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Tag: F1
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Lando Norris wins Dutch Grand Prix ahead of Verstappen and Leclerc
Zandvoort (The Netherlands) 25 August 2024: Lando Norris ended Max Verstappen’s home dominance with a crushing Dutch Grand Prix victory that saw the McLaren driver beat the Red Bull Racing by almost 23 seconds, as Charles Leclerc claimed a seventh podium finish of the season with third place.
For a brief period after the start Norris’ second win of the season looked in doubt. Verstappen reacted quickest to the lights going out and on the short run to Turn 1 he passed the Briton to steal an early lead and a potential fourth successive win at his home grand prix.
However, Verstappen was unable to carve out a lead and on lap 18 Norris closed in under DRS on the pit straight to reclaim the lead. And with clean air ahead the McLaren driver stretched his legs to eventually take the chequered flag with 22.8 seconds in hand over his title rival.
“It feels amazing, yeah, once again,” said Norris afterwards. “I wouldn’t say a perfect race, because of lap one again, but afterwards it was beautiful. The pace was very strong. The car was unbelievable today, so I could get comfortable, I could push and get past Max, which was the main thing, and just go from there.”
Behind the top two at the start, Mercedes’ George Russell beat McLaren’s Oscar Piastri to the punch to steal third place, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc also gained a place, blasting around the outside of Sergio Pérez in the second Red Bull to take fifth place.
At the front Verstappen succeeded in breaking the DRS gap to Norris and over the first handful of laps eked out an 1.2s advantage over the McLaren man.
However, after dropping back from the dirty air behind Verstapen, Norris began to close in, and on lap 15 the McLaren driver was suddenly back in DRS range. Verstappen, meanwhile, was reporting that his tyres were “numb, they don’t grip” and that handed Norris the opportunity he required and on lap 18, with the aid of DRS, he powered past the Red Bull driver to reclaim the lead and with pace in abundance he quickly built up an almost six-second gap to the Dutchman.
Behind the leading pair, Russell was now over six seconds adrift in third, with fourth-placed Piastri coming under increasing pressure from Leclerc and with Pérez still locked in sixth place.
With Verstappen steadily losing ground, Red Bull pulled the trigger on his sole pit stop at the end of lap 27. With new Hard tyres on board he rejoined in fifth place, behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. McLaren reacted immediately and Norris headed into the pit lane at the end of the following lap. And after his switch to the C1 compound he emerged in P4, five seconds ahead of the Red Bull driver.
Piastri was the last of the frontrunners to pit, at the end of lap 33. And after fitting a set of C1 Hard tyres, the Australian rejoined in fifth, just behind Russell. He soon dismissed the Mercedes driver but though he closed in on Leclerc, he couldn’t find a way past the Ferrari man.
Pérez was now coming under pressure from the increasingly pacy Sainz and on lap 45 the Ferrari driver attacked. The Spaniard was twice frustrated by the Mexican’s robust defending, but at the third time of asking Sainz used DRS and a late-braking lunge to get past the Mexican into Tarzan on lap 48.
At the front, Norris was pulling away from Verstappen and with 20 laps left the Red Bull man was 14.5s off the lead. Behind him Leclerc’s battle with Piastri was helping, however, and the Ferrari and McLaren drivers were now over six seconds adrift in third and fourth respectively.
On lap 55, Mercedes pitted Russell for a set of used Soft tyres, with the Mercedes driver charged with using the pace of the C3 tyres to haul his way back past Pérez, who had been boosted to sixth again. The gamble failed to pay off, however, and both two-stopping Mercedes drivers soon found their Soft tyres going off.
At the front, Norris was in cruise control and after 72 largely smooth and comfortable laps the Briton powered past the chequered flag to take the second win of his career. The victory and the point for the fastest lap he set on the final tour, mean that Norris now has 225 points, 70 behind championship leader Verstappen.
