the grid. The start went well and he climbed to eighth, but can't be blamed for the collision with Gasly that ended his race as it was caused by a gearbox problem that put him into anti-stall.

Verdict: Decent underlying pace didn't always show.

Started: 5th Finished: 5th

Russell heads the fourth tier, best labelled 'underwhelming for the machinery'.

Four tenths off Mercedes team-mate Antonelli in both qualifying sessions, the only real sign of life he showed in the battle with his team-mate was in the sprint race where he looked to have the speed to maybe have beaten him on track but even so had to benefit from a penalty to move up to fifth.

In the grand prix, he summed it up accurately as "the pace was really, really poor on my side" and even admitted he was experimenting with driving styles in the closing stages in an attempt to unlock more pace at a track where he's often struggled. That's largely down to the relatively low grip levels and high temperatures, which he can have difficulty in adapting to in a similar vein to Piastri.

The best thing that can be said about his weekend is that it was at least effective damage limitation, although he did have to survive picking up front wing damage after late contact with Verstappen.

Verdict: Simply not at Antonelli's level.

Started: 6th Finished: 6th

Hamilton went to Miami feeling optimistic given major Ferrari upgrades, but struggled in the sprint component of the weekend in a car that “didn’t feel particularly great”. However, he was a little happier in qualifying proper despite lapping a couple of tenths off his team-mate thanks to set-up and deployment improvements given he "just wasn't able to extract the maximum".

His race turned into one of survival after contact with Colapinto on the opening lap, not his fault but a clash in which his risk assessment arguably could have been better, finishing seventh on the road and being promoted to sixth when Leclerc was penalised.

While he felt he could have been a factor in the top-six battle without that costly damage, there’' no way to test that.

Verdict: A subdued weekend.

Started: 14th Finished: 13th

Ocon was all at sea on Friday, struggling with lock-ups and a lack of grip on what he characterised as the most difficult day of the year so far. However, he turned SQ1 elimination into a decent race, getting ahead of Haas team-mate Bearman to finish 11th.

While he never showed anything like Bearman’s Q1 pace in qualifying proper, he was on target to beat his team-mate before clipping the wall at the exit of Turn 16, knocking the steering out and costing himself time at the final proper corner and leaving himself two tenths behind.

Although he felt his pace faded in the second stint of the grand prix, he had a similar race to Bearman overall pace-wise but with time lost to running longer. He was then passed by Bortoleto during the second stint.

Verdict: Struggled but only marginally less effective than Bearman.

Started: 10th Finished: DNF

Hulkenberg only managed to complete a grand total of seven racing laps in Miami through no fault of his own. He couldn't even start the sprint, while after having to pit at the end of the first lap after sustaining front wing damage that left his nose in at the first corner, he retired shortly afterwards with an unrelated problem.

He showed decent pace in the two qualifying sessions, being shaded narrowly by Audi team-mate Bortoleto in sprint qualifying then delivering a best-possible 11th in the main event.

Verdict: Mixture of good pace, misfortune and start misadventure.

Started: 16th Finished: 14th

Lindblad was on the back foot from the start after lock-ups caused damage to both sets of tyres in FP1, although he performed well in sprint qualifying. However, he wasn't able to start the sprint, meaning he went into the main event with a data and experience deficit.

He fell in Q1 after traffic compromised the preparation for his qualifying lap, leaving him an unrepresentative six tenths off Racing Bulls team-mate Lawson.

In the grand prix, he ran 15th initially and endured a difficult first stint on the mediums, but was happier with his pace on the hards. That added up to 14th place as although he gained positions to Gasly and Lawson retiring, he was overcut by Bortoleto.

Verdict: More valuable experience banked.

Started: 19th Finished: 18th

Bottas was well off Perez in the sprint parts of the weekend, but he credited aero parts changes "because things were not performing as they should be" for an improved main qualifying. He outpaced Perez by 0.338s, although that wasn't representative given his team-mate didn't get the best out of his second and third runs in Q1.

He slipped behind the fast-starting Perez in the grand prix, but ended up diverging dramatically on strategy by pitting under the early safety car for softs. His two-stopper became a three-stopper thanks to a drivethrough penalty for speeding at his second stop, caused by not pressing the problematic limiter switch, which he says is lacking feedback, hard enough.

That all added up to being a long way adrift at the finish.

Verdict: The less-convincing Cadillac driver.

Started: 3rd Finished: 6th

Leclerc is the first in a small group of drivers who had outstanding weekends but with their rankings tanked by one major mistake.

He led the line for Ferrari, outpacing Hamilton by 0.379s and 0.200s in the two qualifying sessions and turned fourth on the grid into third in the sprint. His performance in the grand prix was so close to being outstanding, leading early on in a Ferrari that didn't really have the pace to be there and then battling competitive gravity for the rest of the race.

Sadly, he fought it a little too hard when trying to retaliate against Piastri after losing third place, spinning and clipping the barrier. Although he crossed the line sixth after being passed by Russell and Verstappen, his forced track cuts in a damaged car earned him a 20-second penalty that dropped him to eighth. That penalty was forgivable, but the spin was a major error.

Verdict: The last lap means a big rating drop.

Started: 2nd Finished: 5th

Verstappen was delighted with the improvements made by Red Bull's upgrades, and felt more comfortable and confident in a car he described as "a lot more together".

After a solid run to fifth after passing Hamilton and Antonelli's penalty in the sprint, he was only 0.166s off pole position in qualifying proper. There was nothing suggesting the Red Bull quite had the edge of pace the McLaren did, so that represented a strong performance.

However, his ranking is hurt by the uncharacteristic error of spinning at the start (albeit with a rapid recovery) and the misjudgement at the pit exit that earned him a five-second penalty, even though it didn't impact his result. Outside of that, and the overly-forceful moments with Lawson in particular while recovering, his race was a good one after an early stop left him with a marathon stint on hards, but the damage had been done.

Verdict: Start mistake was a big one.

Started: 22nd (pits) Finished: DNF

The final tier is a class of one.

After a good start in the first three events, Isack Hadjar had a nightmare weekend in Miami and couldn't find the pace from the improved Red Bull that Verstappen did.

In sprint qualifying, Hadjar attributed half of the near-one-second deficit to deployment problems and half to his driving, compounding that with a poor start on his way to a pointless ninth in the sprint after passing Colapinto late on. He was a little happier in qualifying proper, but still not at Verstappen’s level on his way to Q3.

His disqualification for the floorboards on both sides exceeding the permitted reference volume left him starting from the pits, but his race was short-lived and just after passing Lindblad he clipped the Turn 14 wall, with the resulting front-left damage sending him, furiously, into the wall.

Unfortunately, the combination of lack of pace and the big mistake in the race puts him alone in the bottom tier.

Verdict: For the first time, nowhere near Verstappen's level.