At the Miami International Autodrome in Florida we saw a Sprint qualifying session filled with twists and turns and a tightly contested field at the front. Let’s delve into the telemetry data from the Sprint qualifying to see if Charles Leclerc could have snatched pole position from Max Verstappen.
The qualifying session in Miami was lively, witnessing continuous position changes on a track in constant evolution. Lando Norris’s McLaren seemed to have “thrown away” the final qualifying lap, despite setting the fastest time in the second stage of the session. Mistakes that allowed Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc to monopolize the front row, separated by just over a tenth. A negligible gap that we’ll uncover in the telemetry analysis of the Ferrari and Red Bull drivers, the top two in the Sprint qualifying at the Miami track.
The first data we’ll analyze is related to the top speed, with both drivers reaching the same peak speed. 338 km/h for both the SF-24 and the RB20, with Ferrari opting for a slightly higher load level than Red Bull. This choice, as we’ll discover in the sector analysis, proved efficient and could provide a significant advantage in both the Sprint and the main race on Sunday. In the sector visualization, the Red Bull remains the most balanced car, stable in corners and with great aerodynamic efficiency. The first sector, as in previous races, is somewhat of a weak spot for Charles Leclerc, where he loses about 2 tenths. Exiting turn 8, the SF-24 starts to show strength in traction and is very strong in high-speed corners.
Arriving at the corner complex at turns 11, 12, 13, the Monegasque driver manages to surpass Max Verstappen and matches the Dutchman throughout the section under the highway. Here, Charles Leclerc gains a tenth on Max Verstappen, who nonetheless made an error in this section. In the third sector, a straight and three corners, the two cars are neck and neck, separated by less than 20 thousandths of a second. In the first part of the straight, the SF-24 has superior acceleration, but the Red Bull seems to have a hybrid management more focused on top speed.
Source: 1ingenerale
Diving deeper into the telemetry, we can better understand where the differences lie between the two drivers. In turn 1, Max Verstappen makes the difference, aided by a more responsive tire that allowed him to brake later, gaining +0.4 seconds. However, when opening the throttle, Charles Leclerc manages to recover more than half of the gap. In the first sector, differences emerge in the 4-5-6 section where the Ferrari driver struggled with entry and had to brake to stabilize the SF-24.
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Source: 1ingenerale
Once again, the gap widens at the end of the first sector, +0.4. Strong traction, as mentioned earlier, allows Ferrari to close the gap until turn 11, where shortly after, the gap fluctuates. In the 15-16 section, Charles Leclerc performs magic and exits turn 16 aggressively, reducing the gap to +0.07. Arriving at turn 17, the Red Bull’s braking proves strong, but as before, Charles Leclerc exits the corner strongly, bringing the final gap to +0.1.
It’s difficult to say whether the Monegasque driver could have stolen pole position from Max Verstappen, but it’s worth noting that the Ferrari man driver had only completed 3 laps in the first free practice session. In a track like Miami, confidence is crucial, which grows with the number of laps completed. One thing is certain, with a few more laps, Charles Leclerc could have squeezed a bit more out of the SF-24 and perhaps closed the gap to Max Verstappen by a few thousandths.
Source: f1ingenerale
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