The second qualifying session of the weekend: this was the third F1 session in Miami, where Ferrari was looking for redemption. The goal was to fine-tune the car in order to take a step forward in terms of handling. The engineers made changes without the parc fermé restrictions in order to refine the setup of the car. At the end of Q3, Leclerc secured third place, while Hamilton had to settle for sixth.
Qualifying Miami GP, Q1: Ferrari gets through the cut with a single set of Soft tyres
It seems that for this session the weather conditions are no longer ideal. The sky remains fairly clear, although a significant amount of wind has picked up, which could affect the aerodynamics of the cars. Both Maranello cars head out onto the track as the green light comes on. Both are fitted with Pirelli red-banded tyres.
It will therefore be interesting to see whether the team has changed its warm-up strategy to extract the maximum available grip. For this first run, the approach is quite aggressive. On the final corner they switch to push mode and go. The two laps are fairly clean, considering that in this early phase of qualifying there is no need to push too hard. There is no second flying lap and both cars return to the garage.
For now, Lewis Hamilton is fully in sync with his teammate. It may still be too early to say, but the seven-time world champion seems to have a stronger feeling with the SF-26. Several instructions arrive from the pit wall to help the Ferrari drivers improve handling, focusing on braking points and mid-corner speed. After a short two-minute break, the Italian cars leave the pitlane again.
Once again, they are on Soft tyres used in the previous run. The Monegasque is anything but perfect. There are several corrections in the more technical section of the second sector, where he clearly loses time. Lewis is also not perfect, suffering from a lack of rotation in T2, while he is very strong in the final part of the track.
The lap times are not top level, with both Ferraris over three tenths behind Verstappen’s benchmark. In this case, they complete two cooldown laps before attempting a final push. Ferrari uses only one set of Soft tyres in Q1. Charles improves significantly and moves up to second place, while Hamilton encounters traffic and remains seventh.
Qualifying Miami GP, Q2: the road to the front row looks more complicated than yesterday
From the second part of qualifying, things start to get serious. Engine revs increase along with energy recovery and deployment from the hybrid system. It is confirmed that Lewis seems slightly more comfortable with the SF-26, although he still trails Leclerc by a certain margin. Charles is reading the Ferrari well, while Lewis, although more confident, still shows a certain caution with the car.
A fresh set of Soft tyres and back on track. The warm-up remains aggressive, with plenty of zig-zag movements on the straights to heat up the front axle. The Ferrari behaviour is more prone to understeer under braking, with the SF-26 tending to run wide at corner entry. The handling is far from perfect, but overall the balance cannot be described as bad.
However, more precision is needed in some corners, such as Turn 12. Lewis seems to have shaken off more rust and is even faster than his teammate in this phase. After the first attempt, both Ferraris return to the pits, waiting for another run to complete Q2. Again, brand new Soft tyres are used, with the same tyre strategy as before, which so far appears to be working.
In this second qualifying session of the weekend, the lack of battery deployment in certain parts of the track is again noticeable, but this is something that cannot be corrected until changes are made to the power unit. The Ferrari drivers are not flawless, but they comfortably make it through to Q3. Leclerc goes on to explain his lap over the radio, pointing out all the areas where he was unable to extract the maximum.
Qualifying Miami GP, Q3: Leclerc gets close but Verstappen steals it at the end
Remembering what happened in yesterday’s SQ3, Ferrari drivers needed a clear confirmation that their earlier issues in extracting maximum performance were behind them. Especially because the competition is extremely strong. Compared to yesterday, there is a dominant Max Verstappen, and even Mercedes seems to have made a step forward with both drivers. The tension rises.
Q3 begins to take shape. The Maranello drivers wait a few minutes before heading out on track, again on red-banded Pirelli tyres. The moment to extract everything has arrived. The question remains whether, compared to Friday, the gap to Mercedes-powered cars in the final part of qualifying will still make a significant difference. Push mode is activated in the final corner and they go.
Charles Leclerc runs slightly wide in Turn 1, but for the rest of the lap his driving is very strong, placing him temporarily on the front row. It must be said that the battle behind him is extremely tight, with four cars covered by just 50 thousandths of a second. Hamilton is still behind his teammate, two tenths slower. A very quick stop follows before heading out for the final decisive run.
In the T1 section, Leclerc suffers a slight snap through the double direction change, although he manages to keep the car relatively stable. Then, in the final corner before the main straight, he experiences oversteer under traction. An imperfect lap, which unfortunately costs him the front row. The Monegasque gave everything but was unable to extract the perfect lap time.
Lewis does worse, delivering a performance far from optimal feeling. In the end, despite showing improved confidence with the SF-26, the final result does not change: the British driver is still sixth. Over the radio, he apologises to the team wall because he knows the car had more performance in it. A Ferrari that perhaps feels more competitive, but still gives the impression of always missing something.
