Miami pole for Perez, disappointment for Verstappen

Surprisingly, the Mexican set the best qualifying time at the Miami International Autodrome in his Red Bull. He benefited from an early end of the session due to a departure from Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc. Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin and Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari finished in the other places. Championship leader Max Verstappen was ninth.

The Dutchman, who ruined his first attempt at a fast Q3 lap with a mistake of his own, is now just six points ahead of his team-mate Perez, who, like Verstappen, has clinched two Grand Prix victories this year. With a win on Sunday (9:30 p.m. CEST/live ORF 1, Sky), Perez would probably take the lead.

Error by Verstappen

Perez described that he had experienced his “worst weekend so far before qualifying”. “I couldn’t figure out how to get the tenths I was missing with Max and the Ferraris. We made a few small changes and got the lap done when it counted,” said the 33-year-old. Alonso was beaming after his second place. “I enjoyed every lap. It was so much fun to drive,” said the Spaniard. However, his compatriot Sainz said it had become increasingly windy.

“No lap then of course because of the mistake”, world champion Verstappen summed up his situation in an ORF interview. After Leclerc spun off the track at around 1:50 minutes on the clock, the session was ended by red flags. “Obviously that’s very disappointing because the whole weekend was very positive.” With regard to the race, he was combative: “At least a second place, but of course I hope to win.”

Bad surprise for Mercedes

Mercedes also experienced a nasty surprise. George Russell did not get past sixth place, record world champion Lewis Hamilton did not even make it into the third and last qualifying segment in 13th place. “In the end, the car is too slow,” said team boss Toto Wolff. Hamilton faces a tough race with little chance of success. The course around the NFL stadium of the Miami Dolphins does not offer many overtaking opportunities. It was also a disappointment for local hero Logan Sargeant at the Williams. The 22-year-old, who was born not far from Miami, has to tackle the first of three USA races this year from the back.

However, the weather could ensure a mix, isolated rain showers are announced. The safety car could also shake up the classification. “Here you can assume that there will definitely be safety car phases. There is also a risk of rain. So this can be a very turbulent race,” said Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko. Tactically, Verstappen’s third qualifying session did not go ideally. Perhaps one should have “added a second round,” said the Styrian.

Perez promised he would do anything to win. “Tomorrow is a new opportunity to start from pole position. We are the ones who have something to lose, but we will just go out and try to enjoy this great crowd,” said the Baku winner. For the Mexican, who has a home game thanks to South Florida’s large Latin American population, it is the third pole position of his career and the first at a different circuit from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.