Max Verstappen will start the 2024 Miami Sprint in P1 after most drivers in SQ3 failed to complete a decent lap.
The Dutchman asked ‘what happened to the others?’ after the session, following a particularly lacklustre performance from McLaren. It was a much better day for Daniel Ricciardo, who will start on the second row alongside Sergio Perez, while the Ferrari of Leclerc will start from P2 in the Miami Sprint Quali
Heading into the second consecutive Sprint weekend, the drivers relied on only one practice session ahead of the 2024 Miami Sprint Quali. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc entered Sprint Quali on the back foot, having ended his own practice prematurely by spinning out, ultimately leaving him in the garage for most of the session. After reporting steering issues early on in Free Practice, last week’s Sprint polesitter Lando Norris also entered Sprint Quali with a question mark over his head. McLaren have brought significant upgrades for their cars this weekend, with Norris receiving the full new package while Oscar Piastri received only half of them.
Medium tyres were required be used in SQ1 and SQ2, and SQ3 saw the top ten take to the track in softs. Drivers like Fernando Alonso entered Sprint Quali having completed no laps on soft tyres in the practice session, so his pace was unknown.
The coloured barriers seemed to cause a problem for some today; multiple drivers reported having hit the walls on the tight street circuit. According to George Russell, the darker colours of the barriers make it harder for him to tell how close he is to the walls compared to the circuit’s brighter barriers. They proved to be a headache for many drivers, including Lewis Hamilton, ruining his lap, and consequently playing a part in him finishing in P12.
SQ1
At lights out, Leclerc was first on track, clearing the dust that had accumulated between runs. Unsurprisingly, he was keen to get as much time on track as possible after his disastrous practice session, but struggled for grip on his first flying lap. The Aston Martins of Alonso and Lance Stroll followed the Ferrari onto the track, sitting top of the timesheet with seven minutes to go. Norris struggled on his first flying lap, and failed to better the times set by the Aston Martins. The Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez once again charged to the top, and Piastri split the pair, just under four hundredths behind the reigning World Champion who posted a 1.28.601. A second chance at a flying lap for Charles Leclerc saw him slot into P3.
An incident between Piastri and Valtteri Bottas saw a near-collision at Turn 1, following no warning from Bottas’ brand-new race engineer that the McLaren was approaching. Kevin Magnussen had a great SQ1, posting an impressive time to take P5 at the end of the session. Norris topped the times with a 1.27.939, followed by his teammate Piastri. Alonso and Verstappen finished in P3 and P4 respectively.
Out in SQ1 in the 2024 Miami Sprint Quali was Alpine’s Pierre Gasly with a messy lap in 16th, the Kick Saubers of Zhou Guanyu and Bottas in 17th and 18th respectively, a frustrated Logan Sargeant in P19 and following a lap time deletion, Alex Albon in P20. Even without a deleted lap time, the Thai driver would have failed to make it out of SQ1.
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SQ2
Perez was eager to post a lap at the start of SQ2, posting a significantly faster lap than his SQ1 time with a 1.27.865. Daniel Ricciardo posted a solid lap to get ahead of the Aston Martins, looking to have a better weekend than he had in China. With two minutes to go, he remained in P4, only bettered by Leclerc, Perez and Norris in P3, P2 and P1 respectively. Verstappen held off to complete one flying lap in the session, but was unable to better the time of Norris. In fact, he could only manage P4 as the clock hit 30 seconds to go.
It was a miserable day for Mercedes even with their upgrades, as both drivers failed to make it into SQ3. They could only manage P11 for Russell and P12 for Hamilton, who hit the wall on his flying lap – and he was also on used tyres. The second Alpine of Esteban Ocon finished P13, the Haas car of Kevin Magnussen in 14th and Yuki Tsunoda’s RB in 15th. Tsunoda’s teammate Ricciardo successfully made it to SQ3.
There was more misery for Hamilton at the chequered flag, as he was noted by the stewards for a pit lane infringement. It’s thought that his pit crew failed to put their helmets on when working on the car during the session.
SQ3
The eight-minute SQ3 session had a slow start; all cars remained in the garage until well beyond the half-way mark. A flurry of movement seen the two McLarens and two Ferraris to exit the pits last, trying to make the most of the track evolution towards the end of the session. The two Red Bulls sat atop the board, untouched by Norris who was unable to match the pace he set on the Medium tyres and finishing down in P9.
Verstappen found himself in P1 once again with a 1.27.641, Leclerc slotted into second, a tenth down on Verstappen, with Daniel Ricciardo impressing in P4, behind Perez in P3. Carlos Sainz starts on the third row in P5 beside the second McLaren of Piastri in sixth. Lance Stroll will start in P7, Alonso in P8, and the Haas of Nico Hülkenberg rounding out the top ten, concluding the 2024 Miami Sprint Quali.
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