Behind the top two, Leclerc kept Piastri at bay to take his seventh podium finish of 2024. Sainz took fifth for Ferrari and Pérez held firm in sixth to Red Bull’s overall points tally to 434, 30 clear of McLaren with Ferrari a further 34 points back in third. Behind Pérez, Russell led home team-mate Hamilton, Pierre Gasly secured ninth for Alpine and the final point went to Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix – Race
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 72 1:30’45.519
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 72 1:31’08.415 22.896
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 72 1:31’10.958 25.439
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 72 1:31’12.856 27.337
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 72 1:31’17.656 32.137
6 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 72 1:31’25.061 39.542
7 George Russell Mercedes 72 1:31’30.136 44.617
8 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 72 1:31’35.118 49.599
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 71 1:30’54.123 1 lap /8.604
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 71 1:30’59.052 1 lap /13.533
11 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 71 1:31’04.733 1 lap /19.214
12 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 71 1:31’06.586 1 lap /21.067
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 71 1:31’11.231 1 lap /25.712
14 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 71 1:31’26.230 1 lap /40.711
15 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 71 1:31’32.397 1 lap /46.878
16 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 71 1:31’50.058 1 lap /1’04.539
17 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 71 1:31’50.665 1 lap /1’05.146
18 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 71 1:31’51.226 1 lap /1’05.707
19 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 70 1:30’48.767 2 laps /3.248
20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 70 1:31’21.538 2 laps /36.019 -
Max Verstappen takes pole in wet conditions at Spa: F1
27 July 2024: Max Verstappen dominated a wet qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by almost six tenths of a second, with under pressure Sergio Pérez putting in a good performance to take third. However, with Verstappen set for a 10-place grid penalty for the race, Leclerc grabs pole for tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix.
“It was a nice qualifying. It was raining a little bit but we could do a decent qualifying,” said Verstappen, who will start the race from P11 after taking a fifth ICE of the season this weekend. “I know that I have to start 10 places back so this was the best I could do today. We’ll go from there. I don’t know how quick we are going to be but I hope that we can be in the mix to try to move forward.”
The opening session of qualifying began on a damp track, on Intermediate tyres but with no rain falling and Verstappen was quickly to the fore. The Red Bull driver posted a lap of 1:56.003 on his opening lap to take top spot from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, with Pérez in third.
With a little less than seven minutes remaining, Piastri jumped back to top spot with a lap of 1:55.549, 0.454 ahead of Verstappen who was starting another flyer. And when the Dutchman crossed the line, he returned to the top of the leaderboard with a time of 1:54.938, six tenths ahead of Piastri.
In the final minutes, Piastri once again stole top spot with a lap of 1:54.835. Verstappen went for a last attempt but the Dutchman came across a slow Guanyu Zhou on his flyer and as Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took P2, Verstappen eased through in third place having used just one set of Inters during the session, with Pérez in fourth.
At the other end of the table, Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen were ruled out in 16th and 17threspectively, with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda exiting in P18 ahead of Williams’ Logan Sargeant and the Sauber of Zhou.
Alex Albon kicked things off in 1:54.724, but he was swiftly demoted by Lando Norris who went almost three tenths of a second quicker than the Williams driver. Verstappen, though, was going even quicker and he jumped to top spot with a lap of 1:53.857, six tenths ahead of Norris and eight clear of Albon.
Verstappen then shaved two hundredths of a second off his first flyer to cement himself into P1 but further back, Pérez, was flirting with trouble.
The Mexican bolted on more fresh Inters and jumped to fourth but as the track improved further and better times flooded in elsewhere, he began to slide down the timesheet. And when the order settled after the final shake-up, the Mexican scraped through to Q3 in tenth place, just 0.003s ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon who was eliminated ahead of Gasly, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Stroll.
At the start of the top-10 shootout, the Red Bull pair were last out on track and on new Inters Verstappen powered to the top of the order with a lap of 1:53.159, six tenths of a second ahead of Pérez who put in a strong lap on used tyres to post a lap of 1:53.765. That put the Mexican over two tenths clear of Hamilton who was on fresh tyres.
And with only the Ferrari cars with fresh inters for the final runs, Verstappen’s opening time proved untouchable as claimed top spot in qualifying, meaning that after his penalty for taking a fifth ICE of the season, the champion will start from 11th place on the grid.
