The Max Verstappen of Red Bull caught the pole position for the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday with a fastest round of 1: 26.204 in qualification on Saturday. The Dutchman was 0.065 second in front of Lando Norris of McLaren with Kimi Antonelli, 18, from Mercedes impressing again while he was spreading in third place on the network. There was more disappointment for seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton in his first season with Ferrari because he was eliminated in the second quarter and the Briton will start in 12th place.
Verstappen’s aggressive approach in the first sector of his knees has borne fruit and gives him a chance for a third victory in four years in Miami.
“It was a great qualification. We also improved the car a small quantity. Q1, Q2, Q3 – simply improving each race, trying to find the limit. It worked well. I am very happy to be on the post,” said the Dutchman.
“The pace of the race, I don’t know, we have to wait and see with the weather, to be honest, the better it is. No one has really race with the race sprint here.”
The Dutchman announced on Friday that he had become a father for the first time with his girlfriend Kelly Piquet giving birth to their first daughter, Lily.
This has aroused certain expert speculations that he can slow down, reflecting a frequently heard of some in sport that drivers can lose their advantage with paternity.
It is not an opinion for which Dutch has a lot of time.
“I don’t listen to this kind of silly things,” he said.
“I’m just doing my thing. I think there are enough race pilots in the past who have been world champions even after having children. Honestly, I don’t even know where it comes from.”
A “maximum tour”
Norris, who won the race sprint earlier during the day to fill the gap on the championship chief and teammate Oscar Piastri, was disappointed not to grasp the post while seeking a rehearsal of his victory here last year but satisfied with his level of performance.
“I’m happy today, satisfied with the progress I made with the car and myself. Max has made a maximum turn, I cannot blame him. All this should, I could, I could not deliver again but the pace is good. I still haven’t assembled it,” he said.
“I don’t mind if it’s dry or wet, I will be ready for both.”
Antonelli, who has become the youngest driver to take the post in any F1 race after seizing the upper position for the sprint race, has once shown its speed and its potential.
Although he is unable to get the most out of his position in the sprint, finishing seventh, he is clearly in a confident mood.
“This weekend is going well so far. A little disappointing this morning, but good to bounce back in this way. I had a little trouble qualitable, I did not have a clean turn like yesterday. It is really a question of assembling everything and so far this weekend, I do this,” said the driver born in Bologna.
Charles Leclerc de Ferrari was an eighth eighth disappointing, having never challenged for the first row, and he could not hide his emotions.
“The feeling is not great. But it’s like that. It’s just frustrating because when you do your best and the best is P8, with a Ferrari, it hurts and the two Williams in front of us, I made no mistakes … We are just not fast enough,” he said.
Adding to the misfortunes of Scuderia – Hamilton did not even reach the last session.
“We will continue to try. We are only six races, but we have trouble,” said the British pilot who left Mercedes during the dead.
“We are trying our best not to make big configuration changes, but no matter what we do, it’s so incoherent each time we go out.
“We have brake problems, problems with this instability with which we have trouble and we are generally not fast enough. The simple fact of going to Q3 is difficult for us.”
(With the exception of the title, this story has not been published by NDTV staff and is published from a unionized flow.)
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