It was a day of extremes for Max Verstappen, who was classified last in the Sprint race because of a penalty for an error that was not really his fault, and then went on to set the fastest time in qualifying for the Grand Prix in his Red Bull. This was the third pole of the season for the man who has just become a father to baby Lilly, his second in a row both this year and at this circuit, as well as the 43rd of his career. His best time of 1’26”204 is a new outright lap record for the Miami International Autodrome circuit.
McLaren’s Lando Norris (1’26”269) will start alongside Verstappen, securing his place on the front row with a time just two thousandths of a second quicker than Andrea Kimi Antonelli, third for Mercedes in 1’26”271. Current leader of the Drivers’ championship, Oscar Piastri is fourth in 1’26”375 in the other McLaren. The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented to Verstappen by Brunello Cucinelli, a symbol of Italian fashion around the world, through the eponymous brand he established at just 25 years of age and best known for its cashmere products. Cucinelli is a proponent of the “humanistic capitalism” business model which combines profitability with human dignity to build a beautiful, ethical and sustainable economy.
McLaren scored a one-two finish in the Sprint, with Norris ahead of Piastri, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton completed the podium trio. This was the English McLaren driver’s second win in a Sprint, the fourth for the Woking squad.
The Sprint was conditioned by heavy rain that fell before the start, while later the track surface pretty quickly dried out. It produced a race where the Intermediate tyres were used for two thirds distance, although Sainz (Williams) gambled on Extreme Wets at the start, but a red flag and the delayed restart saw him also switch to the green-banded intermediates, followed later by slicks. Of the eighteen drivers who saw the chequered flag – Leclerc was a non-starter and Alonso ended up in the barriers – four of them, Norris, Hamilton, Verstappen and Doohan, drove their final stint on Softs while the rest ran Mediums.
The C5 was the only tyre used in qualifying, with almost all drivers making their first run in Q1 on a used set. The set that had seen the most action belonged to Verstappen, the reigning world champion using it in FP1 and in the closing stages of the Sprint.
Max Verstappen – Pole
“To achieve pole today was unexpected. We put the lap together and didn’t make too many mistakes so that was really positive. The day didn’t start that well and the Sprint was not good for us. There wasn’t much we could do after the penalty, so you just have to refocus and do your best in Qualifying and we went from last to first within the day. We had adjusted the car a little bit beforehand and in each Qualifying session we just chipped away at it a bit more. I think we can still improve on the slow speed and I do think that we are not the quickest over a lap but we managed to put it together, which is the most important thing in Qualifying. When you arrive to the track you go to race mode and of course, I’m very happy about achieving pole. At the end of the day it is all a Team effort; you have to look at every single detail and we are really trying our best with the car. Looking to tomorrow, in the dry we wouldn’t have that same pace but in the wet a lot of things can happen, but we need to be on it. We have some decent pace, but we need to maximise everything that we can. We will see what we can do.”
Mario Isola – Pirelli Director of Motorsport
“A very busy qualifying session, featuring a very close fight for the top places, with the top three drivers, from three different teams, separated by just 67 thousandths of a second, showing how closely matched are the cars this season.
“The Sprint was also action-packed, mainly due to the weather. The heavy rain that fell before the start meant that the Intermediate was the only choice. Once a dry racing line began to appear, these tyres started to wear a lot, especially the front right and the lap times got significantly slower. The switch to slicks immediately proved to be the way to go, to the extent that eventually the entire field pitted for dry tyres, including those at the front who had built up a good margin over their pursuers.
“This could be a factor to consider for tomorrow if it were to rain again. In that situation, drivers will have to be very careful in managing the Intermediates. If the race is run in the dry, the small amount of data gathered yesterday and today, with just one free practice session and the Sprint run almost entirely in the wet, only serves to consolidate the strategy forecasts from before the weekend. Despite the move to a trio of compounds one step softer than in 2024, the one stop is on paper, the quickest, with Medium and Hard as the obvious choices. Nine of the ten teams – Racing Bulls being the exception – have kept two sets of C3 per driver, not necessarily with the intention of using both in the race, but to have a backup in case of safety cars or red flags, something which is far from unlikely at this track.”
F1 Academy
Doriane Pin made the most of all her experience to win a chaotic Race 1, which featured no fewer than three safety car periods. The Frenchwoman, from the Mercedes-Prema team, crossed the finish line ahead of the English driver Alisha Palmowski (Red Bull-Campos) and the American Chloe Chambers (Red Bull Ford-Campos), the latter having secured pole position in the morning, which will see her start at the front of the field in Race 2. She was presented with her Pole Position Award by the surfer Anastasia Electra Ashly. Today’s win sees Pin close to just one