Behind him, Leclerc, one of the few to have a fresh set of Inters for his final run, edged ahead of Pérez by 0.011s in the final moments to claim P2 and a front-of-the-grid start for the race. Pérez, third in the session, will line up on the front row for the first time since the Chinese Grand Prix in April.
Behind Checo, Hamilton qualified fourth ahead of Norris, with Piastri in sixth place. Russell took seventh in the second Mercedes ahead of Sainz, while Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso ended the session in ninth place ahead of Ocon.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’53.159
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1’53.754 0.595
2 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’53.765 0.011
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’53.835 0.081
5 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1’53.981 0.227
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1’54.027 0.273
7 George Russell Mercedes 1’54.184 0.430
8 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1’54.477 0.723
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’54.765 1.011
10 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1’54.810 1.056
11 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1’54.473 0.719
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1’54.635 0.881
13 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1’54.682 0.928
14 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1’54.764 1.010
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’55.716 1.962
16 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1’56.308 2.554
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1’56.500 2.746
18 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1’56.593 2.839
19 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1’57.775 4.021
20 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1’57.230 3.476 -
Oscar Piastri claims maiden F1 win in a McLaren 1-2 finish ahead of Hamilton:F1
Oscar Piastri claimed his first Formula 1 victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix, with team-mate Lando Norris finishing second to hand McLaren its first 1-2 finish for three years, as Lewis Hamilton took the final podium spot for Mercedes.
Piastri’s win was set up at the start when he overtook Norris in Turn 1, but the Australian’s first victory was thrown into doubt late on when a strategic decision to pit Norris ahead of his team-mate in the final stops handed the British driver an undercut that put him in the lead. A lengthy team orders discussion followed, but eventually Norris ceded first place back to Piastri who led McLaren to its first one-two finish since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.
At the start of the race, polesitter Norris got away well but on the run to the first corner Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen drew level with the Briton and they went three abreast into Turn 1. Verstappen went off track and with Norris also battling to stay on track, Piastri snuck through on the inside to take the lead.
Verstappen rejoined in second but with the incident being investigated, he was told to give back the place back to Norris and did so soon after. and soon after the start the championship leader handed the place back into Turn 1.
At the end of a tight first stint, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was the first of the frontrunners to pit, from fourth place, followed by Norris and Piastri. Verstappen stayed on track, however, waiting until lap 21 to make his first stop and as the first round of tyre changes played out, Piastri returned to P1, three seconds ahead of Norris, but Hamilton had made the undercut work and he was now third ahead of Verstappen.
Verstappen, with fresher tyres, closed up to Hamilton over the following laps and at the start of lap 35 he attacked into Turn 1. The Mercedes driver locked up and went wide, giving Verstappen the chance to pass on the outside into Turn 3, but on his second attempt it was the Dutchman who went off track and Hamilton held on.
With Verstappen continuing to press, Mercedes eventually pitted Hamilton and the Red Bull driver began to eat into the gap to Norris ahead.
Meanwhile, at the front, Piastri suffered a brief off on lap 33 and that allowed Norris to close the gap at the front to just 1.5s. On lap 45, with both Verstappen and Hamilton threatening, McLaren pitted Norris ahead of leader Piastri to cover the charge. And with Piastri staying out for two more laps, Norris’ undercut promoted him to the race lead.
The strategy decision set up an increasingly techy finish for McLaren as Norris questioned the need to cede the position to Piastri and his race engineer talked the Briton into letting Piastri past.
Verstappen pitted at the end of lap 49, but even though the Dutchman’s stop of 2.3s good, he emerged in fifth place behind Hamilton and Leclerc with the task of passing both in the final 20 laps.
Leclerc’s defence was solid, but with Verstappen carrying more pace on fresh tyres, it was also brief. But after dismissing the Ferrari driver at the start of lap 56, Verstappen’s attempts to pass Hamilton proved frustrating and eventually debilitating.
