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Norris had led SQ1 and SQ2, with a time in the intermediate segment that would have been enough to overtake SQ3, but when switching to soft tires for the final segment, he fell out of contention on the red wall tires – the Briton particularly paying a loss of 0.8s tenth compared to Verstappen in the opening sector.
Verstappen’s lap to clinch pole in the sprint race wasn’t perfect as he had to struggle with his RB20 through the tight chicane at the end of the final sector, but he nevertheless set a time of 1’27’ ‘641 which was enough to clinch the first place.
Leclerc placed second just over 0.1 seconds behind – an impressive turnaround after missing most of practice following his clutch problem and early spin.
Sergio Perez finished third in the other Red Bull ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, who escaped the exit wall at Turn 16 in SQ2.
It was something Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso had done in the opening segment, before finishing the session eighth behind Carlos Sainz, Oscar Piastri and Lance Stroll in the other AMR24.
In the end, Norris was only able to beat Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg, despite setting the fastest times in the final two sectors of qualifying – his gap from the first sector enough to prevent him from troubling Verstappen.
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
In SQ2, where, like SQ1, the drivers were running on medium tyres, Mercedes saw both their cars abandoned, with George Russell ahead of Lewis Hamilton in 11th and 12th – the latter hitting the wall at the exit of turn 16 on the straight main during its final. knees.
Behind were Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Haas driver Kevin Magnussen and Yuki Tsunoda (RB), who, along with Verstappen and Norris, only completed one flying lap in the intermediate segment.
In SQ1, Alex Albon’s latest improvement was still not enough to take him out of the elimination zone, before it was revealed that his rise from last place to 16th owed much to his cut chicane.
Albon duly had his time deleted and he fell to the foot of the standings, behind compatriots Pierre Gasly, Zhou Guanyu, Valtteri Bottas and Logan Sargeant, who therefore led the way in a qualifying session for the first time as a teammate d’Albon at Williams.
Bottas is under post-session investigation for nearly colliding with Piastri at Turn 1 towards the end of SQ1, with the Sauber driver ignoring the McLaren’s fast approach into the right-hand corner as he made a slow turn while Piastri made a flying effort.
Hamilton will also have a post-session stewards’ hearing over a possible Mercedes pit infraction during SQ2, while a host of drivers are under investigation for apparently failing to follow the race director’s instructions regarding driving too slowly in the exit laps, which usually results in no results. the sanctions are pronounced.
F1 Miami GP – Sprint Qualifying Results
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