Highest uncertainty for Miami classification

Now the session of Miami F1 GP classification (10:00 pm / DAZN F1). At stake, the first pillar of this new appointment in Florida. Whoever receives it, will smile and release all the tension experienced in a session that seems exciting and unpredictable. If anything was clear on Friday, including the misunderstanding in the first two Free Sessions, it was the more unexpected things that could happen in Miami than on the other tracks. Nothing can be taken for granted. Drivers have a hard time adapting to a complex track, full of traps, where it’s hard to find the perfect balance in car settings. And on a track with no room for mistakes, delays can mark ‘worthy’ now.

1. Interruptions

Yesterday it was Bottas who stopped FP1. Then Sainz in Free Practice 2. Or Verstappen and Latifi because of a car problem. In Miami, no matter how close the walls are, any vehicle that stops on the track is synonymous with a red flag.

2. Priority: an early period

For this reason, one of the keys to sorting this Saturday is to set a competitive time as soon as possible at the beginning of each session so as not to run the risk of running out of time to make it to the end.

Especially, it will be important to do so in Q3. After what happened last year in Monaco and Baku, or just a few weeks ago in Imola, when some drivers who had already won the time trial at the start of Q3 (Norris and Magnussen), collapsed and damaged the classification of some of their opponents. in their subsequent attempts, in Q3 it will be absolutely key to set a good time on the starting table.

To do this, another key is finding a good space to exit the track. The area is very narrow from turn 11 to 16. At some points only one car passes by. So finding traffic in the middle of a fast lap at that point is synonymous with aborting your attempt.

3. Circuit of hands and confidence

The rest is in your hands. Drivers will have a time in Free Practice 3 to continue to have confidence. It’s a track of hands, but also of guts, like Monaco. The line between lofty and accident is very fine. Any mistake is paid and that can also cost more than one.

To be as fast as possible on these types of tracks, it is more important than ever to have confidence in the car. For this, it is important to press the balance key of the car. Many will bet on fine-tuning their configuration in Free Practice 3. On a track with such fast sectors (there are 3 DRS zones), but at the same time with such slow zones (from turn 11 to 16) and narrow, with the walls glued together, finding the right balance is very complicated.

4. The soft tire and the importance of ‘fitting it’

With all of this, pilots will need to continue to work on understanding tire wear for this Sunday’s strategy, and understand soft tire behavior to figure out how to heat it up and how to attack ’ worthy’. This is especially important for everyone in qualifying, but on this track it can be more. Many drivers are confident that on Sunday, with 3 DRS zones, many will overtake. Others do not. And just in case, the position on the grid will be very important.

5. What if it rains?

To all of this, we must add the chances of rain. Good combination for the first pole fight in Miami that can be exciting. And if that doesn’t seem to be enough, we should add the doubts they have raised Verstappen, for his reliability problems on Friday; What you can do sainz after his accident in Free Practice 2; whether Mercedes has taken a step forward enough to fight for pole position; or if Alonso can fight to climb another track with two long straight.