The Dutchman attacked on lap 62 but Hamilton defended well. Max went for it again on the following lap but his lunge down the inside was too late. As Hamilton turned in, Verstappen locked up and there was contact.
The Red Bull driver was pitched into the air and then off track. Hamilton powered off into third and as Verstappen rejoined, Leclerc swept past to demote the Red Bull driver to fifth.
At the front, Norris eventually gave way to Piastri on lap 69 and two laps later the Australian took the flag to score his maiden F1 victory. Norris completed the 1-2 for McLaren and Hamilton took the remaining podium place ahead of Leclerc.
That left fifth place for a frustrated Max, who was also summoned to the stewards to review the Hamilton incident. Sainz took sixth place while another trademark Checo charge brought the team six hugely valuable points at the end of a difficult afternoon. Russell was left with eighth ahead of Tsunoda and the final point went to Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix – Race
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 70 1:38’01.989
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 70 1:38’04.130 2.141
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 70 1:38’16.869 14.880
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 70 1:38’21.675 19.686
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 70 1:38’23.338 21.349
6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 70 1:38’25.062 23.073
7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 70 1:38’41.781 39.792
8 George Russell Mercedes 70 1:38’44.357 42.368
9 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 70 1:39’19.248 1’17.259
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 1:39’19.965 1’17.976
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 1:39’24.449 1’22.460
12 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 69 1:38’19.913 1 lap /17.924
13 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 69 1:38’35.173 1 lap /33.184
14 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 69 1:38’38.758 1 lap /36.769
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 69 1:38’47.291 1 lap /45.302
16 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 69 1:38’47.398 1 lap /45.409
17 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 69 1:38’54.580 1 lap /52.591
18 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 69 1:39’02.918 1 lap /1’00.929
19 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 69 1:39’05.587 1 lap /1’03.598
Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 33 47’39.255 Retirement -
Lando Norris takes Hungarian pole; McLaren lockout front row: F1
Lando Norris beat team-mate Oscar Piastri by just two hundredths of a second to take pole for the Hungarian Grand Prix, as the pair handed McLaren its first front-row lockout in 12 years. F1 Drivers’ Championship leader Max Verstappen was third, another two hundredths of a second further behind.
Despite light rain falling in the hour before Qualifying, the start of Q1 was judged dry enough for slick tyres and when the lights went green all 20 cars streamed out on track ahead of an expected further shower. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton made the most of the tricky conditions with the Silverstone winner taking an early lead with a lap of 1:17.087. Carlos Sainz then moved to second for Ferrari and after taking P6 with his opening flyer, Verstappen jumped to third place with a lap of 1:17.287.
The Dutchman’s team-mate Sergio Pérez was not finding similar improvements, however. Sebeth after his first run, the Mexican failed to improve on a second attempt. He stuck with the same set of tyres for a third run but midway through his flying lap he took too much of the damp kerb on the right-hand side as he went into Turn 8 and he spun off into the barriers. The red flags came out and the session was halted as his car was recovered.
After an 11-minute delay and with six minutes left on the clock, the session resumed. With more rain having fallen during the halt, and with DRS disabled, it looked like improvements would be hard to come by. However, as the final minutes unfolded the track rapidly dried and the final flyer became all important.
Verstappen was one of the first to profit and the Red Bull driver’s final lap of 1:17.087 initially moved him up to second behind Hamilton. It was RB’s Daniel Ricciardo who made the biggest leap, though, and the Australian put in an impressive lap of 1:17.050 to jump from 16th to top spot at the end of the session.
Others, though, were headed the other way. Pérez, already out, dropped to 16th as improvement arrived elsewhere but it was George Russell who became the biggest casualty of the session. The Briton was unable to find the same kind of pace as team-mate Hamilton and he slumped to 17th at the end of the session, exiting ahead of Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu and the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly.
Verstappen was first on track at the start and new Softs the Dutchman laid down a marker with a time of 1:15.770, eight tenths clear of Hamilton who was on used tyres. Piastri then took second just 0.005s behind Verstappen as Sainz slotted into third with a second flyer ahead Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Norris.
