Formula 1, GP Miami: Perez on pole position, Verstappen ninth, Leclerc in the crash barriers

Qualifying for the Miami GP had many surprises as Sergio Perez took pole position and won. Alonso starts second, followed by Sainz and Magnussen.

If you’re looking for Max Verstappen, note that the world champion will start from ninth after failing to set a fastest lap, while Leclerc is seventh after his fine performance ended up in the barriers.

Let’s take things from the beginning. In the first leg it was Verstappen who set the fastest time, followed by Saints, Perez and Leclerc. But at the same time, interest was focused on the queue.

The biggest surprise was Stroll, who was absent from the sequel with Aston Martin, while Norris and Piastr did not make Q2 with the two Mercedes.

The surprises didn’t stop there though as we had results in Q2 that we didn’t expect. First and best was the disqualification of Hamilton, who was in 13th year and dropped out with them albon, Hulkenberg, Chow and DeVries. Hamilton slipped in the first corner of his second-fastest lap, consuming his worst qualifying session on American soil.

With that we have reached the third period and the fight for several positions. In the first of the two Fast laps by the ten drivers Perez shot clean, setting the fastest lap 1:26.841, while on the contrary Verstappen and Leclerc made significant mistakes.

Verstappen narrowly opened in two corners and decided to give up his first fast lap and returned to the pits to prepare for his second and only one Effort. At the same time, Leclerc touched the wall on the exit of Turn 16 and stayed 1st a second ahead of Perez and in 7th place.

So Alonso – always present at every misstep of the others – seized the opportunity and seized it rose to second place of the years. In the last three minutes it was time for the ten Drivers return to the track for their second and final fast lap.

But that shouldn’t please anyone, as Leclerc had a very violent tête-à-tête with – at very high speed – in turns 5-6, which sent him with the rear of the Ferrari SF-23 into the crash barriers and destroyed the rear wing and the right rear wheel of the Cavallino.

The red flags of qualifying being abandoned came very quickly, and that too With only 1:40 minutes to go, the drivers would not have enough time to catch up their exit lap from the pits and start the second fast lap after the break her.

That’s how it stayed the first time the drivers tried it in Q3, and it happened an unexpected result of Perez’s polyposition – as he himself said he had a very bad one two days to this moment – and from Alonso’s second place in an Aston Martin, the it suffers from its lack of top speed on Miami’s long straights.

Saith finished third despite showing clear signs of improvement in the first two Qualifying periods while Kevin Magnussen starts alongside the Spaniard who used another moment of luck for the big surprise of the 4th starting place with the haas

With Leclerc 7th on the grid and Verstappen 9th tomorrow no doubt The Miami GP will be much more interesting than predicted with its dominance Verstappen in free practice in the first two qualifying sessions. The race starts tomorrow, Sunday (May 7th) at 10:30 p.m. with LIVE reporting from Sportish.