Verstappen, pole for master sprint in Miami; Sainz and Alonso have to come back

He is the great favorite. He won four of the first 5 races of the championship and the sprint event of the China. And this Saturday, he will look for a new victory in the weekend’s short race (6:00 pm/DAZN), before the evening classification (10:00 pm/DAZN). Max Verstappen He is the man to beat. He has not achieved pole position in the two times this new race has been held. Miami GP within Hard Rock Stadium. And in the absence of finding it this Saturday, this Friday he was able to start removing the thorn. The three-time F1 world champion did not have to return to the sprint race as it happened China, where Norris achieved the best time. This Friday, Lando Norriswith a McLaren with many evolutions, it melted again at the decisive moment after leading SQ2 (he was 9th) and Verstappen He did the opposite, he grew like a champion as he pushed the steering wheel to take pole position in the sprint.

He did it before a great Charles Leclerc, who once again showed his immense talent at one time. he’Principino‘He missed the only free practice session due to a spin he could have avoided and went blindly out of the weekend’s short qualifying session, establishing the starting order for this Saturday’s sprint race, which in turn distributes points for the first 8 . And despite this, Charles made a mistake in a great last turn that put him second at 0″108, separating the two Red Bulls, with ‘Checo’ Pérez in third position at 0″235. Leclerc’s challenge ahead of him was not easy, but in one turn he was back behind the Dutchman.

Final results of the Miami GP sprint classification:

1. Max Verstappen (Ned/Red Bull) 1:27.641
2. Charles Leclerc (Mon/Ferrari) 1:27.749
3. Sergio Pérez (Mex/Red Bull) 1:27.876
4. Daniel Ricciardo (Aus/RB) 1:28.044
5. Carlos Sainz (Esp/Ferrari) 1:28.103
6. Oscar Piastri (Aus/McLaren) 1:28.161
7. Lance Stroll (Can/Aston Martin) 1:28.375
8. Fernando Alonso (Esp/Aston Martin) 1:28.419
9. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren) 1:28.472
10. Nico Hulkenberg (Ale/Haas) 1:28.476
11. George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) 1:28.343
12. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1:28.371
13. Esteban Ocon (Fra/Alpine) 1:28.379
14. Kevin Magnussen (Din/Haas) 1:28,614
15. Yuri Tsunoda (Jap/RB) 1:28,687
16. Pierre Gasly (Fra/Alpine) 1:29.185
17. Guanyu Zhou (Chn/Kick Sauber) 1:29.267
18. Valtteri Bottas (Fin/Kick Sauber) 1:29.360
19. Logan Sargeant (USA/Williams) 1:29.551
20. Alexander Albot (Tai/Williams) 1:29.858

Can Leclerc compete with Max in the sprint race?

Now, the question is to see if Leclerc and his Ferrari They have enough speed to make things difficult for the mighty Max and his rocket. red bull. The Ferrari pilot was struggling. It will be more difficult Carlos Sainz finished 5th at 0”462, surpassed by a great Daniel Ricciardo with its VisaCashApp (4th with the old Toro Rosso).

In its part, Fernando Alonso was 8th 0.734 off the best time in a classification where he barely touched one of the walls in the first minutes take a walk (7th), something that doesn’t usually happen and indicates that this is not his best day.

Max hits his last ‘bullet’

On a circuit where overtaking is easy, perhaps too easy thanks to DRS, Leclerc He needs to attack from the start in this Saturday’s sprint race if he wants to be in doubt Max.

So far, this Friday’s short classification is very close Verstappen like Above all, the battle to be in the top 10 was very tight. In fact, the big surprise of the day came from the two Mercedes, who were unable to advance in the final session, relegated to SQ2. George Russell He was 11th, 0.7 off that session’s best, just 13 thousandths from the cut. He stayed behind hamilton (12th), after touching one of the walls a little in his last attempt.

The final battle remains, with Sainz and Alonso within the Top-10, a Norris very fast and the same red bull on sightseeing Everything will be decided in one turn. The drivers chose to exit the track at the end due to the asphalt improvement. A bullet. Just one bullet will decide the starting grid for this Saturday’s sprint race. And Max strikes again.