In the final runs it was Norris who set the pace. The McLaren driver went quickest in the final two sectors to steal P1 with a lap of 1:16.540, with Verstappen progressing in P2 ahead of Piastri and Sainz.
Hamilton narrowly avoided the exit door at the end of Q2. With both RBs through to Q3, with Tsunoda in eighth ahead of Ricciardo, seven-time champion Hamilton just scraped into Q3 in 10th place one hundredth of a second ahead of Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg, who went out in P11 ahead of Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, the Williams pair of Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant, and the second Haas of Kevin Magnussen.
With rain expected midway through the final session, the 10 remaining drivers took to the track on new Softs at the start of Q3. Verstappen was first across the line and it looked like the Red Bull driver was determined to take a ninth pole of the season as he stopped the clock in 1:15.555 to take provisional pole. Norris was finding more time, however, and the McLaren driver moved ahead of the Red Bull driver with a lap of 1:15.227.
Verstappen was now under pressure and after making swift adjustments to his front wing to cure the understeer he’d experienced on his opening flyer, the Dutchman headed out for a final charge.
Over the first two sectors it looked like the Dutchman might make it but after going quicker than Norris across the first two sectors his tyres faded in the final section and though he improved, his 1:15.273 only proved good enough for third as Piastri went 0.024s quicker. Norris therefore took his third career pole and his second of 2024 as McLaren recorded its first front-row lockout since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Behind them all, Tsunoda ran wide at the exit of Turn 5 and the Japanese driver was hurled into the barriers. The red flags immediately came out, Norris was denied a second lap out and the session was stopped for a second time, with just over two minutes on the clock.
After a 13-minute delay the session resumed, but with only used tyres available, any improvements were unlikely. Verstappen and Alonso chose to settle and climbed out of their cars. Norris and Piastri took their place at the head of the queue to defend their positions but in the end the only diver to find a meaningful improvement on his final lap was Ricciardo who leapfrogged Tsunoda to take P9.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:15.227 – –
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:15.249 0.022
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:15.273 0.046
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:15.696 0.469
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:15.854 0.627
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:15.905 0.678
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:16.043 0.816
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:16.244 1.017
9 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:16.447 1.220
10 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:16.477 1.250
11 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:16.317 1.090
12 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:16.384 1.157
13 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:16.429 1.202
14 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1:16.543 1.316
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:16.548 1.321
16 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:17.886 2.659
17 George Russell Mercedes 1:17.968 2.741
18 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:18.037 2.810
19 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:18.049 2.822
20 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:18.166 2.939 -
George Russell takes pole at home Grand Prix ahead of Hamilton: F1
Silverstone, 6 July 2024: George Russell led an all-British top three in qualifying for the British Grand Prix with the Mercedes driver beating team-mate Lewis Hamilton by just under two tenths of a second as Lando Norris took third for McLaren. Drivers’ Championship leader Max Verstappen will start fourth after his qualifying was compromised by floor damage sustained in an early off.
At the start of Q1, on a damp track and on Intermediate tyres, Verstappen took top spot with a lap of 1:37.518, with Norris a tenth off in P2. They were soon shuffled back by Mercedes George Russell who took top spot with his second flyer, but the track was rapidly drying and Charles Leclerc quickly headed back to the pits for a set of slick Soft tyres.
That prompted Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez to make the same switch but on a still slippery track he suffered a snap of oversteer going into Copse corner and though he managed to save that he lost control in the run-off and slid backwards into the gravel where he exited the session and the red flags came out.
After a nine-minute halt the session resumed with all drivers on Softs. But as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took P1 with a lap of 1:30.895, Verstappen almost suffered the same fate as his team-mate. A snap in Copse sent the Red Bull driver off track and though he was able to keep going, a thumping trip through the gravel trap caused floor damage that would have a major impact on the rest of his session.
With improvements flooding in elsewhere, the Dutch driver sank down the order and with the clock counting down he had to immediately make another attempt and as Hamilton took top spot ahead of Russell, Leclerc and Sainz, the world champion limped through in a relatively lowly P11 thanks to a lap of 1:31.242.
