Cloudy. Dry. Air +29C, highway +46C
The weekend in Miami was held in a sprint format on Saturday, so qualifying for Sunday’s race became the third “battle session” of the weekend.
Max Verstappen confidently won qualifying for the sprint and the sprint, the balance of power was clear, the points still had to be played out.
Back in China, Daniel Ricciardo was given a penalty for losing three positions at the start of the race in Miami.
Pirelli brought three “medium” compositions – C2, C3 and C4 in the Hard, Medium and Soft roles. The drivers complained about the lack of grip, but at the start of qualifying the track was covered with used rubber and the situation improved. The tires quickly overheated. If you overdid the attack, they lost their effectiveness.
In the first session everyone went to Soft. Zhou entered the pit lane directly in front of Ricciardo’s car, who had to stop to let the Sauber driver pass.
Sargent stopped his fast lap and returned to the pits. Verstappen and Bottas missed their first attempt. Ricciardo hit the barrier with his right rear wheel – without consequences. Traffic on the narrow highway bothered many.
Verstappen set the best time and completed a lap in 1:27.689. Bottas, Sargent, Ricciardo, Magnussen and Zhou dropped out of further competition.
In the second session Leclerc immediately drove faster: 1:27.533. Almost everyone managed to complete the fast lap when Albon stopped in Turn 17. Yellow flags appeared, but Alex was able to continue.
On the second attempt, Norris rode Medium, the rest rode Soft. With every second Lando rolled back, but still remained in the top ten.
The protocol was led by Leclerc. Stroll, Gasly, Ocon, Albon and Alonso did not qualify for the final.
In the final Norris again went to Medium – this composition worked better for him. The rest chose Soft. Verstappen set the best time on the first attempt: 1:27.241.
On the second attempt, Hamilton and Russell drove to Medium – the Mercedes drivers simply ran out of new Soft tires. Verstappen could not improve, but his result was enough for pole position.
Max Verstappen won qualifying in Miami and took his sixth pole position of the season, his seventh in a row and the 38th of his career. On Sunday he will share the front row with Charles Leclerc. Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez will start from second, and two McLaren drivers – Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri – will start from third.
Qualifying results
| Pilot | Team | 1 session | Session 2 | Session 3 | ||||||
| M | Time | Kr | M | Time | Kr | M | Time | Kr | ||
| 1. M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 1 | 1:27,689 | 6 | 2 | 1:27,566 | 6 | 1 | 1:27,241 | 6 |
| 2. S. Leclerc | Ferrari | 7 | 1:28,081 | 9 | 1 | 1:27,533 | 6 | 2 | 1:27,382 | 6 |
| 3. K.Sainz | Ferrari | 4 | 1:27,937 | 9 | 7 | 1:27,941 | 6 | 3 | 1:27,455 | 6 |
| 4. C. Perez | Red Bull | 2 | 1:27,772 | 6 | 5 | 1:27,839 | 6 | 4 | 1:27,460 | 6 |
| 5. L.Norris | McLaren | 3 | 1:27,913 | 9 | 6 | 1:27,871 | 6 | 5 | 1:27,594 | 6 |
| 6. O. Piastri | McLaren | 6 | 1:28,032 | 8 | 4 | 1:27,721 | 5 | 6 | 1:27,675 | 6 |
| 7. D. Russell | Mercedes | 8 | 1:28,159 | 9 | 8 | 1:28,095 | 6 | 7 | 1:28,067 | 6 |
| 8. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 9 | 1:28,167 | 9 | 3 | 1:27,697 | 6 | 8 | 1:28,107 | 6 |
| 9. N. Hulkenberg | Hare | 14 | 1:28,383 | 9 | 10 | 1:28,200 | 6 | 9 | 1:28,146 | 6 |
| 10. Yu.Tsunoda | RB | 12 | 1:28,324 | 9 | 9 | 1:28,167 | 6 | 10 | 1:28,192 | 6 |
| 11. L. Walk | Aston Martin | 10 | 1:28,177 | 9 | eleven | 1:28,222 | 6 | |||
| 12. P. Gasly | Alps | 5 | 1:27,976 | 9 | 12 | 1:28,324 | 6 | |||
| 13. E. Okon | Alps | eleven | 1:28,209 | 9 | 13 | 1:28,371 | 6 | |||
| 14. A. Elbon | Williams | 13 | 1:28,343 | 9 | 14 | 1:28,413 | 6 | |||
| 15. F. Alonso | Aston Martin | 15 | 1:28,453 | 9 | 15 | 1:28,427 | 6 | |||
| 16. V. Bottas | Sauber | 16 | 1:28,463 | 6 | ||||||
| 17. L. Sargent | Williams | 17 | 1:28,487 | 8 | ||||||
| 18. D. Ricciardo | RB | 18 | 1:28,617 | 9 | ||||||
| 19. K.Magnussen | Hare | 19 | 1:28,619 | 9 | ||||||
| 20. G.Zhou | Sauber | 20 | 1:28,824 | 9 | ||||||
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
