The Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League witnessed an unusual occurrence during the Miami Grand Prix sprint qualifying. While a Red Bull – Ferrari – Red Bull top three may seem ordinary, there were several peculiarities. One of them was the Ferrari on the front row, which had missed most of the practice due to a clumsy mistake. Additionally, the polesitter described his Red Bull car as “pretty terrible.” Another surprise was a McLaren driver who seemed like a strong contender for pole position but failed to deliver. Furthermore, a driver who was at risk of losing his seat just three races ago managed to secure a spot on the second row in an RB car. Here are the highlights and lowlights from this unconventional Friday in Miami.
Lando Norris’s tendency to squander significant qualifying results continues to be a cause for concern. Despite showing great promise during SQ1 and SQ2 in the upgraded McLaren, Norris once again let the opportunity slip away when it mattered most. Although the track conditions were challenging for everyone during SQ3, with the C4 Pirelli tires not performing well, Norris was outperformed by eight other drivers in that session, including his teammate Oscar Piastri. Piastri was driving a less-upgraded car that had a disadvantage of two-tenths of a second per lap, according to Zak Brown. Norris’s frequent “silly mistakes” are becoming a recurring issue for a driver who otherwise displays exceptional skill. As Andrea Stella mentioned last year, Norris needs to dial it back a bit and improve his driving on the limit. He had a chance to secure pole position but failed to seize it.
Charles Leclerc’s performance in sprint qualifying was a remarkable turnaround from his FP1 blunder, which limited his preparation. He outperformed his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz in SQ3 and became Max Verstappen’s closest rival. This showcases Leclerc’s prowess in single-lap performance, which has been evident throughout most of the 2024 qualifying sessions. There are only a few drivers who can be relied upon to deliver a solid lap in challenging conditions during the pole position shootout. Sainz trailed behind Leclerc by 0.354 seconds, marking the largest qualifying gap between the two drivers this season. Although the margin was influenced by tire warm-up issues and a mistake by Sainz at Turn 17 in SQ3, Leclerc consistently outperformed his teammate throughout the qualifying session, which has been a rarity this year.
Despite having the second-biggest car update for this race, Mercedes struggled on the track during Friday’s sprint qualifying. Both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were eliminated in SQ2, outperformed by Daniel Ricciardo’s RB and Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas. The lack of pace was evident, but more concerning was the challenging nature of driving the W15. Hamilton had difficulties maintaining control in the low-speed section leading to the back straight, missing apexes and hitting the wall. The car lacked front-end grip and traction. Although the car appears to perform better at high speeds compared to 2023, Russell’s slide through Turn 5 indicates that the car remains on a knife edge. The updates did not provide an immediate improvement in this aspect. Mercedes seemed relatively stronger during FP1 on a low-grip track, but as the circuit got faster, their performance declined.
Lance Stroll’s victory over his Aston Martin teammate Fernando Alonso in sprint qualifying is a much-needed boost for him after a recent slump. Alonso expressed his indifference towards the sprint race, stating that it means nothing to him due to the penalties he receives regardless of his performance. Stroll’s seventh-place finish and victory within Aston Martin didn’t result in an extensive post-session interview, but it may help him secure points for the first time in over a month.
Valtteri Bottas had a significant clash with Oscar Piastri during the first segment of sprint qualifying, coinciding with a change in his race engineer and the signing of Nico Hulkenberg by Sauber/Audi, which poses a threat to his F1 future. Bottas appeared unsettled during discussions about the crew changes and drove in an unsettled manner on Friday. Although Sauber’s performance wasn’t impressive, Zhou Guanyu outpaced Bottas in both practice and qualifying. Both drivers made significant changes to their cars between sessions in search of better lap times. Bottas may find improvement by Sunday, but the start of the season’s final 19 GP weekends hasn’t been promising.
There is speculation about whether Daniel Ricciardo’s recent improvements are due to a rogue chassis or his growing familiarity with the 2024 RB. Regardless of the cause, his fourth-place finish on the grid is a stark contrast to the beginning of his season and reminiscent of his strong performance in Mexico last year. Red Bull believes that Ricciardo’s current form is a trend rather than a one-off occurrence. A definitive answer may only be obtained at Imola in two weeks, as Ricciardo’s success in Mexico last year proved to be track-specific.
While Ricciardo has regained his pace, Red Bull seems to struggle with having two competitive cars simultaneously this year. Yuki Tsunoda’s 15th-place finish in qualifying, coupled with his struggles in China, suggests a lack of consistency. Red Bull attributes Tsunoda’s qualifying result to an anomaly, as he attempted a single flying lap in SQ2 while most drivers completed two laps. The team expects Tsunoda to demonstrate similar pace to Ricciardo with a cleaner run throughout the rest of the weekend.
Max Verstappen’s performance once again solidifies his status as Red Bull’s most valuable asset. His ability to consistently deliver strong results, even when faced with competition like Lando Norris, showcases his talent and reliability. Verstappen’s jump ahead of Norris during the crucial moments of qualifying seemed inevitable, further reinforcing his position as a top driver in modern F1.
In a straight fight during an F1 qualifying session, Logan Sargeant managed to outperform his Williams teammate Alex Albon for the first time. However, Sargeant appeared to have mixed emotions about his achievement, struggling to find words during his post-session interview. Albon had initially clocked a faster lap time before it was invalidated for exceeding track limits. Sargeant had his own difficulties, describing a “huge snap” that affected his qualifying performance. Despite this, Sargeant displayed more optimism about the car’s potential on the day, and he was ahead of Albon by three tenths after the opening laps of SQ1. Albon believed that Williams had made excessive compromises with changes between practice and sprint qualifying, and he anticipated further adjustments once parc ferme reopened. His deleted lap time would have placed him 16th on the grid, making the sprint race a likely futile endeavor.
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