Out, though went Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas in P11 ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Checo, in P19, and last placed Pierre Gasly in the second Alpine.
In the early exchanges of Q2 it was Norris who took top spot, with the McLaren driver posting a lap of 1:27.432 to sit a tenth clear of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Verstappen, meanwhile, was again suffering and after claiming fourth with a time of 1:27.799 he soon slid back to 10th as drivers stayed out and improved. It was a similar story after his second flyer and after initially rising to third he dropped to an eventual sixth as Norris took P1 ahead of Russell and Alonso.
However, while Verstappen avoided becoming the major casualty of Q2, Leclerc was unable to avoid that fate and battling porpoising in his Ferrari, the Monegasque driver was ruled out in P11 ahead of Williams’ Logan Sargeant, RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu and the second RB of Daniel Ricciardo.
In the opening runs of Q3 Russell led the way by just 0.006s over Norris, as Hamilton and Piastri were both within touching distance in the battle for pole and with Verstappen down in fifth it was shaping up to be a duel between Mercedes and McLaren.
Neither Hamilton nor Russell improved on their first sectors, but both improved later in the lap and, first across the line, Hamilton jumped to top spot with 1:25.990s. Russell was finding more time, however, and when Norris made a mistake in Turn 14, Russell’s improved time of 1:25.819 was enough to clinch his third F1 pole.
Norris preserved his place in that top three, but couldn’t improve on his final run and ceded one position to Hamilton to lead the second row alongside Verstappen. Behind the Red Bull man, Piastri qualified fifth ahead of Hülkenberg, while Sainz took seventh ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Williams’ Alex Albon and the second Aston of Fernando Alonso.
2024 FIA Formula 1 British Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:25.819 – –
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:25.990 0.171
3 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:26.030 0.211
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:26.203 0.384
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:26.237 0.418
6 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:26.338 0.519
7 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:26.509 0.690
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:26.585 0.766
9 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:26.640 0.821
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:26.917 1.098
11 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.097 1.278
12 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1:27.175 1.356
13 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:27.269 1.450
14 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:27.867 2.048
15 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:27.949 2.130
16 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:32.431 6.612
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:32.905 7.086
18 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:34.557 8.738
19 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:38.348 12.529
20 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:39.804 -
George Russell wins Austrian GP; Verstappen, Norris collide
Spielberg, 30 June 2024: George Russell took a surprise Austrian Grand Prix victory after a dramatic late-race clash between long-time race leader Max Verstappen and arch-rival Lando Norris dumped the McLaren driver out of the race and dropped championship leader Verstappen to fifth at the flag.
After seizing the lead from pole at the start, Verstappen looked comfortable for the bulk of the race as he built an eight-second gap back to Norris, with Russell in third. However, the gap narrowed in the closing stages as Verstappen suffered with tyre degradation and when the champion suffered a slow final pit stop, Norris closed in.
Verstappen repelled several assault into Turn 3 on the inside but on lap 64 Norris went for broke around the outside and when Verstappen reacted there was contact. Both suffered punctures and while the Red Bull driver was able to pit for Soft tyres and shrug off a 10-second penalty for causing the collision to eventually finish fifth, Norris’ damage was too severe and he had to retire.
The incident handed the lead to Russell and the Mercedes driver seized the opportunity with both hands to take his second career win. In the final laps Piastri managed to get past Sainz to take second and the Spaniard was left with the final podium place.
At the start, Verstappen powered into the lead ahead of Norris who was forced to defend against a challenge from Russell and Sainz.
Sainz then became embroiled in a tussle with Lewis Hamilton and on the run up to Turn 3 the Mercedes driver managed to get ahead to steal P4. Further back, there was contact in Turn 1 between Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and as both went wide, Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez swept past both to claim sixth.
At the front, Verstappen began to eke out a gap to Norris. Russell and Hamilton were battling however and on lap three Hamilton powered past, only to be passed once again by Russell in Turn 4. Hamilton, though, was under investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage during his pass of Sainz and the seven-time champion was forced to hand back the place won at the start. Pérez and Piastri were also battling, and on lap 7 the Australian pounced in Turn 6 to muscle his way around the outside to drop Checo back to seventh. Verstappen, meanwhile, was drawing away and on lap 14 he had built up a five-second gap to Norris, who was a little under four seconds clear of Russell.
