Verstappen secures another pole at the F1 Miami Grand Prix

After a Sprint Qualifying and an F1 Sprint dominated by Max Verstappen, the Red Bull driver is naturally the favorite for the Miami Grand Prix qualification. Charles Leclerc is also a contender for pole position, following his second-place finish yesterday despite limited track time.

Lando Norris, who missed his final lap in yesterday’s qualifying but showed excellent pace in SQ2 and SQ3, will also be one to watch during this qualifying session, which will determine the starting grid order for tomorrow’s Miami race.

Aside from Ferrari and McLaren, who could challenge for the pole, it will be interesting to see if Aston Martin can perform better over a single lap, and whether the Mercedes drivers can make it through Q2 after their dual elimination in SQ2.

Note that Daniel Ricciardo will have a three-place grid penalty for overtaking a car under red flag conditions during the Chinese Grand Prix.

21:50: Kevin Magnussen has been summoned to the stewards for his “unsportsmanlike behavior” during the Sprint, during which he pushed Lewis Hamilton off the track and later admitted he had deliberately exceeded acceptable limits.

21:54: The stewards have disclosed that the incident at the start of the Sprint involving Lando Norris, Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, and Lewis Hamilton has been dismissed with no further action, explaining: “From the video, it appears there were at least three collisions – the first between cars 14 and 18, then between car 44 and car 14, and finally between car 18 and car 4. It seemed that the incidents began with cars 14 and 18, but the sudden and rapid approach of car 44 contributed to the various collisions. However, we were unable to identify one or more drivers entirely or principally responsible for the various collisions or any one of them. Keeping in mind that this occurred in turn 1 of lap 1, where drivers are granted more leeway for incidents, no further action was taken.”

21:55: Lando Norris received a reprimand and a fine of $50,000, half of which is suspended, for crossing the track on foot after his retirement.

Q1 – 18 minutes

Guanyu Zhou was released in front of an RB F1 car as he left his garage, and is under investigation for not following the race director’s notes. All drivers hit the track in the opening minutes, except for Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas.

Nico Hülkenberg clocked the first time at 1’28″945, followed by Esteban Ocon at just 0″044 behind, then Magnussen and Pierre Gasly. Hamilton improved with a time of 1’28″817, and George Russell took the lead with a time of 1’28″567, while Daniel Ricciardo slotted in between the Mercedes.

Alonso took second place and Carlos Sainz grabbed the session’s top spot with a 1’28″159. Stroll recorded the sixth time, and Charles Leclerc posted the second-fastest time, just 0″024 off his teammate. Norris logged the sixth provisional time, and Oscar Piastri fourth, before being overtaken by Sergio Pérez, who moved into third.

Verstappen left the pits after most drivers had completed their fast laps and reported an odd noise from the clutch of his RB20. However, Gianpiero Lambiase assured everything was fine with the clutch.

Despite a slower first sector than Sainz, the triple world champion recorded the best second sector overall, and took the lead with a time of 1’28″023. Bottas put in a good lap to take provisional fifth place.

Hülkenberg moved into fifth, displacing Bottas, and Logan Sargeant recorded his first time of the session, taking provisional 11th. Magnussen advanced to 13th place. Stroll moved up to sixth.

Hamilton clocked the third-fastest time after setting the best first sector, and Gasly was 15th. Ocon improved significantly to provisional seventh, while Tsunoda climbed to 12th. Zhou did not improve and remained 19th.

Sainz reclaimed first place with a 1’27″937 and Leclerc moved to third, before being surpassed by Piastri, who came within less than a tenth of Sainz. And Norris moved into this tight group, just 0″080 behind Sainz, 6 thousandths ahead of Verstappen and 15 thousandths in front of Piastri. Pérez beat the top time with a 1’27″772.

Sargeant complained of being impeded by Tsunoda and, before the final attempts of all drivers, he was provisionally eliminated by just 2 thousandths of a second. With less than eight tenths separating eighth from 20th, everything was still to play for in this qualifying session.

Leclerc improved but remained sixth, and Norris regained second place. Verstappen set the best time at 1’27″689, and Magnussen missed out by just 2 thousandths with a time equal to Sargeant, having been hindered in the last corner.

Sargeant took 12th place, and Albon eighth! Ocon moved up to eighth, Tsunoda to ninth and Ricciardo improved but remained 18th (and will start last with his three-place penalty). Russell took seventh, and Gasly advanced to fifth place, both Alpines are in Q2! Stroll was tenth and Bottas did no better than 16th.

The eliminated drivers are Bottas, Sargeant, Ricciardo, Magnussen, and Zhou.

