REACTIONS: What teams had to say after Saturday in Miami

Max Verstappen grabbed his seventh consecutive grand prix pole, but Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were hot on heels F1Technical’s senior writer Balázs Szabó delivers what teams had to say after the second qualifying session of the weekend.

Red Bull had a clean Saturday in Miami. Max Verstappen complained about lack of grip, but he later realized that it was not down to any issues with his car, but the very challenging hot surface of the Miami track. The Dutchman had taken a controlled victory in the second sprint race of the season before he went on to secure pole position for the third Miami Grand Prix.

Sergio Perez started the 100km dash from third and ended there following a short battle with RB driver Daniel Ricciardo. The Mexican then displayed encouraging speed in the main qualifying session, but he was unable to beat the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

Max Verstappen – Sprint: 1st, Qualifying: 1st, 1:27.241

“The car felt better after the changes that we made, but we have found that there were quite a few combining factors that make it very tricky to drive around this track. It has been difficult over the weekend with the tyres, as they have quite low grip, overheat quickly and we have also struggled with the balance of the car. It has just been quite unpredictable, and everyone has found that it has been difficult to put a lap in.

“Despite this, ultimately the most important thing is that we put it on pole and that this is seven poles in a row, which is something to be proud of. We have the changes in place to make it more of a straightforward race tomorrow and it was good to get the win in the Sprint race earlier today too. Once the tyres stabilise in the race when they are hot, it will feel a bit more normal to drive. The strategy will be a bit simpler tomorrow, so hopefully that will bring my tyre degradation down too. We will see what the race brings.”

Sergio Perez – Sprint: 3rd, Qualifying: 4th, 1:27.460

“It was a very tricky session, it was all too much with the grip, it was too hot and too on the limit. We didn’t maximise the potential, I think we could have had a shot at pole but I made a mistake on my final lap at turn eight, which probably lost me the front row. Unfortunately, I am on the wrong side of the tenth today, but we go again tomorrow.

“We will analyse our session because we were fast and we had more than we showed. Other than that, I think everyone had the same struggles today, some laps I was struggling to match myself from Q1. It will be a very demanding race and quite a challenge in the heat but the pace is there and anything can happen. Hopefully the changes we made to the car today from the Sprint will translate into race pace.”

Ferrari had another brilliant day in Miami. Charles Leclerc’s costly mistake in Free Practice 1 is already a thing of the past as the Monegasque took an impressive second spot in the Miami F1 Sprint before securing the second starting position for Sunday’s race.

Carlos Sainz was unable to make inroads in the sprint, ending up fifth behind RB racer Daniel Ricciardo. However, the Spaniard bounced back in the main qualifying to take P3 for the third Miami F1 race.

Charles Leclerc – Sprint: 2nd Qualifying: 2nd, 1:27.382

“I was happy with the car, we didn’t change much since this morning, just did a bit of fine tuning, but overall we are in a good place. It was tricky to put together the lap and not many of us improved on that last timed lap in Q3, so P2 on the grid is not a bad result and we will push to fight for the win tomorrow.

“In the Sprint race I had quite a good start and then was on the inside for turn 1, but I didn’t want to take too many risks because of qualifying coming up later in the day. Both Max (Verstappen) and I braked late and eventually he kept his position but it was a good test and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Carlos Sainz – Sprint: 5th, Qualifying: 3rd, 1:27.455

“Overall we cannot be too disappointed with the result today. This track is always very tricky, slippery in some sectors and with the tyres on the verge of overheating. We are in a good position to fight with the Red Bulls and we’ll do everything we can to make the most of it in the race. Looking forward to tomorrow!”

There was so much promise on the opening day as McLaren literally displayed mouth-watering speed on Friday. The feeling was that Lando Norris might have had the speed to challenge Max Verstappen for pole position. However, the Briton made a costly mistake in sprint qualifying before having been forced to retire from the sprint following a first-turn incident.

The main qualifying was not much more successful either. Norris attempted a medium-tyre first run in Q3 before reverting to the soft compound. However, it was still not enough for him to qualify higher than P6, just a spot ahead of his team-mate Oscar Piastri.

