A lack of grip
It was an exciting first session at the Miami GP as the drivers struggled for the grip with the newly-laid track in 2023.
Nico Hulkenburg had a scary moment as he almost hitting the barriers powers sliding out of a corner.
The mistakes continued as Lewis Hamilton’s session almost came to an abrupt end.
He nearly ran into the back of a Haas car coming into the final few corners.
The resulting evasive action led to minor front wing damage for the Mercedes although he was able to continue.
The worried faces on the pit wall said it all but the Brit dragged his Mercedes out of Q1 with his final attempt.
Not so lucky was Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin. He starts from 18th with a first Q1 elimination for the standout team of the year.
The Canadian is yet to live up to his illustrious teammate, Fernando Alonso in either qualifying or the race.
He’ll need a clean race tomorrow to get points.
Joining him in the first elimination was the two McLaren’s with Logan Sergeant propping up the rear in the Williams.
Yuki Tsunoda will be disappointed after a strong showing in Baku. He lines up 17th being beaten by his rookie teammate, Nick De Vries who snuck through in 15th place.
Meanwhile Red Bull continued their domination of the weekend so far with Max Verstappen leading the field in 1st.
Ferrari put in an early challenge for Q3 with Carlos Sainz just behind.
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More disappointment for Mercedes
With the Alpha Tauri of Nick De Vries rooted to the bottom an interesting battle was shaping up for the remaining places in Q3.
The track has been constantly improving as the weekend goes on with times falling each minute.
Haas, Alfa Romeo and Mercedes were left scrapping for the remaining positions.
The home team did well with Magnussen getting into Q3 with his teammate starting 12th. They’ll be looking for a good points finish tomorrow.
It was also a positive session for the Alfa’s after an underwhelming start to their season.
Valterri Bottas put in a fantastic lap to get through. It’s the first time we’ve seen an Alfa in Q3 this season.
Hamilton seemed agitated throughout qualifying in a car that continues to confuse its owners and fans alike.
It wasn’t a big surprise to see him get dumped out in Q2.
“Left that way to late guys,” said a despondent Hamilton on the radio after being knocked out.
He’ll start from P13 tomorrow and has it all to do.
His teammate, George Russell fared better sneaking into Q3 while Alex Albon starts from a strong 11th place.
Further up the order it was plain sailing for Verstappen as he topped another session, although Ferrari have found some pace since the last race
The mercurial Alonso finished third as he hunts down another podium.
While the Alpine’s did well to get both cars into Q3 with the Frenchmen of Gasly and Ocon showing good pace.
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Leclerc loses it again
Ten drivers and six teams remained. All to play for in Q3 at the Miami GP.
Some early lock ups meant Leclerc and Verstappen – both Saturday specialists in recent times – found themselves down the order after the first runs.
Alonso popped himself into second on used tyres no less – is this guy even human?
Checo Perez has been in scintillating form in the last few races but showed composure to put the fastest lap in after the first run.
It would prove to be decisive as second runs got underway.
Charles Leclerc – so fast in qualifying – sent his Ferrari spinning into the barriers. It’s not the first time we’ve seen the Monegasque driver buckle under the pressure.
“We’ve seen it a lot lately and a lot in his career” pondered Martin Brundle after the incident.
The appearance of a red flag meant the session was over with no time to complete another lap.
Perez takes pole tomorrow while Alonso and Sainz round off the top three.
Magnussen benefited from that single run putting in a blinding lap to take 4th. Gene Haas will be a happy man tonight in the first of three home races.
Gasly and Russell follow in 5th and 6th repectively while Ocon takes 8th.
Verstappen and Leclerc will be looking to make up for lost time starting in the lower positions of the top 10 in the race.
Bottas took 10th in Q3 and will hope to challenge for some desperately needed points tomorrow.
It is a fascinating top 10 that will surely lay the foundations for a fantastic race in Miami.
Perez will hope to make the most of the travelling support from Mexico to take another win for Red Bull.