Verstappen (Red Bull) on the wire. On Saturday, the Dutchman will start the Miami Sprint from first position. Dominated by Lando Norris (McLaren) in the first two segments of qualifying, the world champion was the fastest in the final attempt of the session, Friday evening. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) will accompany him on the front row, followed by Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) and Daniel Ricciardo (Racing Bulls).
“First ? LOL! What happened to the others? My turn was rubbish!“This is a statement from Verstappen which will please the competition. We cannot blame the Dutchman for his cold honesty. Usually at ease in the exercise of the fast lap, he came across better than him in this first American weekend of the season, but it is he who will start from the leading position in the Sprint race.
Aerial in SQ1 and SQ2, McLaren missed in SQ3
Arriving in Florida with an extremely advanced MCL38 (10 new parts, from the tip of the nose to the engine cover), Lando Norris (McLaren) seemed set for a third consecutive pole in the short format after São Paulo in 2023 and Shanghai there two weeks ago. The Briton set the best time in SQ1 and SQ2, each time two tenths ahead of the Austrian rockets. The switch to soft rubber was fatal, Norris falling to 9th place, eight tenths from pole behind the Aston Martins.
Conversely, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), only five minutes of driving and three laps on the clock in the only training session, was inserted between the Red Bulls while his teammate Sainz stagnated in 5th position behind the surprising Ricciardo (Racing Bulls).
Lando Norris
Credit: Getty Images
Mercedes drifting
For Mercedes, the party stopped in SQ2. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were eliminated at the gates of the top 10. The seven-time world champion notably hit the wall at the exit of turn 16, ruining his lap. “I couldn’t do anything else,” he said, disillusioned, after his last attempt. A new disappointment for the Silver Arrows.
Among the French, Esteban Ocon placed an Alpine in SQ2. The native of Evreux, ultimately thirteenth, was not ridiculous since he beat Kevin Magnussen (Haas), while the latter’s teammate, Nico Hülkenberg, qualified in tenth place. Pierre Gasly has to be content with sixteenth place.
