Miami Grand Prix – Qualifying: Max Verstappen on cloud nine
Seventh consecutive pole for Max Verstappen, who outpaced the two Ferraris.
After the qualifications and the Sprint race, it was time to focus on the real grid for Sunday’s race. True to their reputation, the organizers of the Miami Grand Prix had organized a concert by Ed Sheeran just before the start of the session while the stars were crowding the paddock.
The session turned out to be quite different from the previous day. Fourth on the grid this morning, Daniel Ricciardo was unable to make it out of Q1. After the first attempt, he had only two thousandths of a second advantage over Logan Sargeant’s Williams but it allowed him to be on the right side of the elimination line. However, the American improved, unlike the Australian. A hero this morning, the Racing Bulls driver found himself eliminated, in 18th place!
Kevin Magnussen, after his crazy Sprint race, had to settle for the 19th time, hindered by numerous cars in the final corner.
The eliminees of Q1: Bottas, Sargeant, Ricciardo, Magnussen and Zhou
The big surprise of Q2 came with Fernando Alonso’s elimination. Already in 13th place after the first attempt, he failed to improve and finished in 15th position. He was therefore outperformed by his teammate, Lance Stroll (11th), in both qualifying sessions. In the battle of Alpine teammates, Pierre Gasly took the lead for the first time this season.
The eliminations from Q2: Stroll, Gasly, Ocon, Albon, Alonso
Yuki Tsunoda and Nico Hülkenberg managed to make it into Q3, following their strong performance in the race this morning. After the first attempt, it was Max Verstappen who led ahead of the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard briefly came under investigation for impeding Nico Hülkenberg but was quickly cleared. The ranking remained the same after the second attempt as no one was able to improve, except for Lewis Hamilton who moved back ahead of Nico Hülkenberg into eighth position.
Max Verstappen continues to break records, with a seventh consecutive pole position, the 38th of his career. The battle between Red Bull and Ferrari looks set to be tight in tomorrow’s race as their pace seemed similar during the Sprint.
From our special correspondent in Miami
