Miami GP Practice/Sprint Race/Qualy Recap

Miami International Autodrome

Day 1 

FP1

Very early into the first session of the Miami GP, Charles LeClerc spun his Ferrari and was unable to get it pointed in the right direction, resulting in a red flag for the session. The remainder of the session was under the green flag and fairly uneventful.

Top 5: Verstappen, Piasti, Sainz, Russell, Stroll

LeClerc caused a red flag 5 minutes into FP1

SQ (Sprint Qualifying)

Lando Norris topped the SQ1 session, showing McLaren delivered a competitive car for the weekend. Followed by Piastri, Alonso, Verstappen, and Magnussen.

Eliminated in SQ1: Gasly, Zhou, Bottas, Sargeant, Albon

SQ2: Lando Norris continued to prove the McLarens have a good car this weekend, topping the SQ2 session again. He was followed by Perez, LeClerc, Verstappen, and Daniel Ricciardo, who showed some pace in his VCARB and finished in the Top five.

Eliminated in SQ2: Russell, Hamilton, Ocon, Magnussen, Tusnoda

SQ3: With the track temperatures rising, all teams chose not to run a preliminary lap in the SQ3 session, waiting until the very end to run one final qualifying lap. Verstappen would take pole position, with the session's highlight being Daniel Ricciardo qualifying 4th for the sprint race.

Sprint Race Starting Grid:

Sprint Race

The start of the Sprint race would lead to a yellow flag and safety car after Lance Stroll and Lewis Hamilton sandwiched in Fernando Alonso, causing a collision that would also collect Lando Norris, taking out Lando and Stroll. The race would continue on lap 4, staying green until the end. The highlights of the race were an epic battle between Kevin Magnussen and Lewis Hamilton, running 8th and 9th; Magnussen would hold off Hamilton, creating a gap between his teammate Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton, and Hulkenberg would continue for points and finish in 7th place for Haas. Magnussen and Hamilton were given time penalties, dropping Magnussen toward the back of the field. Daniel Ricciardo would hold off the charging Ferrari of Carlos Sainz for over 10 laps to keep his 4th place finish, the best finishing position for VCARB in a sprint race. Local hero Logan Sargeant would also have a great race for Williams, finishing just out of the points in 10th place, also being the first time he would outperform his Williams teammate, Alex Albon.

1st Max Verstappen - 8 points

2nd Charles LeClerc - 7 points

3rd Sergio Perez - 6 points

4th - Daniel Ricciardo -5 points

5th Carlos Sainz - 4 points

6th Oscar Piastri- 3 points

7th Nico Hulkenberg- 2 points

8th Yuki Tsunoda - 1 point

Qualifying

Q1

Verstappen would top the Q1 session, followed by the Ferraris. Nico Hulkenberg would make his way into Q2 for Haas, Alex Albon would sneak into Q2 for Williams, and Yuki Tsunoda would make his way into Q2. Teammate Daniel Ricciardo, fresh off a 4th-place finish in the sprint race, would fail to get out of Q1. Both of the Alpines of Ocon and Gasly also made their way into Q2.

This was an extremely competitive qualifying session, with positions 13th through 19th separating the two positions on the grid by less than 1/2 second. Valtteri Bottas and Logan Sargeant would miss Q2 by three-hundredths of a second.

Eliminated in Q1: Bottas, Sargeant, Ricciardo, Magnussen, and Zhou.  

Q2 

Sainz had a big spin and found himself in the wall, causing a red flag for the session. Most of the teams only had one good lap. Va teri Bottas had a breakthrough session for Stake Sauber with the team's advancement into Q3. Hulkenberg advanced into Q3 for Haas.

Eliminated in Q2: Stroll, Gasly, Ocon, Albon, Alonso

Q3

Max Verstappen would take the pole for the 2024 Miami GP, followed by the Ferraris of Charles LeClerc and Carlos Sainz.

Grand Prix Starting Grid:

Race Predictions: This could be a very fun race to watch; while Max Verstappen has been dominant, the margins have not been near as wide as some races, and Max did not pull away from the field in the sprint race the way we have seen in the past races. With some yellow flags, the pack could stay much closer, leading to a much better race at the front of the pack. The McLarens have shown pace all weekend, and I can see Lando Norris finding his way to the podium. I do not doubt there will be 1-2 yellow flags in this race, and with the higher temperatures, we could see a variety of pit strategies leading to a few unexpected finishing positions. This should be an exciting mid-pack race for the final points; look for the Williams to move forward; they both clocked the highest speeds on the long straights of this second. The DRS trains will play a major part in the finishing order. If I had to make a prediction, Verstappen would have won, but under the right circumstances, we may have seen the Ferraris battling for the podium's top step.