It’s Max Verstappen once again. On the Miami roulette wheel, the name that was missing yesterday in the pole position battle has appeared. The Dutchman today recovered with interest what he missed out on Friday, when he only finished in fourth place but with a larger gap than expected.
After a Sprint race that offered very few rewards, it was crucial to get back on track and return to the front, to put pressure on the two McLarens which, despite potentially having a better car, have repeatedly shown themselves to be vulnerable in qualifying, especially when the drivers fail to put everything together, just like what happened today.
Verstappen found those 65 thousandths, earning him his 43rd career pole position in a near-perfect lap, especially in the first sector, where the Red Bull seemed to be the benchmark for the entire weekend in high-speed corners. The RB21 performs best in high-speed corners, and it was there that Max Verstappen made his mark, gaining over two tenths on Norris, which ultimately was enough to make up for the time lost in the middle sector, the one where Max had struggled the most both yesterday and today.
In Q3, Verstappen first posted a time of 1’26”492, just a few thousandths ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. But then the Red Bull driver truly brought out the magic, setting the fastest time of the session with a 1’26”204, enough to fend off Norris’ final improvement, which was compromised by an overly aggressive approach to the inside curb of the last corner.
“It was a fantastic qualifying. We improved the car, which helped me get it to rotate a bit better. Honestly, in Q1, Q2, and Q3 we improved every lap, trying to get closer and closer to the limit.”
“I made a small mistake on the last lap at turn 1, so I lost a bit of time there. But it’s really tricky to manage the tires throughout the lap on this track. In the end, though, it went well, so I’m very happy to be on pole. I mean, you could also give up, but it’s qualifying: you have to try to correct the mistake and then just floor the throttle on the exit of the corner.”
“Let’s see about tomorrow’s race. The race pace, I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see what the weather will be like. It’s the best starting position, and that’s always positive. Then in the race, it’s a whole different story, but we’ll try to maximize everything we can,” the Dutchman added.
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