06/05/2023
NEWS STORY
Other than the Red Bulls and Ferraris, the timesheet at the end of FP3 had all the makings of the revers grid that Ross Brawn has yearned for for so long... though not when he was actually working for a team.
Ocon, Gasly, Bottas, Hulkenberg and Albon were all up there, while the likes of Hamilton, Alonso and the McLaren pair were consigned to the nether regions.
While the ever evolving track played a significant part, as did the actual timing of when drivers carried out their runs, the fact is that some are struggling a lot more than others.
The Aston Martins and Mercedes appear to have the opposite of Ferrari's usual problem in that they have race lap pace here but not single lap pace.
Whether this continues into qualifying remains to be seen, however adding to the conundrum is the fact that we are expecting rain tomorrow.
In many ways qualifying is going to be lottery, for based on the evidence thus far we expect a few incident maybe even a red flag or two.
Nonetheless, with Fernando Alonso warning that overtaking will be difficult a good grid position is going to be vital.
Ahead of Q1 the air temperature is 29 degrees C, while the track temperature is 45 degrees.
Never mind tomorrow, race control claims there is a 30% chance of rain over the next hour.
The lights go green and Sargeant leads the way, followed by his Williams teammate, Zhou, Bottas and Tsunoda.
Soon all bar the Ferraris and Aston Martins are on track.
With an eye on the tow, much as it was last weekend, a number of teams are running their drivers together.
Albon sets a benchmark 30.967 but understandably this is soon beaten, by Bottas (29.964), as Hulkenberg gets up close and very personal with the4 barriers.
Magnussen goes quickest and Norris second while Russell can only manage third.
A 28.424 sees Verstappen go quickest but his teammate responds with a 28.306.
Gasly goes third and Ocon fourth, ahead of Magnussen, Piastri and Norris.
"It's looking pretty windy out there," Perez is warned.
Leclerc goes second with a 28.422 while a 28.732 sees Sainz go fourth.
Zhou goes sixth and Albon ninth.
Hamilton reveals that he has hit the wall with his front wing. He subsequently pits having failed to post a time.
Replay shows the seven-time champ hit the wall after trying to avoid Magnussen who had come to a halt on the racing line. The incident has been noted.
Alonso goes fourth with a 28.606 while Russell can only manage 18th (29.880).
However, next time around Russell goes quickest in S1, though moments later Verstappen goes quicker.
Gasly goes sixth, while Russell improves to eighth with a 28.733.
Leclerc goes quickest (27.895) and Ocon sixth.
"The Ferrari (Sainz) just squeezed me into the wall," complains Zhou, "what is he doing."
The stewards will investigate the Magnussen/Hamilton incident after the session.
Verstappen goes quickest with a 27.363 as Hamilton improves to tenth (28.703).
With 5:00 remaining, Sargeant, Albon, Tsunoda, Norris and de Vries comprise the drop zone, with Hulkenberg, Bottas and Zhou hovering.
Albon improves to fifth with a 28.397, while Sargeant goes thirteenth.
A 27.957 sees Hulkenberg go fourth as conditions clearly improve.
De Vries goes eighth as Hulkenberg almost collects an AlphaTauri in the pitlane.
Magnussen can only manage thirteenth as Hamilton drops into the drop zone.
With less than two minutes remaining, all bar the Bulls are on track.
That said, Perez heads out.
Magnussen goes third as the track ramps up.
Sainz goes second, Sargeant thirteenth, Alonso eighth and Norris eleventh.
The timing screen is lit up mainly in green as Ocon goes sixth, only to be demoted by Bottas.
Russell goes tenth and Hamilton sixth which is bad news for Norris.
De Vries makes it by the skin of his teeth while both McLarens are out, as is Stroll.
Verstappen is quickest, ahead of Sainz, Perez, Leclerc, Magnussen, Hamilton, Bottas, Ocon, Hulkenberg and Gasly.
We lose Norris, Tsunoda, Stroll, Piastri and Sargeant.
Verstappen clearly can't wait for Q2 to get underway, the Dutchman ready and waiting at the end of the pitlane.
The Dutchman heads out, followed by his teammate, Zhou, Russell and Hamilton.
Verstappen posts a benchmark 27.110, while Perez crosses the line at27.328.
Russell goes third, albeit 1.077s off the pace.
A 27.498 sees Alonso go third, the Spaniard just 0.388s off the pace.
