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It was a day of
extremes for Max Verstappen, who was classified last in the Sprint race
because of a penalty for an error that was not really his fault, and then
went on to set the fastest time in qualifying for the Grand Prix in his Red
Bull. This was the third pole of the season for the man who has just become
a father to baby Lilly, his second in a row both this year and at this
circuit, as well as the 43rd of his career. His best time of 1’26”204 is a
new outright lap record for the Miami International Autodrome circuit.
McLaren’s Lando Norris (1’26”269) will start alongside Verstappen,
securing his place on the front row with a time just two thousandths of a
second quicker than Andrea Kimi Antonelli, third for Mercedes in 1’26”271.
Current leader of the Drivers’ championship, Oscar Piastri is fourth in
1’26”375 in the other McLaren. The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented
to Verstappen by Brunello Cucinelli, a symbol of Italian fashion around the
world, through the eponymous brand he established at just 25 years of age
and best known for its cashmere products. Cucinelli is a proponent of the
“humanistic capitalism” business model which combines profitability with
human dignity to build a beautiful, ethical and sustainable economy.
McLaren scored a one-two finish in the Sprint, with Norris ahead of Piastri,
while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton completed the podium trio. This was the
English McLaren driver’s second win in a Sprint, the fourth for the Woking
squad.
THE DAY ON TRACK
The Sprint was conditioned by heavy rain that fell before the start, while
later the track surface pretty quickly dried out. It produced a race where
the Intermediate tyres were used for two thirds distance, although Sainz
(Williams) gambled on Extreme Wets at the start, but a red flag and the
delayed restart saw him also switch to the green-banded intermediates,
followed later by slicks. Of the eighteen drivers who saw the chequered flag
– Leclerc was a non-starter and Alonso ended up in the barriers – four of
them, Norris, Hamilton, Verstappen and Doohan, drove their final stint on
Softs while the rest ran Mediums.
The C5 was the only tyre used in
qualifying, with almost all drivers making their first run in Q1 on a used
set. The set that had seen the most action belonged to Verstappen, the
reigning world champion using it in FP1 and in the closing stages of the
Sprint. |
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MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF F1 AND CAR RACING
“A very busy qualifying session, featuring a very close fight for the top
places, with the top three drivers, from three different teams, separated by
just 67 thousandths of a second, showing how closely matched are the cars
this season.
The Sprint was also action-packed, mainly due to the
weather. The heavy rain that fell before the start meant that the
Intermediate was the only choice. Once a dry racing line began to appear,
these tyres started to wear a lot, especially the front right and the lap
times got significantly slower. The switch to slicks immediately proved to
be the way to go, to the extent that eventually the entire field pitted for
dry tyres, including those at the front who had built up a good margin over
their pursuers.
This could be a factor to consider for tomorrow if it
were to rain again. In that situation, drivers will have to be very careful
in managing the Intermediates. If the race is run in the dry, the small
amount of data gathered yesterday and today, with just one free practice
session and the Sprint run almost entirely in the wet, only serves to
consolidate the strategy forecasts from before the weekend. Despite the move
to a trio of compounds one step softer than in 2024, the one stop is on
paper, the quickest, with Medium and Hard as the obvious choices. Nine of
the ten teams – Racing Bulls being the exception – have kept two sets of C3
per driver, not necessarily with the intention of using both in the race,
but to have a backup in case of safety cars or red flags, something which is
far from unlikely at this track.” |
