Will Max Verstappen put things in order in qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix in 2023?
After the ridiculous success of last year’s race in Miami, there is a little less hype this year The Sunshine State. This year’s race was not completely sold out. The prices for accommodation, tickets, food and drinks are therefore very high. Perhaps the novelty has worn off a bit. It just goes to show that even the popularity of Formula 1 has its limits.
In front of the tube, however, we are watching with excitement again, of course. Perez has rekindled hope in Azerbaijan that there might be something of a title fight after all. Yes, yes, we know. Verstappen will of course just become champion. Yet. Suppose Max retires four times and Perez does not… And suppose Perez wins Monaco and Singapore on his own. You never know.
In the free practice sessions, however, Max showed that he is in a class of his own on the track around and through the Hardrock Stadium. In the first free practice Mercedes took the fastest times. But in FP2 and FP3 they were nowhere and Max set the tone. The difference with Leclerc and Perez was almost half a beat. So apple egg?
Q1
Logan Sargeant is first at the traffic lights at the end of pit lane. This is a real home race for the Williams rookie. He grew up in Fort Lauderdale, which is next door to the track by American standards. Williams is going quite reasonably this year, although it is mainly Albon who shows that. Sargeant did pretty well in the first two races, but the last two were a lot less. The American can therefore use a good result.
Hulkenberg has the next ‘moment’ with his Haas F1. The Hazen are surprisingly fast this weekend, but look quite cunning to drive. The Hulk has already written off a car. Magnussen was more fortunate than able that it didn’t happen to him when he spun at high speed. Both of course know why Schumacher is no longer in the car, so they have to be careful.
Verstappen quickly takes the best time, but it is narrowly improved by Perez. The Mexican always builds up his weekend slowly. Verstappen is already pretty much maxed out after a lap or two. A little later VER shows that more pace possible and it still goes to a fairly solid P1.
Hamilton, meanwhile, has a crazy moment when he almost clatters onto the back of a Haas. It seems as if the Brit just wasn’t paying attention. Or he expected the Haas to accelerate sooner. Anyway, HAM can only narrowly avoid a crash and scrapes against the boarding.
Towards the end of the session, Albon causes a stir by going to P5. So there is still a lot of time in the job, as they say. De Vries is doing himself a favor by placing himself within a second of Max with a nice lap. That turns out to be crucial: Nyck goes through to Q2 and beats Tsunoda for the first time in a qualification!
Norris, Tsunoda, Stroll, Piastri and Sargeant bite the dust. These are therefore not the least that De Vries keeps behind him. For McLaren, it is the first time since Brazil 2018 that the entire team is out in Q1. The Mercs escape unscathed. Both Lewis and George needed their last lap to get into Q2. Stroll may take an exit in Q1 with the fast Aston.
Pos | driver | Q1 |
---|---|---|
16 |
Lando Norris McLaren |
01:28.394 |
17 |
Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri |
01:28.429 |
18 |
Lance Stroll Aston Martin |
01:28.476 |
19 |
Oscar Pistri McLaren |
01:28.484 |
20 |
Logan Sergeant Williams |
01:28.577 |
Q2
Verstappen immediately goes for a fast lap. The RB19 goes visibly as if on rails. Max goes to P1, Sergio behind him to P2. The difference is a good two tenths. Alonso closes in on just under four tenths of Max. The Hazen are once again surprisingly fast and after the first attempts they are both in front of the Mercs.
Then it’s Ocon and Gasly’s turn. In Azerbaijan, Alpine was really nowhere at all. But this morning in FP3, the French suddenly went hard. Also now the garlic peelers are doing well: P4 and P5 are their share with 7 minutes to go.
But the Ferraris have yet to come. We are riding with Leclerc, but it is Sainz who goes faster of the two Fezzas. In fact, SAI almost takes P1 from Max. Leclerc is four tenths slower and is therefore in P5, behind Alonso. So it’s all pretty close together over a round. And yet you get the impression that it is Max’s pole to lose.
De Vries has not set a really fast time with five minutes to go. It will be difficult for the Dutchman to get much more than P15 anyway. Perhaps Alpha Tauri is going for a good race strategy. In any case, DEV is in the pit and doesn’t seem to be ready to do anything more than a banker lap.
