Max Verstappen becomes the first driver since Alan Prost in 1993 to take pole position in the first six races of the season as he goes top in Miami.
Q1
There was a lot of action on track as drivers looked to make up for lost time, given that the sprint weekend format leaves them with less on track running. That paired with the track still being pretty green and the high temperatures meant that times fell pretty quickly.
Daniel Ricciardo had a significant change in fortunes in this qualifying session compared to the Sprint just a few hours ago. Whilst he was able to start and finish that race in fourth with a stellar defensive drive, here he was only able to go 17th fastest, which will mean he will start tomorrow’s grand prix from last place, assuming that there are no penalties given to anyone else.
A lot of drivers had been impeded during this session. Logan Sargeant had felt Tsunoda had ruined one of his laps, one of the Alpines had compromised Verstappen’s exit for turn 3, whilst Magnussen lost a bit of time at the hairpin on his final run, which ultimately saw him get knocked out.
Alpine will be happy with their Q1. Whilst both drivers were able to escape the first part of qualifying in China, Pierre Gasly set an emphatic lap to go 5th fastest in this session, and would be hoping for more of the same to give Alpine their first Q3 appearance of 2024.
ELIMINATED
16. Valtteri Bottas – Kick Sauber +0.010
17. Logan Sargeant – Williams +0.034
18. Daniel Ricciardo – RB +0.164 (3 place grid penalty)
19. Kevin Magnussen – Haas +0.166
20. Zhou Guanyu – Kick Sauber +0.371
Q2
A yellow flag was brought out in the middle of Q2, as Alex Albon had temporarily stopped on track. He had simply not been able to turn the car sharp enough going into the hairpin, where he then criticised the soft compound tyres he was using, suggesting they lost all grip by the end of the lap. This only gave him one opportunity to set a representative lap time to make it through to Q3 for the first time this season, though he ultimately fell short.
One driver who has made it to Q3 in every qualifying session so far this year is Fernando Alonso, though he would fail to do so on this occasion. A scruffy lap, not helped by the car’s apparent middling pace compared to their rivals, as evidence by his teammate’s own lack of a Q3 appearance, left Alonso stranded at the bottom of the timing sheets in Q2.
Lewis Hamilton looked potentially at risk of a Q2 elimination himself as he was languishing in 12th before completing his lap time. Despite the performance the car has showed up to this point in the weekend, Hamilton was able to pull himself up to 3rd place by the end, suggesting that the setup now used on the car has been improved since the Sprint.
ELIMINATED
11. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin +0.022
12. Pierre Gasly – Alpine +0.124
13. Esteban Ocon – Alpine +0.171
14. Alex Albon – Williams +0.213
15. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin +0.227
Q3
Max Verstappen took the early advantage in this session, as he has done on a number of occasions so far this season. Both Ferraris and Oscar Piastri separated him from teammate Sergio Perez though, as Red Bull chased three consecutive front row lockouts, an accolade they have not achieved since 2012.
As is the case for most dry weather qualifying sessions, drivers went out once again for their final runs to fight for pole position. However, unlike many dry running qualifying sessions, barely anyone towards the front was improving their times. Verstappen had failed to do so, despite improving by a tenth in sector one, but no one else behind was able to threaten his pole position. Both Ferraris behind went slower than on their first lap, and Sergio Perez was only able to improve to fourth place. The heat at the circuit was causing the tyres on the cars to give up most of their performance early on in the lap.
Lando Norris had improved up to 5th place, having set his initial run on medium tyres. Hamilton used mediums for his final flying lap, and was able to use them to go from 10th to 8th, perhaps not suffering from temperature issues as much as his contemporaries on the harder tyre compound.
Not including sprint qualifying results, this is Verstappen’s 7th consecutive pole position, stretching back to the final race of last season. This makes him the first driver since Alan Prost in 1993 to take each of the first six pole positions within a single season.
Qualifying results
1. Max Verstappen – Red Bull 1:27.241
2. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari +0.141
3. Carlos Sainz – Ferrari +0.214
4. Sergio Perez – Red Bull +0.219
5. Lando Norris – McLaren +0.353
6. Oscar Piastri– McLaren +0.434
7. George Russell – Mercedes +0.826
8. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes +0.866
9. Nico Hulkenberg – Haas +0.905
10. Yuki Tsunoda – Alpha Tauri +0.951
