In an uncertain Saturday at the Miami International Autodrome in Florida, Ferrari quickly returns to the track for the qualifying session. Yesterday, Kimi Antonelli achieved a fantastic pole position for today’s Sprint, which was later nullified by a borderline maneuver from Oscar Piastri. Lando Norris won the Saturday mini-race thanks to a favorable Safety Car, putting his teammate under pressure. Lewis Hamilton took third place for the Maranello team, managing to switch to slicks at just the right moment.
A Saturday to forget so far for Charles Leclerc: the Monegasque crashed his Ferrari SF-25 during the formation lap before the start of the Sprint race, mounting intermediate tires on a clearly flooded track in full wet conditions. He also received a reprimand for continuing with the damaged car. The hope is that the incident did not compromise his qualifying today and the rest of the Miami weekend.
It is time to begin the first stint of the qualifying session for the Miami Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton leaves the pits on used Soft tires, while car number 16 remains in the garage for final checks after repairs. Charles Leclerc is ready and waiting to get in the car. The green light comes on, and the session starts: engineering sends the Briton the usual instructions regarding tire management, balance, and brakes to optimize the lap.
About sixty seconds later, his Maranello teammate also heads out on track, also on Pirelli soft tires. Lewis Hamilton launches first, but already at turn 1, he struggles to close the racing line, showing a persistent lack of rotation. Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, takes the lap more cautiously, focusing on feeling the SF-25 car.
For the next attempt, both drivers will mount fresh Soft tires, accompanied by a +2 click adjustment to the front wing. Bryan Bozzi reports that Charles Leclerc lost a tenth at braking at turn 1 and three tenths for the mistake at turn 11; Lewis Hamilton is advised to activate the “remove pre” on the right side of the steering wheel in the middle sector to improve stability.
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion starts his lap poorly: already while accelerating toward the finish line, he has to correct his racing line to keep the car on track. The rest of the lap proceeds without major mistakes, but at the last corner, he locks up and goes wide, ruining his time.
Charles Leclerc performs better, though he can’t put together a truly competitive lap. With the British driver, they discuss the possibility of switching to fresh tires for a new attempt; the Brit agrees and returns to the pits, while Charles focuses on a cooling lap to prepare for a re-launch. From the behavior of the car, the rear end seems unstable, which is confirmed by Leclerc himself, who reports strong oversteer on the exit of the corner. Data analysis shows that the Monegasque lost about half a tenth between turns 1, 7, 8, and 12. So, they reach the final attempt for both, aiming to improve their modest times so far.
Charles Leclerc locks up at the rear into turn 1 and struggles in the slow sector, where the car seems unresponsive and still unstable at the rear. Lewis Hamilton, however, increases the power of the power unit and manages to cross the cut, but not without difficulty. Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso, Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, and Oliver Bearman are out of contention.
Q2 begins and Lewis Hamilton stays with used tires, while his teammate mounts new ones. The warm-up issue remains, especially in the first sector, where in Q1 Charles Leclerc had suffered a delay of four tenths compared to Max Verstappen’s time. It is a hard gap to bridge, but fortunately, two better laps arrive, helping to close the gap.
Although not perfect laps, the car shows signs of improvement: stability is better, and the car feels more agile in slow corners. Charles Leclerc also benefits from a helpful slipstream in the third sector, allowing him to gain a few tenths. Bryan Bozzi congratulates him over the radio, emphasizing that at turn 11, the Monegasque managed to draw a cleaner and more effective line. Seventh and eighth positions, but just a few hundredths between the two Ferrari cars.
They reach the final attempt, both drivers equipped with fresh Soft tires. Attention now turns to tire activation, one of the critical points of this qualifying. The track position is favorable, and the lap seems well-prepared, but things don’t go as expected: Lewis Hamilton makes mistakes at turns 11 and 17 and is eliminated in 12th place, while Charles Leclerc qualifies, though he struggles significantly between turns 11 and 12. Hadjar, Bortoleto, Doohan, and Lawson are also out.
The Monegasque is now called upon to pull off a miracle to climb the standings as much as possible with the lone Ferrari remaining. The car proves difficult to handle, with far from optimal balance. The issues remain unchanged: too narrow an adjustment window that doesn’t allow for effective balance, and tire management that doesn’t let him exploit them to the fullest. Charles Leclerc mounts a fresh set of Softs and prepares for the decisive lap.
The Monegasque driver launches but still makes small mistakes in the first corners. At turn 11, he arrives a bit wide, at turn 12 he has to correct his trajectory mid-corner, and in the tight sector, the car struggles to turn. At turn 17, he locks up the tires, going wide with a noticeable smoke puff. Shortly after, he opens the radio and simply says “box”. The car remains a mystery.
The final run on used tires isn’t bad at all. And the absurd thing is that Charles Leclerc actually seems to feel much more comfortable with the used compounds. Over the radio, during the return lap, he vents his frustration, stressing that his performance was excellent. And in fact, it is. It’s the car that today did not perform at all in qualifying. Having two Williams in front of him proves it perfectly.
— see video above —