Lando Norris – Sprint: DNF, Qualifying: 5th, 1:27.594

“I think it’s been a reasonable Qualifying. I probably couldn’t have asked for a lot more. The team did a great job to get the car back together after the Sprint, first of all, so thank you to them after the unfortunate incident we were involved in this morning.

“Otherwise, P5 and P6 is good for us as a team. I think that’s where we deserve to be and that’s all we had in the car today, so we maximised it and we’ll try to get a good amount of points tomorrow.”

Oscar Piastri – Sprint: 6th, Qualifying: 6th, 1:27.675

“I’m pretty happy with that. It felt like it was a good Qualifying session, and the car was consistent the whole way through. I don’t think there was too much more in it to be able to push us any further forward, so I am pleased. The team have done a good job so let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”

Mercedes had looked strong in the sole practice session on Friday before their speed faded later on. The Miami F1 Sprint saw the Brackley-based outfit fail to score a single point as George Russell finished down in P12 while his team-mate Lewis Hamilton was demoted from the last point-scoring place to P16 due to a time penalty that he received for speeding in the pit lane under safety car conditions.

The main qualifying saw the team lift their performance thanks to a change to a lower downforce rear wing. With the team suffering from overheating on the 47 degree Celsius surface, Russell and Hamilton elected to complete their final qualifying lap on the mediums instead of the softs. However, it was still only enough for the two British drivers to take a P7 and P8 for Sunday’s main race.

Lewis Hamilton – Sprint: 16th, Qualifying: 8th, 1:28.107

“Overall, it’s been a much more positive day than yesterday. That said, these tyres are so sensitive and trying to get them to work consistently lap-to-lap is a challenge. The track temperature and grip was similar throughout Qualifying but we still struggled to deliver the maximum potential on each lap. We had that glimpse of what was possible at the end of Q2, but we couldn’t deliver it in Q3. It’s an area we are focused on improving.

“I gave it everything in the Sprint; it was a tough battle out there. Contact is never intentional at the first corner, and I went for a gap. It closed quickly though and several of us connected. After that, I was fighting hard to get past the Haas of Magnussen, and I enjoyed the Racing. The penalty was unfortunate, and it was a shame that it cost us that final point.”

George Russell – Sprint: 12th, Qualifying: 7th, 1:28.067

“We were struggling throughout the whole of Qualifying to get the tyres into the right place. They work within a very small window, and we saw with Lewis in Q2 that, if we were able to get them in a better place, we had good speed. This is the same story for everyone though. We have to be realistic and, unless we get the perfect lap, P7 and P8 is about where our car is at currently. We know we have work to do and hopefully tomorrow will be better.

“In the Sprint earlier in the day, I made a good start but got caught on the outside and lost a few positions. After that, I was stuck in a DRS train, so it was quite a processional race. Hopefully we will have a better Grand Prix on Sunday and move forwards.”

RB displayed impressive speed on Saturday. Daniel Ricciardo had a brilliant start in the sprint to jump up to P3. Even if he was unable to keep Red Bull’s Sergio Perez behind, he finished third, scoring his first points of the season. The Australian then endured contrasting fortunes in the main qualifying session as he was knocked out right in Q1.

His team-mate Yuki Tsunoda had a great battle with Lewis Hamilton in the sprint race. Although he lost out to the Briton on final tour, he was promoted back to P8 after Hamilton was handed a time penalty for speeding in the pit lane under safety car conditions. The Japanese then went on to secure an excellent P10 on the grid for the Miami race.

Daniel Ricciardo – Sprint: 4th, Qualifying: 18th, 1:28.617

“t was a very tough Sprint race, but I felt awesome, fighting towards the front just feels so much nicer. I saw a Ferrari in the mirror for almost the whole race and I thought, alright, challenge accepted, let’s do what we can! Every lap I was able to hold off Carlos (Sainz), so when I saw the end of the race coming near, I really thought that maybe we could maintain the position. It was a Sprint race in all forms of the word and was without any tyre-saving. I’m proud of myself and the team, of all the people who stood behind me and believed in me. There’s happiness for sure, but also some powerful emotions, especially looking at the first few races of the season. Thanks to the people for having some patience and then being awarded with a result like this. We all deserve this result as we went through a bit of stuff to get here, so it’s even nicer.

