Ricciardo stuns as Verstappen secures Sprint Pole in Miami

Sprint Qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix was full of surprises, with Daniel Ricciardo recording his best qualifying position of the season in P4 as Max Verstappen clinched pole for tomorrow’s Sprint in Miami.

Sprint Qualifying 1:

Having missed out on almost all of FP1 due to his Turn 16 spin, it was no surprise to see Charles Leclerc instantly out on track to start the opening 12-minute campaign. 

Just a minute later, the Monegasque was gradually accompanied by his competitors as the hunt for Sprint pole began.

Leclerc’s opening time was a 1:50.790s, a lap he clearly aborted after running wide on the dusty line at Turn 8.

The two Aston Martins momentarily held the top two times before being demoted by the Red Bull duo.

Zak Brown confirmed that Oscar Piastri is at a two-tenth disadvantage this weekend compared to Lando Norris who runs the full upgrade package this weekend. 

Despite this, Piastri punched in a brilliant banker lap, putting his half-set of upgrades to use as he split the leading duo.

Carlos Sainz slotted into P4, sitting 86 milliseconds behind Verstappen’s fastest time of a 1:28.601s.

Kevin Magnussen was unhappy with the traffic he encountered on the back straight, sitting in an at-risk P14.

With three minutes remaining in the session, Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly, Logan Sargeant, Nico Hulkenberg and Alex Albon all found themselves in the elimination zone.

Piastri and Valtteri Bottas nearly collided at Turn 1 after the Sauber driver wasn’t made aware of the approaching McLaren, with the Australian calling for a penalty.

Bottas came into the weekend unaware of the fact that his race engineer was changing, with this late call most likely a result of this.

The moment will be investigated after the session.

Oscar Piastri on track at the Miami GP. Image: Steven Tee / LAT Images.

Ricciardo set a personal best lap quick enough to improve to ninth, while Hulkenberg followed suit, however, only moving into P14.

The Williams boys couldn’t break out, with Sargeant calling himself a “dumb f***” after setting the slowest time of the session.

He won’t start last, however, after his teammate’s time was deleted for exceeding track limits as he aborted the sharp-turning kerbs at Turn 14.

This marks the first time Logan Sargeant has out-qualified Albon this season.

Sauber also had both their drivers knocked out in SQ1, with Zhou and Bottas to start tomorrow’s Sprint from P17 and P18, respectively.

Hulkenberg drifted to P15, awaiting Pierre Gasly’s final lap to know if he was safe, but after the Alpine pulled into the pits, it was confirmed that the German would be advancing to SQ2.

As for the fastest of the session, it was the McLarens leading the way, ahead of Fernando Alonso. 

Sprint Qualifying 2:

As the light went green in the pitlane, Haas sent their drivers out immediately with Kevin Magnussen, who finished SQ1 in fifth, leading the charge.

The remainder of the teams were also eager to send their drivers out, with all but Verstappen and Tsunoda taking part in the first haul of flying lap attempts.

Perez set an opening time of a 1:27.865s, taking the top spot.

Daniel Ricciardo’s first lap was quick enough for second fastest, two and a half tenths back on the Red Bull.

The Australian was notably quicker than Piastri, Alonso and Sainz.

Despite this, on his lap he made light contact with the wall at Turn 12, not sustaining any damage.

Norris jumped to the top of the order, demoting Perez by two and a half tenths with the new benchmark time of a 1:27.597s.

With four minutes on the clock, Verstappen and Tsunoda finally emerged from their garages, setting off on their single flying lap attempts.

In the elimination zone, the two drivers shared the space with Hamilton, Ocon and Magnussen, with Russell the driver at risk. 

It was a personal best Sector 1 for Verstappen, however, still five-tenths down on Norris.

His time, although not the quickest, was enough to see the Dutchman advancing through in P4, four-tenths back on the #4 McLaren.

As for Yuki Tsunoda, his lap didn’t see him improving on his position, instead placing him in P15 for the Sprint.

Yuki Tsunoda was out-qualified by his teammate for the Miami GP Sprint. Image: Zak Mauger / LAT Images.

Tsunoda has now been out-qualified for a third straight time, with Ricciardo making it through to the third stage of qualifying for the first time this season.

Hamilton remained in the elimination zone, with his final lap tarnished as he reportedly hit the wall.

To make matters worse for Mercedes, George Russell also failed to improve, making it a double-SQ2 elimination for the team.

Russell will start in P11, with Hamilton, who has been noted for a pitlane infringement, in P12.

Hamilton’s crew will be investigated for failing to wear their helmets as they worked on the #44’s car in the pitlane.

Ocon and Magnussen were also eliminated in SQ2.

Once again, Norris’ upgrades proved highly effective as he finished the session with the quickest time, ahead of Perez and Leclerc. 

Sprint Qualifying 3:

SQ3 featured some surprise guests including Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg, however, at the green light, the pitlane remained calm.

With only 8 minutes allocated for the final session, drivers waited in their garages until there were just under four minutes on the clock.

There was the usual hold-up in the pitlane as drivers attempted to build a gap, with Ferrari and McLaren at the back of the pack.

Hulkenberg was the lead driver, punching a hole in the air for the Red Bull duo behind.

Behind Verstappen, Ricciardo was following at a safe distance.

Daniel Ricciardo on track during Sprint Qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix. Image: Chris Graythen/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

Perez crossed the line with an early benchmark of 1:27.876s, demoting Hulkenberg’s sixth-tenths slower lap.

Having set two fastest sectors, Verstappen had a snap through the final sector, however, still jumped to the top of the order with a provisional pole time of 1:27.641s.

The Red Bull duo were soon split by Leclerc, who qualified brilliantly after missing all of FP1 this morning.

The #55 Ferrari lost time at the Turn 17 hairpin, costing Sainz crucial time and seeing him forced to settle for P5.

The standout star of the session was Daniel Ricciardo, with the Australian wringing every last tenth out of his rainbow VCARB 01 to qualify in fourth place.

Ricciardo’s quickest time was a 1:28.044s, still four-tenths back on the #1, however, a hugely positive result for the RB garage, being Ricciardo’s best of the season.

McLaren completely dropped off on the red-marked tyre.

Norris was sliding around on his soft compounds, costing him greatly as he only managed the ninth fastest time following two P1 finishes in SQ1 and SQ2.

Piastri wasn’t far ahead in P6, still five-tenths back on Verstappen. 

The Aston Martin’s split the McLaren drivers, lining up from P7 and P8 to start the Sprint race tomorrow morning.

Lights out for the Sprint takes place at 2:00 AM, Sunday morning, AEST.

Sprint Qualifying Results:

2024 Miami Grand Prix schedule 

Saturday, May 4

Practice 1: 02.30-03.30

Sprint Shootout: 06.30-07.14

Sunday, May 5

Sprint: 02.00-03.00

Qualifying: 06.00-07.00

Monday, May 5

Grand Prix: 06.00

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