Charles Leclerc led Q1, Q2 and Q3 as he stormed to pole position for the inaugural Miami Grand Prix.
Qualifying became a three-horse race between the two Ferraris and Max Verstappen for P1, but it was the team in red who got it right on the final runs to lock out the front row for Sunday.
Q1
Leclerc led Verstappen by 0.3s at the front as lap times improved significantly in the first run of the session.
Lewis Hamilton found himself under pressure in 18th entering the final minutes, requiring an extra set of tyres to ensure his safe passage into Q2.
A big improvement on that second run x LH and he’s into P5 and powers into Q2.
George is shuffled down to P9 but he’s through after those strong early laps. pic.twitter.com/1ehoAId3hn
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 7, 2022
With teammate Esteban Ocon already starting last after crashing in practice, Fernando Alonso also needed a late flier to get through in the Alpine.
His lap though demoted Kevin Magnussen to 16th and out for Haas at their home race, the first time he has been out-qualified by teammate Mick Schumacher this season.
Zhou Gunayu was forced to abandon his final lap due to traffic, leaving the Chinese driver in 17th. The two Williams’ were slowest in 18th and 19th in a disappointing result after Alex Albon had been in the top 10 in FP3.
Q2
There was no change at the top with Leclerc quickest but less than a tenth clear of Verstappen.
Behind, however, the times were incredibly close with just 0.3s covering P8 to P14 and less than 0.1s from P10 to P13.
The biggest elimination was George Russell in 12th for Mercedes as he was caught out by a flurry of late improvements.
Fernando Alonso could do no better than P11 with Sebastian Vettel, like Russell, caught out by being one of the earlier runners as he dropped to 13th.
Daniel Ricciardo was only 14th, six-tenths slower than teammate Lando Norris as Mick Schumacher completed the top 15.
Q3
Verstappen was fastest on the first run, just 0.08s ahead of the two Ferraris in second and third.
But on the final laps, the Scuderia pounced with Leclerc storming to pole position by almost two-tenths from teammate Carlos Sainz.
Team work makes the dream work!
It’s 1-2! ??
Let’s see out the job tomorrow ?#essereFerrari ? #MiamiGP @Charles_Leclerc @Carlossainz55 pic.twitter.com/n0B5PYsupz
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) May 7, 2022
A mistake in sector one denied the world champion a chance to improve as Max dropped to P3 ahead of Sergio Perez in the sister Red Bull.
Valtteri Bottas produced a great session to finish ‘best of the rest’ in fifth for Alfa Romeo, a tenth-and-a-half up on former teammate Hamilton in sixth.
Pierre Gasly improved to seventh ahead of Norris and AlphaTauri teammate Yuki Tsunoda. Lance Stroll rounded out the top 10 for Aston Martin.
Full results from qualifying can be seen below:
? QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION ?
A @ScuderiaFerrari 1-2 for qualifying! ?#MiamiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/XHfE3J57Bg
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 7, 2022
