For the first time, the Dutchman will start ahead of everyone in the Miami GP. Good performance for the two Ferraris, McLaren still uncertain in qualifying.
Also in the Miami GP, two-time world champion Max Verstappen takes pole, securing pole position after dominating the qualifiers. The Red Bull Dutchman will start ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, after winning this morning’s Sprint Race.
What happened in Q1?
Perez sets the initial pace before passing the baton to Verstappen with a time of 1:27.689. The fallen at the first hurdle were: Valtteri Bottas, Logan Sargeant, Daniel Ricciardo (the hero of the Sprint Race who will start last due to a three-place grid penalty for an infringement during the last GP in China), Kevin Magnussen, and Zhou Guanyu.
What happened in Q2?
Leclerc sees a provisional pole immediately marked by Verstappen by a few thousandths, while Lewis Hamilton jumps to third place on his second lap.
At the end of the session, the following were eliminated: Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Alex Albon, and Fernando Alonso. From the latter, the English team expected improvements that, however, did not materialize.
What happened in Q3?
In the early stages, Verstappen sets the pace not far from the two pursuers Leclerc and Sainz, with a tenth of a gap to the third place. In the final laps, Verstappen was nearly two tenths slower than his initial time, while Leclerc was half a second off his previous pace. Perez improved to secure the fourth position, ahead of the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. George Russell will start ahead of Hamilton, who failed to replicate his form in Q2, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda.
Drawing a line at the end of these qualifiers, more was expected from the new upgrades at McLaren, which struggled in qualifying throughout the weekend, forcing Norris to use a harder compound for much of it, trying to find grip on corner exit.
On the other hand, the two Ferraris performed well, meeting expectations. Leclerc just a step away from pole, and Sainz doing his part, staying behind his teammate by a tenth. One who hasn’t delivered is Sergio Perez, who has always performed well on this track but hasn’t been able to replicate it this year.