Hulkenberg goes fourth and Haas teammate Magnussen fifth.
A big wobble in Turn 17 causes Hamilton to abort his first flying lap.
He subsequently goes seventh with a 28.340.
De Vries goes ninth, but is demoted when Ocon goes fourth with a 27.674. Teammate Gasly goes fifth with a 27.813.
Sainz is slightly quicker than his teammate in S1, the Spaniard maintain the pace in S2. At the line Leclerc posts a 27.514 to go fourth, but is demoted when Sainz goes second with a 27.148, just 0.038s off Verstappen's pace.
The Alfa pair are last out as Perez admits: "I clipped the wall on the entry of Turn 4".
Zhou goes 11th with a 28.091 while Bottas claims sixth with a 27.564.
With 2:10 remaining, Zhou, Magnussen, Russell, Hamilton and de Vries comprise the drop zone.
Quickest in the final two sectors, Leclerc goes quickest with a 26.964. However, Verstappen is on a hot lap.
Magnussen goes seventh, while Verstappen retakes the top spot with a 26.814.
Alonso goes third, Ocon sixth and Russell ninth, however a mistake in the final sector sees Hamilton fail to improve.
"We left that way too late guys," says Hamilton.
Gasly goes eighth at the death to demote Albon.
Quickest is Verstappen, ahead of Leclerc, Alonso, Sainz, Perez, Ocon, Bottas, Gasly, Magnussen and Russell.
We lose Albon, Hulkenberg, Hamilton, Zhou and de Vries.
Check out our Saturday gallery from Miami here.
Verstappen leads the way as Q3 gets underway, the world champion followed by Perez, Ocon, Alonso, Russell and Magnussen.
Alonso warns that the wind is picking up... at which pint Verstappen has a major wobble and has to abort his lap.
Perez sets a benchmark 26.841 while Ocon follows with a 27.935.
Alonso goes second (27.702), ahead of Gasly and Russell.
Magnussen goes third with a 27.767 as Leclerc locks-up in Turn 17. As a result he can only manage 27.861, which puts him seventh.
Sainz goes third as Verstappen admits "I went wide" as Leclerc asks for his car to be checked as he fears he clipped the wall.
Fearing traffic, Leclerc wants to get out as quickly as possible for the final run.
Verstappen, of course, has yet to post a time.
Verstappen is among the last out, followed by Perez and finally Bottas. With timing clearly all important this weekend, the Finn could yet spring a surprise.
Oh dear, Leclerc carries too much speed into Turn 6 and spins off into the barriers.
The session is red-flagged and with just 1:36 remaining the session will not resume, a disaster for Verstappen, and indeed Bottas.
Verstappen is not impressed.
"I'm sorry guys, I'm sorry," sighs Leclerc.
Not for the first time, fate provides us with the sort of grid that the likes of Ross Brawn and Stefano Domenicali can only dream of, the sort of grid they try so hard to manufacture.
Perez starts from pole ahead of Alonso and Sainz, but then comes Magnussen, Gasly, Russell, Leclerc, Ocon, Verstappen and Bottas.
Albon starts eleventh, ahead of Hulkenberg, Hamilton, Zhou, de Vries, Norris, Tsunoda, Stroll, Piastri and Sargeant.
Though never ones for hyperbole, we must admit that - bearing in mind the difficulty in overtaking, the price to be paid for straying off line, the wind and the threat of rain - tomorrow promises to be a cracker.
"It was a very tricky qualifying for all," admits Sainz, "it's very tricky to find the right feeling with the tyres.
"It was getting windier and windier," he adds. "In general a decent outcome but I think today we could have been even better."
"It was a good qualifying," grins Alonso. "The car came alive, I'm extremely happy with P2.
"I did enjoy every lap, it was so enjoyable to drive. You have to have the confidence in the car to really attack qualifying, and I did have the confidence."
"I think it's been my worst weekend up until qualifying actually," admits pole-man Perez. "I couldn't figure out how to get those tenths I was missing to Max and the Ferraris. We made some small changes and put in the lap when it mattered."
Indeed he did.
After two days of Sky telling us how fantastic it all is in Miami and how great the race is going to be, we're finally beginning to believe them, though in all honesty we had to rely on the fickle finger of fate and the over enthusiasm of Charles Leclerc.
Check out our Saturday gallery from Miami here.