On lap 22 Hamilton and Pérez were the first of the frontrunners to pit and both moved to Hard tyres. Russell and Sainz made their way in at the end of the following tour and then on lap 24 Verstappen made his first stop, for Hard tyres. Norris came in on the same lap and when Piastri finally made his first tyre switch on lap 26, Verstappen returned to lead with 6.7s in hand over Norris with Russell two seconds further back in third. Sainz held fourth ahead of Hamilton, but the Mercedes driver was quickly handed a five-second time penalty for crossing the white line at the pit entry. Piastri emerged from his pit stop in sixth place.
Midway through his second stint, Verstappen looked comfortable, eight seconds clear of over Norris. However on lap 40 the Dutchman reported that his Hard tyres suddenly felt “really bad”. Over the following laps Norris began to chip away at the gap and by lap 46 the Red Bull driver’s advantage had shrunk to a little over 6.5s.
Russell then sparked the second round of stop on lap 47 but when Verstappen made his stop an issue with the rear right kept him stationary for over six seconds and when he and Norris rejoined, the McLaren driver was just 1.7s behind.
Norris was able to haul his way into DRS range of the Red Bull driver, and on lap 55 the McLaren driver attacked into Turn 3. Verstappen defended well to hold the lead but with three DRS zones available to Norris the attacks kept coming. And on lap 64 the McLaren driver made his fateful move.
The clash left Vestappen with a punctured rear left and though Norris got past Verstappen’s stricken RB20 his own right rear tyre let go and the pair limped back to the pits. Verstappen was fitted a set of Soft tyres and released again, into P5, but Norris damage was too severe and the Briton was forced to retire.
The dramatic incident handed the lead the Russell, ahead of Piastri who had managed to pass Sainz, with Hamilton in fourth and moment after a flurry of final laps, the Mercedes driver took his second career grand prix win.
Further back, Max held on to fifth behind Hamilton, despite being handed a 10-second penalty for causing the collision with Norris Hülkenberg took Haas’ best finish of the season so far after passing Pérez on the final tour and the Mexican was left with seventh place ahead of the second Haas of Kevin Magnussen, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who took the final point.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Race
1 George Russell Mercedes 71 –
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 71 1.906
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 71 4.533
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 23.142
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 71 37.253
6 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 71 54.088
7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 71 54.672
8 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 71 1’00.355
9 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 71 1’01.169
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 71 1’01.766
11 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 71 1’07.056
12 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 71 1’08.325
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 – 1 lap
14 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 70 – 1 lap
15 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 70 – 1 lap
16 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 70 – 1 lap
17 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 70 – 1 lap
18 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 – 1 lap
19 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 69 – 2 laps
Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 64 – Retirement -
Max Verstappen takes pole, less than half a second ahead of Lando Norris: F1
Spielberg, 29 June 2024: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen powered to an emphatic eighth pole position of the season four tenths of a second clear of McLaren’s Lando Norris. George Russell qualified third for Mercedes after Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren had his final lap of Q3 deleted for a track limits violation.
Verstappen was first out on track at the start of Q1 and with used Soft tyres on board he set the pace at 1:06.054, with team-mate Sergio Pérez in P2. Both were shuffled back as better times came in and Verstappen dropped to sixth.
However, a second run on used tyres again jumped Verstappen to the top of the order with a lap of 1:05.336. Once again though better times began to come in and this time the Red Bull driver dropped to third behind new P1 man Carlos Sainz and second-placed Piastri.
Comfortable with their efforts, the top three chose to stay in the garage for the final runs, and though there were a slew of improvements the order at the top stayed the same. However, at the bottom of the order there was no place in Q2 for Williams’ Alex Albon who went out in P16 ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and the Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu who were split by the second Williams of Logan Sargeant.
