Ferrari Leads Red Bull in Tricky Miami GP Starting Grid as Redemption-Seeking Hamilton Eyes Second F1 Podium

The inaugural Miami GP has already moved to the last day of the weekend after a phenomenal Saturday Qualifying. The 2022 world championship leader Charles Leclerc ended up on pole, taking his third pole this season, while the defending champion finished third.

The Monegasque driver had a phenomenal qualifying session. Although the 2021 world champion closed in on Leclerc in Q3, he finished behind Carlos Sainz after a mistake during his flying lap.

Sainz also had a phenomenal qualifying, finishing second behind his teammate Leclerc. Meanwhile, Red Bull’s second driver Sergio Perez finished P4 behind Verstappen. Again, the Red Bull and Ferrari took the first two rows of the grid.

Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas reunite on the Miami GP grid

The seven-time world champion Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas started alongside each other all the time during their time in Mercedes. But after Bottas joined Alfa Romeo this season, it’s the second time the former teammates would be starting beside each other.

However, Hamilton could have missed out on this opportunity, struggling in Q1. Lewis Hamilton avoided elimination with a quick lap and eventually qualified P6 in the last qualifying session behind Bottas.

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Meanwhile, Hamilton’s new teammate George Russell failed to qualify top 10. The young Mercedes driver struggled with oversteer and could only secure P12. The Alfa Romeo rookie Guanyu Zhou took P17 after getting stuck in traffic during his flying lap.

Younger drivers dominating the veterans

The young blood performed better than the veteran driver in the Miami heat. The AlphaTauri duo finished in the top 10, Pierre Gasly securing P7 while Yuki Tsunoda took P9. Further, the Mclaren prodigy Lando Norris again outperformed his experienced teammate Daniel Ricciardo in Miami. Norris finished P8 while the Honey Badger took P14 because of gear-shift issues.

The Canadian driver, Lance Stroll outperformed his four-time world champion teammate. Stroll finished last in the top 10, while Sebastian Vettel took P13 after making a mistake at the chicane in Q2.

As for the American F1 team Haas, Mick Schumacher outperformed his Danish teammate for the first time this season. Kevin Magnussen has been finishing ahead of Mick in the last four races. But the tables turned in Miami as Schumacher took P15 while K-Mag at P16.

Alpine had a tough Saturday in Miami. Esteban Ocon missed the Qualifying after his crash in FP3. So Fernando Alonso was Alpine’s only hope in the qualifying. The two-time world champion missed out on the top 10 with a few seconds, finishing P11. Further, the Williams duo finished ahead of Ocon, Albon took P18, and Latifi secured P19.

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The starting grid for the inaugural Miami GP is set. Now, it would be interesting to see who ends up wherein the positions after the checkered flag in the main race.