#MiamiGP Qualifying: @CharlesLeclerc scores pole in @ScuderiaFerrari front-row lockout. #F1
Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, F1-75, celebrates his 12th-career pole position in Qualifying at the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix 2022, Miami International Autodrome, Miami, Florida, United States of America. Image credit to Sutton Images. Leclerc Miami GP pole, 2022 Miami GP Qualifying, Miami GP Qualifying Results.
Leclerc Miami GP pole – Charles Leclerc secured pole position to lead from team-mate Carlos Sainz in a Ferrari one-two in qualifying for the inaugural Miami GP whilst a last flyer mistake from title-rival Max Verstappen meant he fell from provisional pole to third.
Verstappen headed the time-sheets in the initial Q3 flyers with a 1:28.991, with Leclerc and Sainz behind – just 0.080 seconds covering them.
On the final flying tours, Leclerc lead the runners and was up on his own personal best effort from the get-go, then taking the better time in sector two to storm to a 1:28.796.
Running behind, Sainz scored an impressive sector one time 0.2 seconds faster than Ferrari team-mate Leclerc, but the Spaniard lost time as the lap went on and fell 0.190 seconds adrift.
But that was still enough time for him to slot in-front of Red Bull’s Verstappen, which secured the Ferrari driver second on the grid for Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix as the Dutchman aborted his final hot-lap.
Verstappen had to catch a massive hit of over-steer when pushing his RB18 racer through the rapid turns 5/6 sequence, sliding off at the latter corner and ended up 0.6 seconds slower than championship-rival Leclerc in the opening sector – after which the Red Bull driver travelled slowly back to the finish line.
Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez was fourth and in-front of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas who took fifth and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who qualified sixth.
Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda placed seventh and ninth on the starting grid respectively, with McLaren’s Lando Norris splitting the pairing in eighth.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll completed the top ten Q3 runners.
In the second qualifying stage, BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Fernando Alonso set his best effort right at the end, but was unable to make the top-ten shootout as he was knocked out in 11th place and in-front of FP2 pace-setter, Mercedes’ George Russell.
Russell went for most of the Q2 session without a time posted as he struggled with snaps of over-steer in his W13 racer through the Miami International Autodrome’s fast-flowing sector one and porpoising everywhere, but finally hit the top ten with his last effort.
But this came nearly before Q2 had ended and the Briton did not have enough time to return to the pits for another fresh set of rubber, and was bumped down the order and eliminated.
Russell finished ahead of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, who slid his AMR22 racer and lost time out of the chicane at the send of sector two to take 13th on the grid, with McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo 14th and Haas F1 Team’s Mick Schumacher 15th.
In the first segment of qualifying, a late splash of improvements from several drivers hanging down the order after the early proceedings – including former McLaren team-mates Hamilton and Alonso – demoted Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen to 16th.
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN’s Zhou Guanyu was left frustrated after hitting heavy traffic at the last corners of his final hot-lap, calling the scenes as “dangerous” and urged the team to report it to the FIA.
Williams Racing were hoping driver Alexander Albon’s promising FP3 speed, which took him to ninth in the classifications will bring him luck, however it was not to be, but the Thai-Briton was left ruing not posting best efforts in sector’s two and three on his final flying lap, which left him in 18th.
This put Albon ahead of Williams team-mate Nicholas Latifi, who set a personal best effort right at the end of Q1 but could not get off the rear of the right for Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix.
BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon could not take part in qualifying after a crack was found in his Renault-powered A522 following his heavy shunt at the chicane in the earlier Free Practice 3 session and will start the race at the back as a result of this.
You can see the full Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix 2022 Qualifying Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2022/races/1110/miami/qualifying.html
2022 Miami GP Qualifying – The Top Three
Miami GP Pole Position- Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, F1-75, 1:28.796:
“Today went well, we are starting on pole and we need to finish the job tomorrow. [Red Bull] are extremely quick in the straight lines, we are quick in the corners.”
2nd Place – Carlos Sainz, #55, Scuderia Ferrari, F1-75, 1:28.986:
“Building back from a heavy crash yesterday, it wasn’t easy to get the confidence back at a tricky circuit. I think I kept it cool for Q3, given where I was coming from yesterday, I’ll take it. I haven’t done any long runs yet, I haven’t put the fuel in so the laps to the grid will be the first time I try that.”
3rd Place – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing-RBPT, RB18, 1:28.991:
“Overall I’ve pretty pleased with qualifying. Today was still trying to learn the track, so to be that competitive in qualifying was a surprise. Of course you want to be on pole but from where we came from, it’s a good job. We have a good chance for tomorrow, we have good top speed.”
2022 Miami GP – The Starting Grid
| POS | NO | DRIVER | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | 1:28.796 | |
| 2 | 55 | 1:28.986 | |
| 3 | 1 | 1:28.991 | |
| 4 | 11 | 1:29.036 | |
| 5 | 77 | 1:29.475 | |
| 6 | 44 | 1:29.625 | |
| 7 | 10 | 1:29.690 | |
| 8 | 4 | 1:29.750 | |
| 9 | 22 | 1:29.932 | |
| 10 | 18 | 1:30.676 | |
| 11 | 14 | 1:30.160 | |
| 12 | 63 | 1:30.173 | |
| 13 | 5 | 1:30.214 | |
| 14 | 3 | 1:30.310 | |
| 15 | 47 | 1:30.423 | |
| 16 | 20 | 1:30.975 | |
| 17 | 24 | 1:31.020 | |
| 18 | 23 | 1:31.266 | |
| 19 | 6 | 1:31.325 | |
| 20 | 31 |
Note – Ocon failed to set a qualifying time and races at stewards’ discretion.
In the earlier FP3 session, it was Perez on top of the time-sheets ahead of Ferrari’s Leclerc, with Red Bull team-mate Verstappen third, Alpine’s Alonso in fourth and Aston Martin’s Vettel rounding out the top five. You can see the full Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix 2022 Free Practice 3 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2022/races/1110/miami/practice-3.html
#MiamiGP FP2: @GeorgeRussell63 leads from @CharlesLeclerc. #F1
#MiamiGP FP1: @CharlesLeclerc tops time-sheets ahead of @GeorgeRussell63. #F1
#Formula1 Crypto.com #MiamiGrandPrix 2022 Preview. #F1 #MiamiGP
