Signs of life in Miami
Formula 1 shows signs of life and awakening starting from Miami. Qualifying offers uncertainty until Q3, with an alternation of favorites. McLaren, dominant in the Sprint, does not shine as it has so far. The greater suspension stiffness of the long race setup seems to put the car a bit more in trouble, as does the wind, which seems to create a particularly marked aerodynamic imbalance. The new aerodynamic package brought to the track by the Woking team certainly works, but it seems not to yet have all the stability and high energy requirements needed to dominate in all conditions, and in the end Norris has to settle for fourth place.
Read more Non-compliant floor: Hajdar’s Red Bull facing disqualification
Fabulous Kimi
On pole instead returns Mercedes, and it is for the third time in a row that of Kimi Antonelli. But if the Brackley car is definitely fast, in this pole there is a lot of the Italian driver. Even four tenths ahead of Russell, only fifth in the standings, a single attempt made and a session lived with increasing momentum and great personality, as well as the ability to place the best lap when it really counted, that is in Q3. The young Italian then appeared calm and more disappointed for the final lap lost for pushing too hard than happy for the pole. These are all signs of an increasingly aware and determined Antonelli, who really pulled out a remarkable talent shot, also giving a not insignificant slap to his teammate, as well as rival in the title race. The road for Antonelli is still very long and will probably go through a wet race and a start that he will have to find a way to make work, but in any case, starting from pole could not be better.
Verstappen like in 2022
For the first time this year, however, Antonelli will not share the front row with George Russell, but with a rediscovered Max Verstappen. The updates on the RedBull work and the heat has made the session more selective also from the point of view of tire exploitation. The overall balance of the car has definitely improved, with a suspension setup that appeared softer than the competition, helping a lot in the slow section of the track. The new energy rules, combined with the favorable Miami circuit, have then restored importance to braking ability, and Verstappen (together with Leclerc) immediately emerged. As already said before, the impression is of a Verstappen who again has a well-balanced car in his hands and who manages to bring it to the limit despite having less aerodynamic load than competitors to manage, as we have seen him do many times in his career, but especially in the first half of 2022.
Read more Verstappen: “Being on the front row is incredible, I just hope I can race despite the rain”
Ferrari good behavior but missing “the extra gear”
As for the Maranello team, Leclerc remains a beacon in every session. We saw the Monegasque’s data showing some suffering throughout the qualifying session in the very slow section, but right at the start of Q3 Leclerc found one of his “magic” laps, ending up leading both in the twisty and the fast sections. The car’s responses seemed more unpredictable, also listening to Leclerc’s words, but this also fits with a stiffer suspension setup to compensate for the fuel weight in the long race. Ferrari’s real problem continues to be the Power Unit, with Leclerc himself saying about the competition “they come into Q3 with another gear and we don’t have this extra gear… for now.” The graph clearly shows Leclerc’s need to do harvesting, like Verstappen, in the first sector, but without returning enough energy to lead compared to, for example, Verstappen. Also from the data, the impression is that Norris mismanaged the energy of the last lap, with a noticeable drop on the second return straight.
Wet race and unknowns
For the race, the unknowns this time are countless: rain is certain in Miami, unlike the actual start time. Everything is on the table to discover, especially in terms of race pace. There are four different cars in the top 4 positions, something we would not have expected so early and which encourages good hopes for the race, with many open themes. Also in this case, the prediction is therefore not obvious, and that is already great news.
Read more Irregular power unit, Bortoleto disqualified from the Sprint
