Leclerc clinches pole position in Miami after tense qualifying session

Both AlphaTauri drivers reached Q3, along with Lance Stroll providing further evidence the field is closer together in 2022. Though the top two teams are around one full second ahead of the rest. Valtteri Bottas also made a return to Q3 in his Alfa Romeo. After the first run, the top three drivers were seperated by just 0.080 seconds. Verstappen led the way, with Sainz and Leclerc breathing down his neck. 

Leclerc and Sainz pushed ahead in the final lap. It was looking like Sainz would secure his first pole position, but a slower third sector meant Leclerc took the spoils. 

Two weeks on from missing out on their first Q3 session for almost 10 years, Hamilton managed one of his best qualifying results on the season. With the Miami circuit requiring less downforce, porpoising became less of a problem for the German team who are equipped with upgrades. Though the car proved very difficult to drive with both Hamilton and Russell fighting hard.

Formula 1 is visting Miami for the very first time. In 2022, the United States will host two Grands Prix with the second taking place at the back-end of the schedule. Qualifying presented the first meaninful session of action on the circuit that surronds the Hard Rock Stadium. 

QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION

A @ScuderiaFerrari 1-2 for qualifying! #MiamiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/XHfE3J57Bg

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 7, 2022

Q1 

Esteban Ocon couldn't take part in qualifying after a crash in the third free practice session. Alpine confirmed a crack in the chassis and therefore were unable to get the car prepared in time, but will race on Sunday. This meant only four drivers were going to be dropped. After the first set of laps, the two Williams drivers sat in the drop zone along with Pierre Gasly and Valtteri Bottas. Bottas managed to escape before too long, and his former teammate Hamilton replace him. 

With a fresh set of tyres, Hamilton moved up the timesheet to remove the danger. The two Williams drivers failed to improve signficantly enough. Guanyu Zhou got held up in bad traffic and therefore couldn't find the lap time required. They were joined by Haas' Kevin Magnussen. At the top of the timesheet, Red Bull initially ruled the roost at the top before Leclerc increased the pace. McLaren proved they could be in a chance of a second row start. 

Out - P20 Ocon, P19 Latifi, P18 Albon, P17 Zhou, P16 Magnussen

Q2

After the first run of laps, Stroll and Schumacher sat in the danger zone along with Vettel and Ricciardo. Russell failed to record a time in the opening part, with the Mercedes car struggling at the rear. In the opening sector of his lap, the Brit had to take action to avoid a crash with the wall. The car bounced badly off the kerbs which meant he pulled out. 

At the second time of asking, Russell moved up to P7 but a slow middle sector left a question mark hanging over his head. The question was answered when Norris, Stroll and Tsunoda pulled out quicker laps. Vettel, in P13 missed out on Q3 by less than one tenth of a second. 

Out - P15 Schumacher, P14 Ricciardo, P13 Vettel, P12 Russell, P11 Alonso