Charles Leclerc led Carlos Sainz to Ferrari’s first front row lockout since Mexico 2019. A bizzare error left Max Verstappen 3rd, while the rest of the grid is incredibly mixed up around the new track.
Unfortunately, Ocon was unable to participate in qualifying due to his heavy shunt in FP3.
Going into the session, it seemed too close to call between the Red Bulls and the Ferraris. However, Mercedes’ upgrades seemed to have improve the car and they were not out of consideration for pole.
Q1 – woe for Williams while Ferrari lead the way
Leclerc set the pace early with a laptime that was 0.5s faster than any lap in Miami so far. Verstappen was only 0.3s behind, but the gauntlet was thrown.
With 2 minutes to go, Hamilton was yet again flirting with danger. The 7 time world champion was 17th until his final effort placed him 5th. His team-mate Russell placed highly early on in the session, but ended up behind him in 9th.
Traffic became an issue as the seconds ticked down, many drivers trying desperately to find clean air.
It was a sombre affair for Williams as their drivers finished in 19th and 18th. Alonso leapt from 17th to 6th on his last lap, relegating Magnussen to 16th. While Zhou was the last driver unable to escape Q1.
Eliminated:
- 16th Bottas
- 17th Zhou
- 18th Albon
- 19th Latifi
- DNS Ocon
Q2 – Mercedes malarky, Mixed emotions at McLaren
Russell was suffering and 2 laps had to be aborted due to an unsettled car. The Briton reported his struggles on the radio. He was able to place his car 7th with 2 minutes to go, but this wouldn’t be enough as he would be later be relegated out of Q3. Hamilton fared slightly better, finishing 7th, but the Mercedes looked like a handful to drive.
Schumacher had done well to beat his team-mate to Q2, but the Haas driver seemed to be wrestling his Haas around the new Miami track. As a result, he would finish in the lowest possible position, 15th.
Out at the front, Leclerc took the fastest time again, but Red Bull closed the gap with Verstappen only 0.07s behind. Norris surprised, taking 3rd, 11 places ahead of his team-mate.
Both Aston Martin drivers set personal best times on their last laps, but while Stroll was able to make Q3, Vettel was less lucky, the 4 time world champion was only capable of 13th.
Alonso was the final driver to be dropped out of qualifying, only able to finish 11th. But he had a bone of contention with compatriot Sainz. Alonso felt he was held up by the Ferrari, but the incident deemed no investigation.
Eliminated:
- 11th Alonso
- 12th Russell
- 13th Vettel
- 14th Ricciardo
- 15th Schumacher
Q3 – Forza Ferrari, Bottas Blazes
Verstappen had been slowly closing the gap throughout qualifying and all eyes were now on the battle for pole.
Verstappen set the initial fastest time, ahead of Leclerc by only 0.06s, who in turn was only 0.02s in front of Sainz. There was a huge gap of half a second to Perez in 4th.
Ferrari started strong on their final runs with both drivers taking purple sectors. Leclerc stormed to 1st while Sainz slotted into 2nd. As Verstappen was mounting his challenge, the Red Bull seemed to slow and bailed out of his last lap. Replays showed that the Dutchman took his car off the track and he was relegated to 3rd, just ahead of Perez.
Bottas stunned with an almost unsighted 5th place, infront of ex-teammate Hamilton.
Gasly was the first of the Alpha Tauris in 7th, Tsunoda finished 9th. While Norris took an anticlimactic 8th with Stroll rounding out the top 10.
Standings:
- Leclerc
- Sainz
- Verstappen
- Perez
- Bottas
- Hamilton
- Gasly
- Norris
- Tsunoda
- Stroll
All the hype around this weekend is now building to the main event. Ferrari look strong, but Red Bull are close enough to whet the appetites of Formula 1 fans. Verstappen needs to close the points gap, but the buffer of Sainz is a tantilising prospect.
Featured Image Credit: @F1 Official Twitter
