Daniel Ricciardo's struggles for McLaren have continued, with a forgettable Miami Grand Prix on Monday morning (AEST).
The Australian was never competitive as Red Bull's Max Verstappen powered to his third victory of the season.
Ricciardo, starting 14th, finished 13th after spending most of the race on his own and never really battling for a top-10 finish.
Ricciardo crossed the line in 11th position but was handed a five-second penalty after the race for a late incident where he overtook a car while off the track. The penalty dropped the McLaren driver down to 13th.
The Australian was as far down as 17th but benefited from late drama as a safety car and crashes allowed him to climb up the order.
His teammate Lando Norris crashed out on lap 41 after colliding with Pierre Gasly, compounding McLaren's difficult race.
Reigning world champion Verstappen was flawless in the stifling heat of Miami, coming from third to beat Ferrari's Charles Leclerc by more than three seconds.
Starting third, Verstappen was brilliant as he overtook the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz by the second corner.
The reigning world champion then chased down championship leader Charles Leclerc and passed him for the race lead on lap nine.
Verstappen had a lead of over seven seconds before a safety car on lap 41 of 57 bunched the field.
He had to hold off a resurgent Leclerc in the final 10 laps to secure the win.
"It was an incredible grand prix, very physical as well," Verstappen said.
"I think we kept it exciting to the end.
"I am incredibly happy with winning here in Miami, it was an incredible Sunday [local time] for us."
After starting from pole position, Leclerc could not match the brilliance of his qualifying the day before.
The Ferrari driver said the straight-line speed advantage of the Red Bull was the difference between the two.
"It was a very difficult race physically," he said.
"Towards the end I thought I could get Max at one point, but today they had the advantage in terms of pace."
