Miami - Qualifying

Only a few hours after the sprint race, we were back at the Miami circuit to watch the qualifying for Sunday's race. The hot track caused some problems for more than a few drivers and ended up providing a session with a few unforeseen surprises. 

As the 18-minute long sessions began, the cars were quick to get out on track. The urgency of the drivers showed in the pitlane where Zhou's Sauber drove right in front of Ricciardo, forcing the Australian to come to an abrupt stop. For a while, it looked like Ferrari would top the times of Q1, but they were beaten out by the Red Bulls. The home favourite, Logan Sargeant, barely missed out on entering Q2, only 0,03 seconds away from promotion. To the disappointment of his fellow Americans, he ended the day early, alongside Bottas, Ricciardo, Magnussen, and Zhou.

Confident of their capabilities, the two Red Bulls went into Q3 on sets of old, used softs. The decision did not stop them from getting into the top 10. The Ferraris and McLarens put in some impressive times, showing that, under the right circumstances, they might pose a threat to the unbeaten Max Verstappen. The sessions saw a short yellow flag in sector three, brought out by Albon who almost hit the wall at turn 17. He reported that his tires were gone by turn 6, suggesting a problem with his car. For the first time since the beginning of the season, Alonso didn't manage to get into Q3 and neither did his teammate. Also for the first time this season, Gasly out-qualified Ocon. Still, both the Alpines found themselves in the elimination zone, alongside the Astons and the Williams of Albon. 

Hulkenberg drove out on track as quickly as he could when Q3 started. The other cars joined him soon after, all except for Norris driving out on softs. The McLaren driver went out in mediums and still managed to put in a decent first push lap, landing at P6, with only the two Mercedes, Hulkenberg, and Tsunoda behind him. The second wave of push laps brought little in terms of personal bests and overall improvements. Verstappen got his sixth pole of the year, maintaining his record of perfect qualifying. Leclerc, who for a while seemed would be able to challenge him, lost his grip after the first sector and ended up at P2. The second row of tomorrow's Grand Prix will be occupied by Sainz and Perez. 

Order of the grid

1. Max Verstappen

2. Charles Leclerc

3. Carlos Sainz

4. Sergio Perez

5. Lando Norris

6. Oscar Piastri

7. George Russel

8. Lewis Hamilton

9. Nico Hulkenberg

10. Yuki Tsunoda

11. Lance Stroll

12. Pierre Gasly

13. Esteban Ocon 

14. Alex Albon

15. Fernando Alonso

16. Valtteri Bottas

17. Logan Sargeant 

18. Daniel Ricciardo

19. Kevin Magnussen

20. Zhou Guanyu