Perez on pole for Miami GP & 'upset' Verstappen 9th, as crash ends qualifying early

F1

A crash in F1 qualifying by Charles Leclerc confirmed Sergio Perez on pole for the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, and prevented Max Verstappen from recovering after an error on his first flying lap

Sergip Perez pumps his fist after qualifying on pole for the 2023 Miami GP

Perez profited from errors by rivals

Red Bull

Sergio Perez‘s F1 championship ambitions have been turbocharged by Charles Leclerc after a crash by the Ferrari driver brought qualifying to an early end — leaving the Mexican on pole and his team-mate starting ninth for tomorrow’s Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen didn’t have a chance to set a time in the final stage of qualifying, after running wide on his first run, abandoning the lap. “I’m a bit upset with myself,” he admitted.

Leclerc also made an error on his first run, and was looking to make his final flying lap count when he lost the rear of his car in Turn 6 and spun into the barriers.

It halted the session, forcing Verstappen, alongside others, into the pits. Seconds later came confirmation that the session would not restart, with only 1min 36sec remaining on the clock — not enough, realistically, for anyone to set a time.

Charles Leclerc crashes out of qualifying in 2023 Miami GP

Red flags and an early end to the session followed Leclerc’s crash

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Perez is now in prime position to claim a third win in a row, after victory in the Azerbaijan sprint race and Grand Prix, which would see him lead the championship.

“We will just go out and try to enjoy this,” he said. “I have a lot of friends here — obviously the Mexican community here is is very big — so it will be really special for me to to get the victory.

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“There’s still a very long race ahead. I’m not really thinking about that. For now. I just want to to focus on to my race preparation and get through it”.

Alongside him on the first row will be Fernando Alonso, whose lap time may have been 0.36sec slower than that of Perez, but was 0.15sec better than Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari.

“The car came alive in qualifying,” said the double world champion. “[I’m] extremely happy with P2 – front row of the grid”.

Behind him is an unconventional grid, with Kevin Magnussen, fourth, followed by Pierre Gasly, then George Russell, Leclerc and Esteban Ocon.

Far behind is McLaren: the only team to lose both drivers in the first Q3 stage, as it continues a disastrous start to 2023 — despite the presence of Amazon boss Jeff Bezos on the pitwall.

Sergio Perez in qualifying for the 2023 Miami GP

Perez’s banked lap in the first part of Q3 proved crucial

Red Bull

From the start of qualifying, strong winds for qualifying brought unpredictability to the session, and a series of errors.

The margin for error was miniscule too, with only 0.4sec between the second-fastest time of Sainz and eleventh-placed Russell.

Joining the McLarens in exiting at this stage were Logan Sargeant — racing ten minutes from where he began his karting career — as well as Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll, who had attempted to complete the session on a single set of tyres, where rivals used two.

They were joined, after Q2, by Lewis Hamilton, Zhou Guanyu, Nyck de Vries, Nico Hülkenberg and Alex Albon.

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Then came the key mistakes on the first flying laps of Q3. Oversteer in Turn 5 sent Verstappen wide in Turn 6 and he abandoned the attempt, pitting without a time on the board, which left him relying entirely on his final flying run.

Perez had no such difficulties, as he became the first driver to post a time under 1min 27sec, leaving him on provisional pole.

However Leclerc, who started first in Azerbaijan, nudged the wall on his flying lap and locked up at the very next corner — the final big stopping point ahead of Turn 17. He crossed the line a second behind Perez.

Verstappen and Leclerc had it all to do in their final runs but Leclerc, on the limit and taking a large chunk of kerb in Turn 5, lost the Ferrari into Turn 6 and spun into the barriers, in a repeat of the spin he had during Friday practice.

“I think what’s unacceptable is doing twice the same mistake in the same corner,” he told Sky Sports. “I am really disappointed with myself. You can always find excuses in those situations: the wind was really strong, it was really tricky. The set-up of the car was really tricky but I put myself in this condition. I wanted this set-up but I thought I would be able to extract the maximum out of the car in Q3, which is normally one of my strong points. I know also that I’m taking more risks than others probably in Q3 and that’s why, most of the time I’m doing good Q3s but this is too much.”

Within seconds of the crash, the red flag had been deployed, forcing several drivers to abandon their laps, including Verstappen, who had been fastest in the previous  Q1 and Q2 stages.

“That was definitely a mistake of mine —  tried to put in on the limit,” Verstappen said of his initial, abandoned Q3 attempt. “Then you rely on a bit of luck. I’m just a bit upset with myself.

Blurred image of Fernando Alonso in Aston Martin at 2023 Miami GP

Alonso will line up on the front row

Haas of Kevin Magnussen in practice for 2023 Miami GP

Magnussen starts fourth

The defending champion acknowledged that climbing through the field and challenging his team-mate would not necessarily be straightforward on a circuit with a lack of grip off the narrow racing line.

“It’s going to be tough, I made it difficult for myself,” he said before confirming his target was “mimimum, P2”.

His mood was echoed by Mercedes, who had both drivers in the drop zone with two minutes to go of Q1, and then saw Hamilton eliminated in Q2, with the 13th fastest time.

Haas, however, was buoyant after Magnussen’s fourth place, as was Alpine: both drivers enthused about the car’s pace, and counted themselves unlucky at missing out on a final lap.

The mixed-up grid will only add to the anticipation of one of F1’s most hyped races, and with the possibility of rain adding to the mix, tomorrow’s primetime race (for UK viewers), could be unmissable.

 

2023 Miami Grand Prix qualifying results

Position Driver Team Time
1 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1min 26.841sec
2 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1min 27.202sec
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1min 27.349sec
4 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1min 27.767sec
5 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1min 27.786sec
6 George Russell Mercedes 1min 27 .804sec
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1min 27.861sec
8 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1min 27.935sec
9 Max Verstappen Red Bull Q3 time not set
10 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Q3 time not set
Q2 times
11 Alex Albon Williams 1min 27.795sec
12 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 1min 27.903sec
13 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1min 27.975sec
14 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1min 28.091sec
15 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri 1min 28.395sec
Q1 times
16 Lando Norris McLaren 1min 28.394sec
17 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1min 28.429sec
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1min 28.476sec
19 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1min 28.484sec
20 Logan Sargeant Williams 2min 08.577sec