Miami sprint qualifying: Ferrari only fourth and seventh
After a one-month break, Formula 1 returns to Miami, a race weekend that represents a key turning point in the season given the major upgrades introduced by several teams. Ferrari arrived in North America with as many as eleven upgrades, and the SF-26 delivered very positive impressions during the first and only free practice session.
McLaren also appeared to be moving in the right direction with its latest development package, while Mercedes, given its current performance advantage, chose to introduce its first seasonal upgrades later in Canada, the next race on the calendar. One of the surprises from FP1 was Red Bull, which brought a rear wing featuring a system similar to Ferrari’s Macarena design. In addition, the technical department seems to have addressed some structural weaknesses, which had been one of the RB22’s main issues so far this season.
The Sprint Qualifying session was therefore crucial to provide the first real answers after the break. Let’s take a closer look at what happened on track.
Pole position in sprint qualifying for Norris, followed by Antonelli and Piastri
As soon as SQ1 began, Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin suffered an issue that triggered a yellow flag after the long straight in the second sector. After this incident, the session continued without further major interruptions.
McLaren and Ferrari both looked very strong, with Lando Norris topping the first segment, followed closely by Charles Leclerc just 10 thousandths behind. Oscar Piastri was around four and a half tenths back, followed by Lewis Hamilton just a few hundredths behind his teammate.
Behind the top four were the Mercedes cars of Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, with Russell nearly one second off Norris’s benchmark. Strong performances were also seen from Alpine, Audi and Williams, while SQ1 eliminations included Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls, Esteban Ocon’s Haas, both Cadillac entries, and both Aston Martins, which again found themselves at the back of the field.
It is also worth remembering that all teams in SQ2 were required to run medium compound tyres. On the first run, Leclerc went fastest with a time of 1:28.470, just 36 thousandths ahead of Piastri and around three tenths ahead of Hamilton.
Norris made a small mistake, finishing his first lap almost nine tenths behind the Ferrari driver from Monaco. Mercedes were again slightly behind, with Russell fourth, four tenths off the pace, and Antonelli sixth, nearly eight tenths behind Charles Leclerc.
After a double cool-down lap completed by almost all teams, Charles Leclerc ended the session on top by improving his time to 1:28.333. None of the other top drivers improved on their final attempts, with Piastri finishing second, Hamilton third, Russell fourth, Verstappen fifth, Antonelli sixth and Norris seventh.
Also through to SQ3 were Hadjar and both Alpine cars, while both Audis, both Williams entries and Bearman’s Haas were eliminated.
With the requirement of using a single set of soft tyres for the entire SQ3 session, teams waited until the final minutes to go out on track. On the only decisive flying lap, pole position went to McLaren, with Lando Norris producing a dominant performance and finishing around two tenths ahead of Antonelli and Oscar Piastri.
Charles Leclerc secured fourth position, followed by Verstappen, Russell, Hamilton, Colapinto, Hadjar and Gasly. McLaren’s latest upgrades clearly paid off, immediately affecting the competitive order at the front.
Ferrari, however, once again struggled at the most decisive moment, a recurring pattern since the beginning of the season. Leclerc improved by only one tenth compared to his SQ2 effort and also made a small mistake on the exit of Turn 17.
Antonelli minimised the damage for Mercedes, while George Russell continues to struggle with confidence and feeling in his W17.
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