Max Verstappen beats Lando Norris by 0.065s margin to secure F1 Miami GP pole, as Andrea Kimi Antonelli ended up third.
Q1:
The first part in F1 Miami GP qualifying saw a difficult run for most in dry conditions as they couldn’t find strong laptimes. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen ended up on top with a 1m26.870s lap ahead of McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, where the Brit brushed the wall on his way to second.
The times were pretty close where everyone from first until 19th were just covered by 0.960s. In fact, Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg (1m27.473s) missed out Q2 by just 0.023s in 16th ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso (1m27.604s), with teammate Lance Stroll (1m27.830s) in 19th.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was 18th after his 1m27.710s lap, where replays showed traffic on his fast lap. Haas’ Oliver Bearman ended up 20th after his 1m27.999s lap – he was the only driver to finish outside the one second margin against Verstappen.
Q2:
The second part in F1 Miami GP qualifying saw Piastri set the pace with a 1m26.269s lap. The Australian didn’t bother to venture out the second time to improve, as Norris was second and Mercedes’ George Russell third. The Brit did not have a good first lap, but improved well in the final attempt.
Haas’ Esteban Ocon managed to make it inside the Top 10 despite a mistake in the first sector. He was helped by Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton (1m27.006s) not improving on his final attempt after mistake on his quick lap. He was 12th behind Visa Cash App RB’s Isack Hadjar (1m26.987s) in 11th.
He was ousted by just the 0.020s margin, as Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto (1m27.151s) did well in 13th ahead of Alpine’s Jack Doohan (1m27.186s) and Visa Cash App RB’s Liam Lawson (1m27.363s). Both improved on their time but not position, as the Kiwi complained about a battery issue.
Q3:
The final part in F1 Miami GP qualifying saw Verstappen draw first blood by setting 1m26.492s to secure provisional pole ahead of Norris, who was only 0.003s behind. Replays showed that he locked-up in the final part to fall short, as Piastri was third – finishing just 0.017s behind the Dutchman.
Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli slotted in fourth from Williams’ Alexander Albon, as Russell was sixth after his lock-up. The lone Ferrari of Charles Leclerc aborted his lap after a wide run-off moment in the final corner. The second run saw further win for Verstappen after another improvement.
He set a 1m26.204s lap to take F1 Miami GP pole by 0.065s margin on Norris (1m26.269s). Replays showed a moment for the Brit, which seemingly cost him a chance for pole. Antonelli (1m26.271s) improved late to end up third, only 0.067s behind the Dutchman in another solid lap.
Piastri (1m26.375s) was pushed to fourth after Antonelli’s lap, while Russell (1m26.385s) improved to fifth from Williams pair of Carlos Sainz (1m26.569s) and Albon (1m26.682s). Leclerc (1m26.754s) ended up eighth from Ocon (1m26.824s), as Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda (1m26.943s) rounded out the Top 10.
UPDATE: Albon was handed a non-driving reprimand for driving into the fastlane in front of a driver in the pitlane in Q1. The stewards acknowledged that the mechanics tried to stop him, but the driver misinterpreted the message. Here: https://x.com/fia/status/1918818109969911822