|
THE ROAD TO
POLE
* Red Bull’s Sergio Perez claimed pole for the Miami Grand Prix with a time
of 1m26.841s on a new set of P Zero Red soft tyres: a benchmark that was
nearly two seconds faster than last year’s pole time. Aston Martin’s
Fernando Alonso was three-tenths slower in second, while Ferrari’s Carlos
Sainz was third on a 1m27.349s, ahead of Haas driver Kevin Magnussen. Alonso
and Magnussen set their best times on a used set of softs.
* Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who claimed pole in Miami last year, lost
control of his car in the closing minutes of Q3 and hit the Turn 7 barriers:
the same part of the track where he had a problem in FP2 yesterday. The
session consequently finished early, as there was no longer enough time for
the other nine competitors on track to set a flying lap.
* Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was the fastest driver on track today, even
though he will start tomorrow’s race from ninth place on the grid. The
reigning world champion set the best time of the day in Q2: 1m26.814s.
Verstappen was also fastest in FP3 today with a time of 1m27.535s: 0.406s
quicker than Leclerc in second, while Perez was third on a 1m28.050s. The
teams mainly ran using the soft tyre in FP3, with grip consistently
improving.
* The C4 proved strong performance even after several laps on the smooth
asphalt of the Miami Autodrome.
* In FP3 (from 12:30 to 13:30) track temperatures peaked at 54 degrees
centigrade with 33 degrees ambient. Conditions were cooler later in the
afternoon with a minimum track temperature of 39 degrees, while ambient
temperatures varied only by a few degrees.
* The Pirelli Pole Position Award was given to Perez by DJ Tiësto. The
electronic dance music producer and Grammy Award winner was classified at
the head of the ‘Top 100 DJs’ ranking by DJ magazine for three consecutive
years. His latest album is called ‘Drive’. |
|
STRATEGY
NOTEBOOK:
As was the case last year, the fastest race strategy is a one-stopper,
starting on P Zero Yellow medium and switching to P Zero White hard between
laps 12 and 20. A two-stopper is also worth considering: starting on the
medium, switching to hard between laps 10 and 16, and finishing on the soft
from laps 35 to 43. An alternative could be with the soft for the last 11 to
16 laps of the race. The teams will have to consider the strong possibility
of a safety car, given that the last Miami Grand Prix was stopped twice as
well as the weather. with a high chance of rain also during the race
tomorrow.
MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF F1 AND CAR RACING
“Qualifying was both exciting and dramatic, with a distinctly
Spanish-speaking flavour to the top three: Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso and
Carlos Sainz. As expected, pole was a lot faster than last year when Miami
made its debut, with an improvement of nearly two seconds (1.955s to be
exact) that might have been even bigger had the final runs of Q3 taken
place. The softs showed good performance: they were quick not only on the
first flying lap but were also able to recover grip after one or two
cool-down laps, giving drivers the chance to improve their positions. The
data collected so far suggests that a one stopper from medium to hard is the
best theoretical way to run the race. The slight shortening of the pit lane
opens up the possibility of a two-stopper, but we’ve also seen a bit of
graining on the softs over long runs. This is the case if the weather
remains stable, but forecasts indicate that rain could come into play on
Sunday, either before or during the race. And as everyone knows, if it
rains, anything can happen…” |