Q2 – 15 minutes

Tsunoda set the fastest time with a 1’28″223, ahead of Pérez and Stroll. Verstappen improved with a 1’27″972, immediately surpassed by Norris at 1’27″871, and Piastri at 1’27″721. Hamilton took the sixth fastest time, soon replaced in that position by Russell.

Leclerc then secured the top time with a 1’27″533, while Sainz recorded the fourth time, four tenths off his teammate. Alonso finished in 11th place just behind Stroll, with Gasly and Ocon placing ninth and tenth respectively.

Albon went off at the hairpin at the end of the straight, while the standings after this first attempt showed Red Bulls lagging behind. Notably, Verstappen and Pérez used worn tires for their first run.

All 15 drivers returned to the track, as they were all within 1.2 seconds of each other before this final run, and with track conditions evolving, particularly with changing wind directions, a positive wind could change outcomes.

Alonso improved but only managed 13th, while Stroll moved up to ninth. Hamilton also improved and rose to second place between Leclerc and Piastri. Sainz took the sixth fastest time and Russell eighth.

Verstappen climbed to second place and Ocon did not improve beyond 13th. Norris regained a position ahead of Sainz, and Albon could not improve beyond 14th.

Eliminated were Stroll, Gasly, Ocon, Albon, and Alonso.

Q3 – 12 minutes

Surprisingly, Norris used a set of medium tires, as he had only one set of soft tires left. The McLaren driver aimed to secure a time in case of a red flag during the second run.

Hülkenberg posted an initial time of 1’29″104, and Tsunoda had a slower lap. Hamilton recorded a 1’28″654, and Russell outpaced him with a 1’28″067. Pérez bettered both with a 1’27″754, and Verstappen set a leading time of 1’27″241!

Norris, on mediums, placed third. Russell took the second fastest time, a tenth off Verstappen, and Leclerc recorded the third fastest time, two tenths behind. Piastri finished with the fourth provisional place.

It’s notable that Sainz impeded Hülkenberg but the race director decided not to even open an investigation against the Ferrari driver, challenging Fernando Alonso’s theories about penalties and nationality…

Verstappen recorded the absolute best first sector, while Russell worried about being slowed by Hamilton in the preparation lap. Leclerc made a minor error in the first sector and, like Sainz, was slightly behind.

In the second sector, Verstappen lost time, as did Leclerc and Sainz. Verstappen finished with a lesser time, and Norris did not improve beyond fifth. Neither Leclerc nor Sainz improved. Hamilton managed to move up two positions despite using medium tires, and Russell did not advance.

Verstappen thus clinched the pole position followed by Leclerc and Sainz, then Pérez. Norris and Piastri followed ahead of the Mercedes duo of Russell and Hamilton. Hülkenberg and Tsunoda rounded out the top 10.

2024 F1 Miami Grand Prix – Qualifying Results
Pos	Driver	Nat.	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3
1	Max Verstappen	NED	Oracle Red Bull Racing	1m27.689s	1m27.566s	1m27.241s
2	Charles Leclerc	MON	Scuderia Ferrari	1m28.081s	1m27.533s	1m27.382s
3	Carlos Sainz	ESP	Scuderia Ferrari	1m27.937s	1m27.941s	1m27.455s
4	Sergio Perez	MEX	Oracle Red Bull Racing	1m27.772s	1m27.839s	1m27.460s
5	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren F1 Team	1m27.913s	1m27.871s	1m27.594s
6	Oscar Piastri	AUS	McLaren F1 Team	1m28.032s	1m27.721s	1m27.675s
7	George Russell	GBR	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	1m28.159s	1m28.095s	1m28.067s
8	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	1m28.167s	1m27.697s	1m28.107s
9	Nico Hulkenberg	GER	MoneyGram Haas F1 Team	1m28.383s	1m28.200s	1m28.146s
10	Yuki Tsunoda	JPN	Visa Cash App RB F1 Team	1m28.324s	1m28.167s	1m28.192s
11	Lance Stroll	CAN	Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team	1m28.177s	1m28.222s
12	Pierre Gasly	FRA	BWT Alpine F1 Team	1m27.976s	1m28.324s
13	Esteban Ocon	FRA	BWT Alpine F1 Team	1m28.209s	1m28.371s
14	Alex Albon	THA	Williams Racing	1m28.343s	1m28.413s
15	Fernando Alonso	ESP	Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team	1m28.453s	1m28.427s
16	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber	1m28.463s
17	Logan Sargeant	USA	Williams Racing	1m28.487s
18	Daniel Ricciardo	AUS	Visa Cash App RB F1 Team	1m28.617s
19	Kevin Magnussen	DEN	MoneyGram Haas F1 Team	1m28.619s
20	Zhou Guanyu	CHN	Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber	1m28.824s