Vettel Puts Focus On Climate Change At Miami GP
Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari on pole position for the inaugural Miami Grand Prix as F1 hit Florida with qualifying on Saturday. The championship leader kept his cool in the searing 33 degree heat, with Carlos Sainz completing an all-Ferrari front row.
Max Verstappen blew his chances of claiming his second pole in as many grands prix when he made a mistake on his final run. “I f***** it,” said the world champion over the radio. Lewis Hamilton qualified sixth in his Mercedes.
Verstappen got his title defence back on track following a dominant performance in Imola a fortnight ago and the Red Bull star looked set to start Sunday’s race in the box seat to eat into Leclerc’s 27-point advantage at the top of the standings. But he will now be on the back foot after he ran wide in the first sector of his final roll of the dice in qualifying.
Leclerc improved to take pole with his last lap – the perfect tonic for his spin in Imola which dropped him from third to sixth – while Sainz also leapfrogged Verstappen. However, despite setting the fastest lap time in FP2 on Friday, George Russell blundered in Q2 of qualifying, running wide on his first run before lapping only good enough for 12th in his Mercedes.
Follow live coverage from qualifying at the F1 Miami Grand Prix below:
Miami Grand Prix qualifying
2 minutes remaining: So the cars are back out on the track and are being led by the leader of the championship in Charles Leclerc. What can the Monegasque driver conjure up here?
All set for a grand finale in qualifying here.
Dylan Terry7 May 2022 21:58
Miami Grand Prix qualifying
3 minutes remaining: Here is how things stand ahead of each driver’s final stint in Q3.
- Max Verstappen
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Sergio Perez
- Valtteri Bottas
- Lewis Hamilton
- Lando Norris
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Lance Stroll
- Pierre Gasly
Dylan Terry7 May 2022 21:57
Miami Grand Prix qualifying
4 minutes remaining: A few of the drivers return to the pits as the rest of them go on out laps.
Worth saying that outside of the Ferraris and Red Bulls, Valtteri Bottas is leading the way in fifth place with a few minutes remaining here!
Some drive from Bottas, particularly when you consider his teammate Guanyu Zhou was eliminated in Q1.
Dylan Terry7 May 2022 21:56
Miami Grand Prix qualifying
6 minutes remaining: Max Verstappen is the first driver into the 1.28s as he posts the fastest time to snatch provisional pole!
Sergio Perez is next up as he goes fourth. Bottas is fifth ahead of former Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Then come Norris, Tsunoda, Stroll and Gasly.
Still six minutes remaining. Long way to go.
Dylan Terry7 May 2022 21:54
Miami Grand Prix qualifying
8 minutes remaining: Charles Leclerc is the first of the big hitters to post a time as he sets off just in front of teammate Carlos Sainz.
Here comes the leader of the drivers’ championship…1.29.0. Sainz then goes a couple of hundredths slower than him.
Dylan Terry7 May 2022 21:52
Miami Grand Prix qualifying
10 minutes remaining: So we are straight into Q3. Who will secure pole position? Here are the drivers contesting it.
- Charles Leclerc
- Max Verstappen
- Lando Norris
- Sergio Perez
- Carlos Sainz
- Valtteri Bottas
- Lewis Hamilton
- Lance Stroll
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Pierre Gasly
Dylan Terry7 May 2022 21:51
Miami Grand Prix qualifying: End of Q2
Here are the full Q2 results. In bold are those eliminated in Q2.
- Charles Leclerc
- Max Verstappen
- Lando Norris
- Sergio Perez
- Carlos Sainz
- Valtteri Bottas
- Lewis Hamilton
- Lance Stroll
- Yuki YTsunoda
- Pierre Gasly
- Fernando Alonso
- George Russell
- Sebastian Vettel
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Mick Schumacher
Dylan Terry7 May 2022 21:47
Miami Grand Prix qualifying: End of Q2
So here are the drivers eliminated in Q2.
11) Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
12) George Russell (Mercedes)
13) Sebastian Vettel (Aston-Martin)
14) Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
15) Mick Schumacher (Haas)
Dylan Terry7 May 2022 21:43
Miami Grand Prix qualifying
Ricciardo doesn’t manage to make it through to Q3 as he can only post a time good enough for P14!
Meanwhile, Russell is out! He was back in the pits already. Nightmare for Mercedes.
Dylan Terry7 May 2022 21:42
Miami Grand Prix qualifying
Norris goes third fastest and Russell is in big trouble again as he drops to 12th!
Alonso misses out. He can only manage 11th with his final lap of the session.
Dylan Terry7 May 2022 21:41