© Getty Images2024 Miami Grand Prix - Saturday ReportMax continues his dominance on Sprint Saturday by taking the race win and claiming his fifth pole of the season.
MaxmadeitaSaturdaysweepattheHardRockstadium,takingacontrolledSprintvictoryaheadofFerrari’sCharlesLeclercandChecoPérezbeforesealingasensationalsixthpolepositioninarowinthelateafternoonMiamiheat.TheDutchmanoutpacedLeclerctotaketopspotonthegridfortomorrow’sMiamiGrandPrix,withChecosettostarttheraceinfourthplacebehindthesecondFerrariofCarlosSainz.
Max
Checo
Off the line, Max was put under immediate pressure by front-row starter Leclerc forcing him to go deep into Turn 1 to keep the Ferrari driver at bay. The battle for the lead allowed Checo to attack the second placed Ferrari around the outside, however the Mexican’s late-braking move only led to a slide wide and into the gap slipped VCARB’s Daniel Ricciardo who stole third place from the Mexican.
Further back a collision involving Lance Stroll, Aston Martin team-mate Fernando Alonso and McLaren’s Lando Norris resulted in the Safety Car being deployed. Max controlled the restart perfectly, however, and with Leclerc unable to get close, the champion gradually tightened his grip on the lead on his way to his second Sprint win of the season 3.3 seconds ahead of the Ferrari driver.
Checo, meanwhile, climbed back to third, passing Ricciardo under DRS after the SC left the track. The Mexican tried to reel in Leclerc in the closing stages, but as soon as he got to within two seconds of the Ferrari wake turbulence prevented him from getting any closer.
Behind Checo, Ricciardo put in an excellent defensive performance to keep Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz at bay, while Oscar Piastri took P6 for McLaren ahead of Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg. The final point on offer went to Yuki Tsunoda in the second VCARB.
Taking The Wide Line To The Win© Getty Images
Q1
Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg got things going at the start of Q1 with a lap of 1:28.945 but that was soon beaten as the expected front runners began to log their first times of the session. Sainz took an early P1 ahead of team-mate Leclerc thanks to a lap of 1:28.159 and Checo slotted into third place on 1:28.288 ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell.
Max was one of the last out on track for his first run and the Dutchman sounded a note of caution as he embarked on his out lap, saying his clutch “didn’t sound very good”. The Dutchman quickly eased those concerns, however, with an opening flyer of 1:28.023 that put him 0.136 ahead of Sainz.
Sainz, though, was out for his second run and the Spanish driver reclaimed P1 with a lap of 1:27.937. McLaren’s Lando Norris then moved to P2, eight hundredths of a second off the Ferrari driver, but Checo was also on another hot lap though and the Mexican found a big improvement as he lowered the benchmark to 1:27.772.
Max, though, was again finding more time on his final flyer and the champion took P1 for the final time in Q1 with a lap of 1:27.689, just under a tenth clear of Checo. Norris claimed an eventual third place on 1:27.913 with Sainz in fourth.
The shock faller at the end of the session was VCARB’s Daniel Ricciardo. After his heroics in the earlier Sprint, the Australian suffered a lock-up on his final flying lap and his best time of 1:28.617 was only good enough for P18 behind Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Williams’ Logan Sargeant who went out in P16 and P17 respectively.
Ricciardo’s race will also be hampered by a three-place grid penalty for an incident at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Also ruled out behind the VCARB driver were Haas’ Kevin Magnussen in P19 and last-placed Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu.
Checo Pushing Through© Getty Images
Q2
The Bulls were out on track early in the second segment, but with used tyres on board, Checo’s opener – almost half a second off his Q1 best – was only good enough for seventh place, while Max – also slower than in Q1 – had to settle for P5. Quickest in the opening runs was Leclerc who set the bar at 1:27.533 on new tyres. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was in P2 just under two tenths off that time, with Norris third ahead of Sainz.
The Bulls switched to new Softs for the final runs but even with fresh rubber on board, Max just missed out on top spot, crossing the line in 1:27.566 to finish the second segment in P2 ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, and Piastri. Checo eased through to Q3 in fifth place, ahead of Norris who gambled successfully with a set of used Medium tyres for his final run.
However, there was no way through to the top-10 shootout for Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, who was eliminated in P11 ahead of the Alpine cars of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, the Williams of Alex Albon and the second Aston of Fernando Alonso.
Q3
If Leclerc’s Q2 table-topper gave Ferrari hope that they might end the Dutchman’s pole-winning streak, the champion ruthlessly crushed those dreams early in the final session. Checo initially took top spot with a time of 1:27.754, but close behind him on track Max was flying and the Dutchman went a full half a second quicker than his team-mate to stop the clock at 1:27.241.
And that proved to be untouchable, even for Max. The Dutchman couldn’t find more pace on his final run and though rivals behind him improved there was no stopping the champion’s charge to a sixth pole from six races. Leclerc got closest, 0,141s off Max, while Sainz took third place on 1:27.455. Checo also improved on his final run, and the Mexican is set to line up behind Sainz in fourth place thanks to a lap of 1:27.460.
McLaren’s Norris and Piastri will line up fifth and sixth respectively ahead of the Mercedes cars of Russell and Hamilton. Yuki Tsunoda will start in P9 ahead of Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg.
And That's Every Pole So Far This Season!© Getty Images
| Rank | Driver | Team | Gap | Points | | 1 | Max Verstappen | Oracle Red Bull Racing | - | 8 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +3.371 | 7 |
| 3 | | Oracle Red Bull Racing | +5.095 | 6 |
| 4 | Daniel Ricciardo | Visa Cash App RB | +14.971 | 5 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +15.222 | 4 |
| 6 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +15.750 | 3 |
| 7 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | +22.054 | 2 |
| 8 | Yuki Tsunoda | Visa Cash App RB | +29.347 | 1 |
| 9 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +29.816 | 0 |
| 10 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | +31.303 | 0 |
