2024-05-04 12:40:39
Max Verstappen sets the best time in sprint qualifying for the Miami F1 Grand Prix. In reality, Red Bull Racing’s pole position in Miami was just one of many. But with McLaren much closer than expected, including themselves, and the Papaya cars showing speed, things might not go as planned for the reigning world champions this weekend.
Red Bull gets the job done when it counts Red Bull looked a little off in the first two segments of qualifying, but Verstappen still got the job done at the crucial end of the session to clinch pole position. Sprint qualifying analysis showed McLaren took the lead by 0.15 seconds over Red Bull, but this was due to Norris recording a faster time on the SQ2 bracket than Verstappen’s best time (SQ3 soft). In fact, the SQ3 surface was so slow that even though Verstappen’s pole time was slower than Norris’ time in SQ2, he still set a time where the track was slower. If they had set the times at the same time, Red Bull would have been faster based on the data. However, given advances in fuel, tires and trucks, the difference is only 0.08 seconds. Verstappen was surprised to take the sprint pole, but like many drivers he felt the car felt worse than at the start of testing. Based on his impressions during practice, Verstappen was confident he could take pole, but by the time sprint qualifying began his confidence had waned. The fact that he was quite strong at the end suggests that he remains the favorite for the weekend, but it is clear that Red Bull have more of a fight on their hands than usual. McLaren’s massive upgrade bodes well for the rest of the weekend in Miami. Norris’ ninth place on the grid in Saturday’s sprint is nothing out of the ordinary for McLaren these days. The team is making a huge improvement in Miami and has become one of the top three teams so far this year. But this number 9 does not tell the truth. Norris has a full B-spec upgrade, while teammate Oscar Piastri has about half the package he had before getting the full package at Imola. Norris was fastest in SQ1 and SQ2, showing strong performances on medium tyres. In the final stages of qualifying, he looked like he could aim for his third consecutive pole position on soft tires, but he made a few mistakes by pushing “too hard” at the exit of Turn 1, sending him into a spiral over the next few laps. According to Formula1.com data, Norris lost more than half a second at Turn 7 alone, and if he had had an ideal lap, he could have achieved two consecutive sprint poles. Although he hopes to regain ground and score some points in the sprint, his real focus is on qualifying and Saturday’s race, where he really feels he can give Red Bull a serious challenge. Ferrari’s fate is complicated Wearing a unique blue livery, Ferrari was supposed to be Red Bull’s closest challenger, but Charles Leclerc spun after just three laps in Practice 1, leading to a red flag. Leclerc was unable to return to driving and the team was forced to rely on Carlos Sainz’s data collection for qualifying and sprint preparation. Sainz, who recorded a time a tenth slower than Verstappen, was happy with how the car felt after the session. However, during sprint qualifying, his prancing horse felt very different and he was unable to lean on the car in the same way. In a reversal of fortune, Leclerc secured second place despite short time on track with a superb performance that ended his recent qualifying woes. It’s difficult to predict how they will perform for the rest of the weekend as they lost track time in testing, but the data shows they are top two when it comes to medium and fast corners, and in the worst. Case scenario, they are in the top two for the weekend. They are currently the third best team. More Mercedes struggles Mercedes has made improvements in Miami, but their relative pace doesn’t appear to have improved dramatically, at least based on Friday’s performance. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has a habit of using radical, experimental settings on Fridays to try to extract the maximum potential from his most difficult cars, but it has rarely worked. So the team took a different approach in Miami and avoided any experimentation. Track engineering director Andrew Shovlin said the team made “relatively minor” changes for sprint qualifying after initial practice seemed OK. However, they were unable to take the action that the other machines could take in the critical moments of qualifying, and both cars were eliminated in SQ2. It will certainly be another very difficult weekend for the Silver Arrows, although they will be hoping to score points in the sprint and make changes before qualifying to turn the tide in the Grand Prix.
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