The Alfas go for fast times. After a nice race in Bahrain, Alfa Romeo completely fell through the ice in the races that followed. On this circuit, however, Alfa is suddenly reasonable again. Bottas puts in a very solid lap and goes to P6 right behind Leclerc. Zhou has been the better qualifier at Alfa so far, but now cannot match the Finn and has to settle for P11.
In the end it is still De Vries who makes an attempt on soft rubber. But, to no avail. P15 is his share. Anyway, with that DEV stands for TSU for the first time and much more is not possible with Alpha Tauri’s pear box. More surprising is that Hamilton does not advance to Q3. Mercedes has none pace over one lap, as Russell is also just tenth.
The seven-time champion and De Vries are joined by Albon, Hulkenberg and Zhou as dropouts in Q2. For the Hulk it is the first qualifying defeat to Magnussen since his return to F1 as a regular driver. After the drama in Azerbaijan there is a boost for Alpine: both Ocon and Gasly make it to the last session. Only the two Red Bulls and Ferraris succeed in that as a team today.
Pos | driver | Q2 |
---|---|---|
11 |
Alexander Alban Williams |
01:27.795 |
12 |
Nico Hulkenberg Hare |
01:27.903 |
13 |
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes |
01:27.975 |
14 |
Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo Racing |
01:28.091 |
15 |
Nick deVries AlphaTauri |
01:28.395 |
Q3
Verstappen once again goes for his own strength and kicks off the ball. But then… a few rare ones wobbles of the RB19. Max has to abort his round. Perez can therefore take over the initiative. The Mexican goes to a 1:26.8. Alonso comes to three-tenths. So it may not be Checo’s best round, but still. The pressure is on at Max.
And with Charles, because the Monegask makes a mistake and brakes. As a result, Sainz is once again faster than LEC. It’s a weird story. In Azerbaijan, the Spaniard was nowhere compared to his teammate. A week later in Miami he suddenly seems to be the faster of the two. Magnussen joins P4. It would therefore be nice for Haas F1 if there were no more second rounds. But they will come.
Leclerc is first on track in the following sequence. And that is crucial. The Man from Monaco goes bad again in a qualification. It’s cool to see how hard Charles takes the first corners. But then he loses the tail of the Ferrari. A red flag follows. And so Perez has taken pole. It is the third of his career and the first on a track other than the Jeddah Corniche circuit. Verstappen has to make do with P9. Alonso has P2 and Magnussen therefore P4!
So it starts tomorrow Perez – Alonso – Sainz – Magnussen – Gasly – Russell – Leclerc – Ocon – Verstappen – Bottas. Perez to lead in the World Cup? Or will Max still make up for everything tomorrow? We’ll see in tomorrow’s race!
Grand Prix Miami 2023 qualifying results
Pos | driver | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing |
01:27.713 | 01:27.328 | 01:26.841 |
2 |
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin |
01:28.179 | 01:27.097 | 01:27.202 |
3 |
Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari |
01:27.686 | 01:27.148 | 01:27.349 |
4 |
Kevin Magnussen Hare |
01:27.809 | 01:27.673 | 01:27.767 |
5 |
Pierre Gasley Alpine |
01:28.061 | 01:27.612 | 01:27.786 |
6 |
George Russell Mercedes |
01:28.086 | 01:27.743 | 01:27.804 |
7 |
Charles Leclerc Ferrari |
01:27.713 | 01:26.964 | 01:27.861 |
8 |
Esteban Ocon Alpine |
01:27.872 | 01:27.444 | 01:27.935 |
9 |
Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing |
01:27.363 | 01:26.814 | DNF |
10 |
Valttery Bottas Alfa Romeo Racing |
01:27.864 | 01:27.564 | DNF |
11 |
Alexander Alban Williams |
01:28.234 | 01:27.795 | |
12 |
Nico Hulkenberg Hare |
01:27.945 | 01:27.903 | |
13 |
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes |
01:27.846 | 01:27.975 | |
14 |
Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo Racing |
01:28.180 | 01:28.091 | |
15 |
Nick deVries AlphaTauri |
01:28.325 | 01:28.395 | |
16 |
Lando Norris McLaren |
01:28.394 | ||
17 |
Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri |
01:28.429 | ||
18 |
Lance Stroll Aston Martin |
01:28.476 | ||
19 |
Oscar Pistri McLaren |
01:28.484 | ||
20 |
Logan Sergeant Williams |
01:28.577 |
This article Qualifying Formula 1: Miami Grand Prix 2023 appeared first on Autoblog.nl.
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