Everything seemed set for Lando Norris’ pole position. After SQ2, predicting an all-McLaren front row would have been anything but risky. Ten minutes after the verdict: Piastri sixth, and Norris (the fastest in both SQ1 and SQ2) only in ninth position. Lando didn’t hide, admitting that he made a mistake that compromised his performance on Friday afternoon, but in general something changed in the SQ3 session.
It is no coincidence that Verstappen, as soon as he was informed via radio of the pole position, replied “But how is this possible? What happened to the others?”. The world champion completed a good lap, but not without flaws and above all not at the expected pace. The best time in qualifying remained the time set by Norris in Q2 (1’25″597 on medium tyres), a lap faster than the one Verstappen set in Q3 on soft tires (1’27″641).
One of the unexpected variables was the evolution of the track. From the first laps of the FP1 session held in the late morning until the first run of SQ2 there was a progressive rubber coating of the asphalt which allowed the lap times to be lowered. It was logical to expect a crescendo of performance up to SQ3, also favored by the use of soft tyres, but instead the asphalt stabilized in a very short time. The first signs arrived in the final laps of SQ2, the definitive confirmation in the final session.
“It was a really strange SQ3 – commented Oscar Piastri, one of the most disappointed drivers – the track has changed, we all thought that with the soft tires there would have been a better performance, but as far as I’m concerned the lap was terrible, already in the first corners I had a bad feeling, and it was like that until the end. It’s strange to think that the best final time was Lando’s in Q2.”
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
Among the drivers who took to the track for the last qualifying round, there were those who had a slightly too cautious approach in the first sector, fearing they would arrive in the last corners with temperatures outside the window of use, and in this case missing was the peak of grip. But there were also those who pushed too much in the first sector, compromising the performance in the second part of the track.
To further confirm a complex scenario is the Aston Martin case, with Stroll being faster (with used softs) than Alonso who took to the track with a new set. “It was a complicated session – confirmed Fernando – when you change compounds it’s not easy to read the perfect grip in the only lap available. However, it was the same for everyone.”
The Sprint weekend format, with only 60 minutes of free practice (in Miami actually only 45, due to the red flag triggered by Leclerc) forces teams and drivers to make blind choices. Daniel Ricciardo emerged brilliantly from the chaos, the happiest at the end of qualifying, but without precise references it becomes a nightmare for the engineers and drivers to plan the qualifying runs and the dreaded out-lap in which the tires have to be brought up to temperature .
The biggest price yesterday was paid by McLaren, but not only. Among the ten drivers in the top-10, only five improved the time of the SQ2, and only two managed to significantly lower their times: Verstappen, faster by 0″360 and Leclerc by 0″228. It is no coincidence that the first row went to them.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL30
Photo by: Erik Junius
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