A Red Bull – Ferrari – Red Bull top three on a Formula 1 grid might seem ordinary at first, but the sprint qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix had plenty of surprises. From the Ferrari on the front row having missed most of practice due to a blunder to the polesitter calling his Red Bull “pretty terrible,” there was much to unpack. Add to that a McLaren driver who was a strong contender for pole but lost it, and a Red Bull driver who, just a few races ago, seemed on the brink of losing his seat but secured a spot on row two. Here are the winners and losers from an unusual Friday in Miami.
Loser: Lando Norris
Lando Norris’ pattern of throwing away strong qualifying results is becoming a concern. He looked incredibly fast in SQ1 and SQ2 in the upgraded McLaren—so much so that Zak Brown referred to it as “almost a B-spec” car. But when it mattered most, Norris failed to deliver, again.
Granted, the conditions in SQ3 were challenging— the track was hot, and the C4 Pirellis were underperforming. Yet eight other drivers, including his teammate Oscar Piastri (who had fewer upgrades and a built-in two-tenths-per-lap disadvantage, according to Brown), did better.
These “silly mistakes” are cropping up too often for a driver with such high potential. As McLaren team principal Andrea Stella suggested last year, Norris might need to dial it back a bit to avoid errors on the limit. Pole was within reach, but Norris missed the opportunity. — Ben Anderson
Winner: Charles Leclerc
A remarkable turnaround by Charles Leclerc after a blunder in FP1 that disrupted most of his practice time. He outpaced his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz in SQ3 and emerged as the closest challenger to Max Verstappen.
Leclerc’s performance was evidence of his exceptional one-lap skill, despite a lackluster start to the 2024 qualifying sessions. Few other drivers can deliver solid laps in challenging conditions like he can. The margin by which Leclerc beat Sainz—0.354 seconds, the largest gap between the two Ferrari drivers this season—highlights the difference in their performances. Although tyre warm-up issues and a Sainz mistake at Turn 17 contributed to the margin, Leclerc was consistently ahead throughout qualifying. — Josh Suttill
Loser: Mercedes
Despite introducing the second-largest car upgrade for this race (after McLaren), Mercedes’ performance on Friday suggested otherwise. Both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were eliminated in SQ2, beaten by Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull and Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas.
The W15 looked unstable, with Hamilton struggling in the low-speed section leading onto the back straight—missing apexes and even hitting the wall. The car had neither front-end grip nor traction, which also caused Russell to slide through Turn 5. The updates didn’t seem to improve the car’s balance or performance in high-grip conditions.
Mercedes was relatively stronger during the low-grip conditions in FP1, but as the track became faster, the team regressed. — Ben Anderson
Winner: Lance Stroll
A rare intra-team victory for Lance Stroll helped break his recent slump and edged out his Aston Martin teammate, Fernando Alonso. Alonso’s post-session comments—suggesting that the sprint “means nothing” and implying a general dissatisfaction—hinted that he wasn’t in high spirits. In contrast, Stroll’s seventh-place finish and intra-Aston Martin win could signal a turnaround, marking his first points in over a month. — Josh Suttill
Loser: Valtteri Bottas
Valtteri Bottas had a rough sprint qualifying session, clashing with Oscar Piastri in the first segment, adding to a difficult weekend that included a sudden change in his race engineering team. The abrupt personnel shift, combined with Sauber/Audi’s signing of Nico Hulkenberg (a threat to Bottas’ future in F1), seemed to unsettle him.
Sauber’s performance didn’t help, with Zhou Guanyu outpacing Bottas in both practice and qualifying. Both drivers were tweaking their cars in a desperate attempt to find more pace, but it didn’t seem to work for Bottas. The weekend could turn around by Sunday, but the start was anything but promising. — Valentin Khorounzhiy