“This is the sport, it’s highly unpredictable, and sometimes things can change so quickly, so at least we really enjoyed the morning with the team. Today’s afternoon was frustrating and obviously, I’m not happy with it as there’s a big contrast with what we achieved in the Sprint. I saw Lando’s lap in SQ3 yesterday, where he was struggling from the start of the lap, sliding everywhere with his rear with the softs, and honestly, I felt the same today. I started sliding out of Turn 1 and it just got worse and worse throughout the rest of the lap. There’s no real explanation right now.

“I feel that we have a good car, but I think that in the last run of Q1, the tyres were simply operating on a different level of grip. The warm-up lap was fine and also the team was happy with where the tyres were. We’ll definitely be looking at it tonight, to hopefully have an explanation. Tomorrow will be a long race, obviously starting last doesn’t help, but we’ll have a lot of laps trying to come through the field. I’ll put my head down for it!”

Yuki Tsunoda – Sprint: 8th, Qualifying: 10th, 1:28.192

“First of all, happy for the team, and congrats to them and Daniel for today’s Sprint race! For me, it’s very mixed feelings; I lost the battle against Lewis (Hamilton) in the end. If he didn’t get a penalty in the Sprint, I would be P9, and even though the final result was P8, he did a very good job of overtaking me. If I had defended better, I think I could’ve finished ahead of him at the chequered flag. It is frustrating as a driver to lose a battle, but I did enjoy it, and something I can learn from. As a driver, I’m not fully happy, but I’m happy to pay back to the team and score a point, especially after not being able to put it all together yesterday to extract the performance of the car.

“I’m happy I can start the race in the top 10, and a better position than in the Sprint. Qualifying wasn’t the best for me personally, but we still got to Q3. I never felt very proud of my lap, I didn’t make any big mistakes but I could’ve done better overall. It’s something else to learn for the future. The team did a fantastic job and I felt comfortable and confident in the car from FP1. Yesterday, I wasn’t able to extract the performance, but I’m happy because I feel I maximised the strong performance of the car more today. After today’s Sprint and our race performance, I’m looking forward to tomorrow!”

Nico Hulkenberg – Sprint: 7th, Qualifying: 9th, 1:28.146

“We had track position straight away, and that was really key for us today in the Sprint. I had the inside line into Turn 1 and managed to avoid problems. The group ahead of me was a bit faster, but towards the end once the race settled, we were pretty okay. In qualifying it was really tricky to string the perfect lap together, it’s a challenging track with the hot temperatures and the tyre getting hotter over the lap. Overall, it’s been a very positive Saturday, getting two points today, and they come at a premium for us and it’s quite nice to have them already. Of course, we’re going to push for more points tomorrow – it’s going to be a tight fight with the RB’s and everyone else behind us for sure.”

Kevin Magnussen – Sprint: 18th, Qualifying: 19th, 1:28.619

“I sound like a broken record every time after qualifying talking about traffic. I think we have a decent car so should be able to do something tomorrow, but I’m tired of starting from a bad position because of traffic. For now, it’s time to stay focused and do the job.”

Fernando Alonso – Sprint: 17th, Qualifying: 15th, 1:28.427

“It was a disappointing day for us. Firstly, there was the incident into Turn 1 at the start of the Sprint and then we had a difficult Qualifying session for tomorrow’s race. We struggled in Q1 and Q2 and finished in P15 in both sessions. I didn’t seem to have much pace and we were just outside of that group fighting for the top ten this time around. We made some set-up changes from the Sprint race to now and it seems these changes didn’t work. I think it will be a challenging race tomorrow, but we’ll analyse our performance tonight and try to recover some points.”

Lance Stroll – Sprint: DNF, Qualifying: 11th, 1:28.222

“It’s been a frustrating day on track. My Sprint event came to an end on the first lap after contact with other cars. It was an unfortunate incident, but there wasn’t a huge amount I could do. In Qualifying, the car just didn’t have the pace we needed. It was disappointing to miss out on Q3 by such small margins, but we were struggling to improve throughout Q2 and I didn’t have the confidence I needed in the car. We’ll try to find a little more pace for tomorrow’s race and hopefully we can fight for some points in Miami.”

