Miami Grand Prix – Qualifications: Leclerc on pole ahead of Sainz and Verstappen

Under intense heat, Charles Leclerc takes pole position in Miami! The first in the history of the circuit. The Monegasque driver executed a splendid final lap to snatch the first spot on the grid. It’s a 100% Ferrari front row with Carlos Sainz just behind him very closely. Max Verstappen, guilty of a mistake on his final lap, slots into third position.

Q1:

The first qualifying session started without Esteban Ocon. Following his crash during the third free practice session, the Frenchman was unable to take to the track. The Alpine driver will therefore start last on the grid behind Alexander Albon and Nicholas Latifi’s Williams cars. The Thai driver, in good form since the beginning of the weekend, was unable to reproduce the performances seen during practice.

While Valtteri Bottas continued to set good lap times aboard his Alfa Romeo, Guanyu Zhou failed to make it into Q2. This was due to heavy traffic during his final attempt, similar to Kevin Magnussen’s situation. The Danish driver had previously achieved an excellent fourth place in qualifying at Imola driving for Haas. Although the two Mercedes cars were performing better since the start of the weekend, Lewis Hamilton still had a scare. He spent much of the session towards the back of the grid but managed to set a good time less than a minute before the end to secure a spot.

Eliminated: 16. Kévin Magnussen (Haas); 17. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo); 18. Alex Albon (Williams); 19. Nicholas Latifi (Williams); and 20. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

Q2:

In Q2, Charles Leclerc, who was already the fastest in the first session, set the best time. Valtteri Bottas, on the verge of elimination in Q1 (15th time), managed to secure an impressive sixth place by improving his time by over a second. A different story for Fernando Alonso, who was sixth in Q1 but was eliminated in the second session by just 32 milliseconds more than Pierre Gasly. Therefore, there will be no Alpine in Q3.

No Haas either in the remaining ten drivers, while Mick Schumacher took fifteenth place. Just ahead of him, Daniel Ricciardo couldn’t do better than fourteenth, conceding over five tenths to his teammate Lando Norris, who was a surprising third. Sebastian Vettel also didn’t make it to Q3, unlike his teammate Lance Stroll.

But the surprise came from Mercedes. George Russell failed to make it past the Q2 cut. The young British driver encountered an issue with his car right at the beginning of the session, which forced him to return to the pits and deprived him of another attempt. Despite setting the fastest time in Free Practice 2, Russell was not helped by the extremely twitchy W13 car.

Eliminated: 11. Fernando Alonso (Alpine); 12. George Russell (Mercedes); 13. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin); 14. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren); and 15. Mick Schumacher (Haas).

Q3:

Seven teams were represented in Q3. Only Alpine, Haas, and Williams did not have any drivers among the remaining ten, while Red Bull, Ferrari, and AlphaTauri could rely on both of their cars.

From the first attempt, Max Verstappen made a strong impression by setting the fastest time, beating the Ferraris by a hair. Charles Leclerc was 64 milliseconds behind, and Carlos Sainz was 80 milliseconds behind. On the other hand, Sergio Perez was already conceding half a second to his teammate. Red Bull and Ferrari monopolized the first two rows and demonstrated their overwhelming superiority with nearly a second gap from the best time of the others, Valtteri Bottas.

But on the second attempt, the Reds responded to the reigning champion. Charles Leclerc took pole position and Carlos Sainz secured second place. Max Verstappen completed the podium. It is worth noting Pierre Gasly’s impressive performance, placing him in seventh position, his best result so far this season. Lewis Hamilton seemed more comfortable behind the wheel of his Mercedes and will start sixth on the grid, just behind his former teammate Valtteri Bottas.