Perez on pole in Miami as Leclerc ends session in the barrier: Max in P9

Sergio Perez has claimed Pole Position in the humid Miami weather, after the session was cut short due to Charles Leclerc crashing in the same corner as he did on Friday. This lead to Fernando Alonso starting alongside him tomorrow in his Aston Martin, and Carlos Sainz claimed P3.

In their first runs respectively, both Verstappen and Leclerc made mistakes, with Perez claiming the lead. These runs proved to be the deciders, because the session ended two minutes before it was scheduled to do so. As a result, Charles Leclerc will start from P7, while Championship leader Max Verstappen will only start from P9. In a city where the majority of the population speaks Spanish as their first language, three Spanish-speaking drivers finished in the Top 3. Kevin Magnussen and Pierre Gasly also achieved their personal best this year, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

Q2 :

With keeping in mind the track evolution showed in Q1, most drivers started with a banker lap on used softs. Perez was also looking to find some rhythm, but he tapped the wall out of Turn 15. In their final runs of Q2, both Red Bull and Ferrari showed they will be the contenders, alongside Fernando Alonso.

Just like last weekend, one of the Mercedes did not make it through to Q3, this time it was Lewis Hamilton, who made a mistake on his final lap, while Russell finished P10. Other than De Vries, no one was out of contention, and Alexander Albon was knocked out in the last second by Pierre Gasly.

OUT - P15 De Vries, P14 Zhou, P13 Hamilton, P12 Hulkenberg, P11 Albon

Q1 :

The first session started with the two Haas getting involved in some trouble. Nico Hulkenberg nearly lost the rear of his car in his first run, then Hamilton almost ran into Kevin Magnussen while focusing on preparing his lap. Moreover, Guanyu Zhou almost squeezed into the wall by Sainz.

Verstappen topped the session by three tenths ahead of Sainz, while at the bottom in was anyone’s game to qualify for Q2. The two Mercedes were in the danger zone with a minute to go, but they survived, unlike Lance Stroll and Lando Norris, who were both caught out by the improving track conditions. The last qualifier was Nyck de Vries.

OUT - P20 Sargeant, P19 Piastri, P18 Stroll, P17 Tsunoda, P16 Norris