Charles Leclerc took pole position in a stunning pole fight in the first qualifying session for the Miami Grand Prix, his title contender Max Verstappen settled for third in the grid – while Carlos Sainz supported one or two Ferraris.
Leclerc surpassed the first two qualifying sessions, but Verstappen came closer, creating a grand final in the top 10 on penalties. Q3 saw the reigning champion take a temporary pole, but Leclerc overtook him last time for a 1m pole 28.796s, with Sainz finishing second with 0.190s.
AS IT HAPPENED: The whole action of qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix
Verstappen made a mistake on his last flying lap and ended up third, just 0.005 seconds behind Sainz, while Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez took P4.
Valtteri Bottas, Ferrari’s new powertrain in his Alfa Romeo, comes with a P5 – ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who was sixth, although he had to make a quick last lap in Q1 to avoid elimination.
1 Charles Leclerc LEC Ferrari 1: 28.796 2 Carlos Sainz SAI Ferrari 1: 28.986 3 Max Verstappen VER Red Bull Racing 1: 28.991 4 Sergio Perez PER Red Bull Racing 1: 29.036 5 Valtteri Rottas BOT4175 Al: 2
Pierre Gasley and Yuki Tsunoda reached Q3 for AlphaTauri, the Frenchman ranked seventh and the Japanese pilot ninth. Among them was Lando Norris, eighth in qualifying, although he was P3 in Q2. Lance Stroll finished in the top 10 for Aston Martin.
Alpine’s Fernando Alonso missed Q3 in P11, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell – who tackled heavy guinea pigs in Q2 – while Sebastian Vettel was disappointed to take P13 for Aston Martin. Gearshift problems for Daniel Ricciardo put him in 14th place in the grid for McLaren, while Mick Schumacher was last in Q2, finishing P15 on Saturday.
His Haas teammate Kevin Magnussen (P16) missed Q2 by a tenth and Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu took P17 after being compromised by traffic on his last flight. None of the Williams drivers managed to get out of Q1, Alex Albon took P18 and Nicholas Latifi 19th.
Esteban Ocon did not take part in the qualifiers after his crash in FP3 and will probably start the Grand Prix on Sunday from the pit lane.
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2022 Miami GP Qualifiers: Leclerc grabs pole position as Ferrari seals lockout in front row
AS IT HAPPENED
Q1 – Leclerc hits first as Hamilton avoids shock elimination
Miami had a lot of drama to offer after three action-packed training sessions, with Esteban Ocon absent from qualifying after his FP3 crash – meaning 19 drivers will take part in the first-ever Miami Grand Prix qualifying session.
Verstappen set the early benchmark in Q1, but times collapsed, Charles Leclerc overtook him to reach the top with a time of 1 minute 29.474s, the Red Bull driver then improved to go second with 0.362s. Carlos Sainz was third and six tenths of his teammate, while Perez was fourth, two tenths behind.
Lewis Hamilton abandoned his first effort and a subsequent lap was wiped out for track restrictions, placing the Mercedes driver in the relegation zone with time running downhill. But he jumped from P18 to P5 with his last effort, Fernando Alonso of Alpine also joined him in Q2 with a late flyer for P6.
Hamilton avoided fright in Q1 with a final all-or-nothing effort.
Lance Stroll was surprisingly seventh for Aston Martin, holding the fast Yuki Tsunoda by half past nine, while George Russell (P9) and McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top 10.
Mick Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, Lando Norris and Pierre Gasley managed to get out of Q1 along with 15th place Alfa Romeo driver Valteri Botas, the Finn who managed to cope at the expense of Kevin Magnussen from Haas.
Along with Magnussen, frustrated Alfa Romeo rookie Zhou Guanyu – fleeing his latest effort due to traffic – was eliminated, as were Williams drivers Alex Albon (P18 due to underheated tires) and Nicolas Latifi (P19).
Knocked out: Magnussen, Zhou, Albon, Latifi
Zhou was disappointed with the traffic; Botas reached Q2 after Magnussen lost
Q2 – Leclerc accumulates pressure as the melee erupts in midfield
Fifteen drivers remained, Ferrari with an advantage over Red Bull with traction and tension growing equally. Both Ferraris appeared on used softwares; both Red Bulls on new softwares to start the session. In the first raids, Verstappen led with a time of 1 m 29.202 seconds, and Perez second with 0.471 seconds, Ferrarito lagged behind by half a tenth in third and fourth place.
Stroll, Schumacher, Vettel, Ricciardo, and Russell were in the temporary release zone, giving up two attempts as the car spun heavily. With six minutes left, Russell was still in P15 with no time on board; Ricciardo was 14th due to a problem with shifting gears on his lap.
In further runs, the package will shift, Scuderia will reappear so that Leclerc can once again rank at the top with a time of 1 min 29.130s, Verstappen is now 0.072s behind. Norris jumped to P3 with a late flyer, 0.504 seconds of pace, dropping Perez to P4 and Sainz to P5.
Botas finished sixth ahead of former teammate Hamilton as the confident Stroll won Q3 for the first time since Turkey’s P8 Grand Prix. The duo of AlphaTauri Tsunoda (P9) and Gasly (P10) also managed to reach Q3.
That meant Alonso (who felt hampered by compatriot Carlos Sainz) missed just 0.032 seconds – and Russell finished P12 amid heavy marine pollution, another 0.013 seconds behind the two-time champion. Although Vettel improved, he was only four hundred in the P13 after making a mistake in the chicane. Ricciardo could only drive P14 as he was amused to get on the track for his last run while Schumacher finished in the top 15 for Haas.
Knocked out: Alonso, Russell, Vettel, Ricciardo, Schumacher
Ricciardo and Russell missed Q3 with some problems
Q3 – Verstappen and Leclerc stand up and Sainz enters the battle
The final 10 consisted of seven teams, with only Haas, Williams and Alpine missing Q3. And as Verstappen approached Leclerc, it seemed to be losing the pole position in the championship.
However, the first efforts led to a breakthrough of Verstappen for P1 with a time of 1 m 28.991 seconds, with Leclerc only 0.064 seconds. Perez’s first attempt left him half a second behind in P4.
The tension was feverish for the last flying laps in Q3, Perez allowed Verstappen to pass while the Red Bull pair prepared. Verstappen was now in the driver’s seat.
Leclerc improved in sector 1, put a purple second sector, but could not improve in his third. Still, that would be enough for a possible time of 1 m 28.796s and a half position, as a disappointed Verstappen made a mistake and gave up his last effort.
Sainz came in second, the Spaniard refused Verstappen to start from the front row and provided Ferrari with one or two in Miami, the Dutchman fell to third in front of his teammate Perez.
Botas finished in the top five ahead of Hamilton, while Gasley finished seventh. And despite his heroism for Q2, Norris was content with P8. Tsunoda (P9) and Stroll will start in the top 10 for the inaugural Miami Grand Prix.
Leclerc brought his third pole of the season to Miami
Key quote
“It’s amazing to be here in the United States and see how much sport has grown in the last few years and see so many people in the stands. This definitely motivates us and there are a lot of Ferrari fans. It’s amazing. So last weekend wasn’t great for me, I made a mistake in the race, but today went well, so we’re starting on the pole and we have to finish tomorrow.
“[Red Bull] we are extremely fast in a straight line, we are fast in the turns and tomorrow will be a difficult challenge, I hope to get out …
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