2024-05-07 17:55:18
The main failures of the sprint qualifying were due to Norris and Mercedes in full force.
As İdman.biz reports with reference to the “Championship”, before the Formula 1 sprint qualifying in Miami, it was only possible to repeat the same warning as usual: all teams had only one practice at their disposal to select the settings, which should have been generate surprises. Well, Charles Leclerc had to perform almost blindly after a turn at the beginning of training.
Q1: Williams at the very end
Following the results of the starting segment of the sprint qualification, two teams completed their performances at once – Kick-Sauber and Williams. At the same time, James Vowles’ team occupied the last row of the sprint grid. Sargent could not be saved even by the fastest final sector, and Albon cursed himself: Alex made a mistake and cut the track, so in the end he was deprived of the last fastest lap and was relegated to 20th place.
As for Kick-Sauber, in addition to 17th and 18th results, the team may be upset about the work of new race engineer Valtteri Bottas: he warned the Finn too late that Oscar Piastri was leaving behind for a fast lap. The cars made contact in the first turn, and now it is impossible to believe that Bottas will avoid a penalty. Apparently, falling from 18th line to last is not so scary.
The last loser of the segment was Pierre Gasly – he was unable to tame the lightweight Alpin car right away. Ocon was three tenths faster – 14th. The main surprise of Q1 was probably given by Magnussen (the fifth time is well ahead of Hulkenberg), and Leclerc still felt out of place: he made a mistake on the first attempt, and hit the wall on the second, but without consequences.
Q2: A nightmare for Mercedes
During the second part of the sprint qualifying, the weather seemed to turn a little worse: most of the drivers drove their best laps in the first attempt. Max Verstappen, who came closer to the end, became only fourth, but for Yuki Tsunoda, the decision to save his tires and make do with one attempt turned out to be fatal: the Japanese showed only the 15th time – despite the fact that Daniel Ricciardo went further with the fifth result! Although in Q1 Yuki was faster.
And yet, the main loser of the segment is by no means Tsunoda: the full Mercedes did not make it further! When, after the first attempts, Russell and Hamilton fell slightly short of Hulkenberg, it seemed that this was more of a misunderstanding. But no one was able to improve on their second attempts – as a result, Russell will start 11th on Saturday, Hamilton 12th. Also in Q2, the session ended for Ocon (less than a hundredth behind Hamilton) and Magnussen. Kevin drove weakly through the first sector on the starting attempt, which became fatal.
Q3: Bug Festival
The final segment showed the strangeness of the current sprint qualifying format: with eight minutes and a limited number of tires, the drivers decided to limit themselves to one attempt, so that in the end all attempts fit into the final two or three minutes. And the racers made a lot of mistakes on them! Even pole position holder Verstappen was no exception. When the Dutchman was told on the radio that he was the first, Max replied: “Lol, what happened to the others? It was terrible!”
Despite the imperfect lap, Verstappen was one tenth ahead of Charles Leclerc – at the decisive moment the Monegasque was on top, while Carlos Sainz, after a serious mistake in the third sector, was only fifth. Sergio Perez and Friday’s main character Daniel Ricciardo fit between the two Ferrari representatives – maybe it’s too early to end their career?!
Formula 1 2024. Stage 6, Miami, USA
Miami Grand Prix. Sprint qualifying
04 May 2024, Saturday. 00:30 Moscow time
1. Max Verstappen
Red Bull
1:27.641
2. Charles Leclerc
Scuderia Ferrari
+0.108
3. Sergio Perez
Red Bull
+0.235
Oscar Piastri became the sixth, but best of the McLaren pilots. Lando Norris, following an already bad tradition, made a mistake at the decisive moment and qualified only ninth, ahead of Hulkenberg by only four thousandths. The fourth line was full of Aston Martin drivers, with Lance Stroll unexpectedly ahead of Fernando Alonso – the Spaniard’s lap was probably also imperfect.
Saturday’s Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix Sprint starts on May 4 at 8:00 p.m.
İdman.biz