F1 Miami Grand Prix Sprint Saturday: Can anyone catch Max Verstappen?

MIAMI — He described his car as “terrible.” His reaction when his team told him he had won pole position was to “laugh out loud.” Yet here at the Miami Grand Prix, a new day of F1 competition dawns as we wonder if anyone will be able to catch Max Verstappen in the paddock.

Not only was it such a season for Verstappen, but rather it has been the entire storyline of F1 since the last three seasons. Every time the field tried to put pressure on the Red Bull driver, as McLaren did in the first two qualifying sessions yesterday, Verstappen answered the alarm bell.

A prime example of this is qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix for the 2023 season. Fernando Alonso, Charles Leclerc and Esteban Ocon gave their all in the final push lap, with all three drivers taking provisional pole position.

It’s not that long.

That’s because as the seconds ticked down in Q3, Verstappen pushed his RB19 to its limits, squeezing out every millisecond he needed to move into first place.

Yesterday it was Lando Norris. McLaren brought a number of upgrades to the Miami Grand Prix, with Norris topping the timesheets in both SQ1 and SQ2. However, these times were set using medium compound, which is required by F1 sprint regulations. When the softs were fitted, Verstappen was once again at the front of the field, and the rest of the grid was wondering if they could somehow catch him today.

can they?

Ferrari and McLaren probably believe they have a chance. But as we’ve seen time and time again, Verstappen has answered the call whenever a challenge is presented to him.

Will McLaren’s pace be enough to carry them through the day?

By the team’s own admission, SQ3 was a bit of a disappointment following the results shown by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the first two qualifying sessions on Friday afternoon.

But will Saturday’s sprint race tell a different story?

As mentioned above, Norris recorded the fastest times on both the medium compound SQ1 and SQ2. Piastri finished second in SQ1, behind his teammate, and finished sixth in SQ2. However, once the software was installed, the two McLarens were unable to repeat their previous success.

As for Norris, the McLaren driver lost too much time in the first sector and was unable to close the gap to Verstappen in the next two sectors.Use telemetry data from F1-tempoyou can see how fast Norris on the upgraded MCL38 was in the first part of the lap.

Still, look at the difference in SQ3. Verstappen was faster in the first sector.

The match was over when the two drivers came out of Turn 8 for a fast and flowing start to the second sector. At this point, Norris was 0.842 seconds behind Verstappen and was unable to make up for the lost time.

However, given what McLaren has shown in the past with medium compound in both SQ1 and SQ2, Saturday could be a different story.

“We saw a very strong performance from the car in sprint qualifying, but ultimately it didn’t pay off in the crucial session. Both drivers had problems with their soft tires, which affected the final result. ” said team principal Andrea Stella. after the session. “But we are definitely encouraged by the pace we saw today. This is just the start of the weekend and we have plenty of opportunities to leverage the power of the upgraded car we brought to Miami. It’s a huge effort from the factory team and we’re looking forward to rewarding that effort with good results throughout the weekend.”

Norris also pointed to the first sector as the cause of his downfall.

“It’s simple, but I tried too hard,” Norris said after sprint qualifying. “The car felt really good. It’s just stupid, to be honest. I made a few mistakes in Turn 1 and it was a big spiral from there. The team did a good job and the upgrades worked as well. So I’m satisfied with everything. I can’t do just one thing.”

Verstappen won in SQ3, but mediums are very likely to be preferred for Saturday’s F1 sprint race.

Considering what we saw in SQ1 and SQ2, this could bode very well for McLaren.

What is happening to Mercedes?

Are you a team that currently has more questions than answers?

Mercedes.

The upgrades the team brought to Miami seemed to work in Friday’s FP1, but once lap times actually started being measured, the Silver Arrows found themselves frozen in SQ3. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton both missed out on SQ3 and will start Saturday in the points. Russell qualified 11th, with Hamilton just behind him in 12th.

Can they redeem themselves on Saturday?

They admit it can be difficult.

“The car felt really good.” [SQ1]after that [SQ2] It wasn’t terrible, we were just seven-tenths of a second behind. I think that was the pace of our car,” Hamilton said after sprint qualifying. “I think the sprint race will be tough. [starting] To be honest, you can’t expect much money from it.Not an easy circuit to overtake or chase [other cars]So I’m just trying to get my foot in the door any way I can.”

Russell sounded a bit more optimistic, but admitted the team would have to find further answers during the qualifying session. “So I have no doubt that we will move forward in the sprint race,” Russell said. “We need to try to overcome our predicament in qualifying. It’s always difficult to fight with the cars in front when you start from behind.”

Ultimately the team just needs to find more pace as they are currently behind the other top teams.

“I feel like we got everything out of the car, that’s our pace,” Hamilton admitted. “At the moment we have to accept that there is a seven-tenths difference.”

Photo credit: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images

Can Daniel Ricciardo break through?

Many drivers are starting to feel the pressure of the rapidly changing driver transfer market.

Among those drivers? Daniel Ricardo.

Ricciardo started the season as one of the drivers competing for the Red Bull seat alongside Verstappen in 2025. But after the first few race weekends the debate changed and instead of many fighting for a seat at Red Bull, Ricciardo was fighting for his very future in F1.

But Friday brought a moment of sunshine for the Australian driver.

Ricciardo advanced to SQ3 and when the dust settled he crossed the line in 4th place.

“Obviously I feel really good. It was a very good session,” Ricciardo said after sprint qualifying.

After the first few race weekends of the season, where Ricciardo struggled compared to teammate Yuki Tsunoda, the team made some changes to Ricciardo’s RB01 chassis ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix. These changes have given drivers even more confidence in the car. Aside from what happened with Lance Stroll, he followed up a great weekend in China with a great performance on Friday.

“I definitely felt a lot better in China. Yeah, I hope that’s where it starts,” Ricciardo told the media. SB Nation, Thursday. “But there’s a lot of feeling and comfort here, right? To be honest, once I went to the Chinese track, I felt like there was a little more leeway.

“So whether it’s maybe the physical changes that the chassis gave me, and it just allowed me to feel a little bit more of what the car was actually going to do. So that was good.”

What would be better?

His first points of the season are definitely within his reach considering where he started today.

“Of course I want to finish eighth or higher,” Ricciardo said on Friday. “We’re hoping to get some points out of there…I’m sure the second row will help our cause get some points.”

Growing pressure on Logan Sargent

On the other side of the grid this Saturday will be local hero Logan Sargent.

As rumors continue to circulate in the paddock about Sargent’s future, young and talented Andrea Kimi Antonelli He will be selected for the sergeant’s seat as soon as possible.the Williams driver is really fighting for his future.

At Friday’s FIA press conference, Williams team boss James Bowles downplayed the Antonelli rumors. However, in his denial, team principal Williams made it clear that Sargent would need to “earn his spot” to keep his spot.

“Let’s put it this way. I haven’t talked to Kimi since Abu Dhabi last year. I hope this gives you some context. I don’t know anything about what’s going on with Mercedes testing at the moment. Others Like everyone, we are looking at where we want to be in next year’s driver line-up and we have a young driver. [program]” Bolles said in response to a question from Scott Mitchell Malm. race. “In Kimi’s case, I can’t judge exactly what level he is at. If he gets into the car this year, as I’ve always said from the beginning, it’s a meritocracy. He has to earn a seat. And at the moment he has some tough goals that he has to get closer to Alex. But at the moment there are no plans for his replacement.”

Until that final point, Sargent finished ahead of teammate Alexander Albon in sprint qualifying. And he has two more sessions to make his case today, the F1 sprint race and qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix.

However, it certainly feels like the hands of the clock are moving forward.