Alpine has shown a clear improvement so far this weekend. The Anglo-French outfit posted encouraging lap times during the qualifying sessions, and even if Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon took only a P12 and P15 respectively, their upgraded car appears to be a step in the right direction following their dismal start to the 2024 season.

Esteban Ocon – Sprint: 15th, Qualifying: 13th, 1:28.371

“I would say it has not been the smoothest of days for us today. We had a misunderstanding at the beginning of the Sprint in the Pit Lane – a big and costly mistake – and the team and I will work hard to improve this type of thing. After that, it was a busy race but well outside the mix of the points as a result of the penalty.

“In Qualifying, we knew it was going to be a difficult session and we were again able to progress through Q2 but fell short of making it to Q3. The field is very close so we have to keep working on the things that will make us benefit next time. The aim is to fight and push forwards in the race and we will do everything we can tomorrow, getting as much out of the car as possible and, hopefully inside the points.”

Pierre Gasly – Sprint: 9th, Qualifying: 12th, 1:28.324

“There are plenty of positives and learnings to take as a team today. The upgrades we have on the car are clearly working in line with our expectations. In the Sprint, we finished in ninth place, which is the closest we have been to the points all season.

“Then, in Qualifying, we finished just one tenth from reaching Q3. We know where we are lacking and we have to try and improve these areas as the gaps in and around the top ten are so small. I had a very good feeling on my Q1 lap but then it felt different in Q2 so there are things to analyse and further understand. It does feel like progress and I’m aiming for the first points of the year in tomorrow’s race.”

Alex Albon – Sprint: 13th, Qualifying: 14th, 1:28.413

“Today was more about tyres than anything else. Even just now in my Qualifying laps, I’m having to do a lot of race management with the tyres and it’s like the quicker you drive the slower you end. The hot track temperatures seem to hurt us a little more when running lower downforce for better straight-line speed, so by turn 11, the tyres are gone. I locked up on the corner when the front tyres went off, and then the rears will go off the next corner, so it’s just a bit tricky. Let’s see what we can do from P14 tomorrow.”

Logan Sargeant – Sprint: 10th, Qualifying: 17th, 1:28.487

“When I look at yesterday, I knew we had the pace to get through to Q2 and I wanted to deliver that today. We executed our run plan well but it’s not easy when it’s extremely tight with one tenth separating several cars. I’m honestly happy with the changes we made to the car between sessions and how I drove. We’ll try to have another good race tomorrow taking any opportunity that comes our way. We have the pace and straight-line speed to keep a lot of people behind, so we need to give ourselves track position to make the most of it.”

Valtteri Bottas – Sprint: 14th, Qualifying: 16th, 1:28.463

“Nothing much happened to us during the Sprint this morning; I got stuck in a train right after the start, and that didn’t leave too much room to make progress throughout the laps. We used the Sprint to maximise our learnings in terms of setup, to come prepared for qualifying and the race. The resulting setup change made a difference, and the car definitely felt much better this afternoon.

“We had a clean first run, but then unfortunately got unlucky once again with some traffic on the second run. Still, we made a decent improvement through the weekend so far and got really close to the Q2 threshold – only missing out on it by just one hundredth. All in all, we still have a lot to play for tomorrow; our pace was decent today, and I’m positive that with a strong start and a good strategy, we can put ourselves in the battle for points.”

Zhou Guanyu – Sprint: 11th, Qualifying: 20th, 1:28.824

“The sprint race was quite uneventful for me: starting P17 meant that I was stuck in a DRS train where it was quite difficult to overtake, but we managed to make the most of other people’s mistakes. However, we’ve seen a promising progress compared to where we started the weekend in terms of race pace. This afternoon, unfortunately, the qualifying session ended earlier than we hoped, leaving me at the back of the grid for tomorrow’s race.

“I wasn’t able to get my last lap in with lots of cars trying to protect their positions – and even had to go side-by-side with Oscar [Piastri] into turn one, which cost me valuable time. If we had managed to have a clean final lap, we might have been able to fight for Q2. While the pace for single laps wasn’t there, the team will continue working hard, and I am positive that our race pace will allow us to make up some positions during the race, where fans will hopefully see some exciting overtakes.”