In the first runs of Q2, Verstappen, now with new tyres onboard, gave a first indication of the pace in the RB20 and he powered clear of the field with a time of 1:04.577, almost a full second clear of Leclerc whose opener had been completed on used rubber. Russell jumped ahead of the Ferrari driver but the gap only closed to 0.491. Sainz then jumped to second on fresh tyres, six hundredths of a second quicker than Russell, but there was still a yawning gap to the championship leader to overcome.
And it widened in the final runs of Q2. Verstappen improved once more, closing out the middle session with a P1 time of 1:04.469. Sainz, with only two fresh sets of Softs in reserve, chose to sit out the final runs, but when none of the Spaniard’s rivals was able to eclipse his run one time, the Ferrari driver went through in P2 ahead of Russell, Hamilton and Piastri.
Eliminated at the end of Q2 were RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, with the 11th-placed Australian missing out on the top-10 shootout by just 0.015s, along with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, the second RB of Yuki Tsunoda and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
In the first runs of Q3, Verstappen shaved four hundredths of a second off his Q2 best to take provisional pole, 0.351s ahead of Norris who slotted into second ahead of Russell and Leclerc who was on used tyres. In the final runs Verstappen was untouchable and once again he improved, this time by over a tenth of a second to take his 40th career pole position with a lap of 1:04.314, 0.404 clear of Norris, with Russell in third place. The Mercedes man might have been beaten by Piastri but the Australian’s final flyer was deleted for a track limits violation at Turn 6 and he slid back behind Sainz, Hamilton and Leclerc, who went off at the final corner, and qualified in P7 just ahead of Pérez, Hülkenberg and Ocon.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’04.314 – –
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1’04.718 0.404
3 George Russell Mercedes 1’04.840 0.526
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1’04.851 0.537
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’04.903 0.589
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1’05.044 0.730
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1’05.048 0.734
8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’05.202 0.888
9 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1’05.385 1.071
10 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1’05.883 1.569
11 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1’05.289 0.975
12 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1’05.347 1.033
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1’05.359 1.045
14 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1’05.412 1.098
15 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’05.639 1.325
16 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1’05.736 1.422
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’05.819 1.505
18 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1’05.847 1.533
19 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1’05.856 1.542
20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1’06.061 1.747 -
Verstappen holds off Norris to win Spanish GP; Hamilton takes first podium of the year
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen seized an early lead and held off a determined late-race charge from pole sitter Lando Norris to take a third consecutive Spanish Grand Prix win ahead of the McLaren driver, as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton claimed his first podium of the year with third place.
Norris made a poor start from pole and though the lead was stolen by Mercedes’ George Russell in Turn 1, Verstappen quickly closed on and took the lead at the start of lap three. Norris slipped to third but charged back in the closing stages to beat both Mercedes and then put pressure on Verstappen in the final laps. The Dutchman was able to resist, however, and he crossed the line 2.2 seconds ahead of the McLaren man to take his seventh win of the season.
“Lando and McLaren were very, very quick today,” Verstappen admitted . “But I think we did everything well. We drove quite an aggressive strategy, and luckily it paid out till the end. It was quite close till the end, but very happy to win here.”
When the lights went out at the start, Verstappen made a good start from the clean side of the track, but as he powered towards Turn 1 he was squeezed towards the edge of track by Norris who got away badly. The tussle between the two allowed fourth-place starter George Russell to swoop around the outside of both to take the lead in Turn 1.
Verstappen reacted quickly and as Norris slipped to third, the Red Bull driver tucked in behind the Mercedes man and when DRS was activated the Red Bull drivers moved to the outside and swept past the Briton to take the lead. With the lead secured, Verstappen began to carve out a small gap and by lap 10 he was two seconds clear of Russell.
Russell was the first of the frontrunners to box at the end of lap 15 but the Mercedes driver’s switch to Mediums was slowed by a problem with the right rear wheel and he dropped to seventh place.
Verstappen made his first stop, also for Mediums, on lap 18 and after a 1.9s halt and he rejoined in fourth, behind Norris, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri who had yet to stop. Verstappen quickly reeled in Piastri and on lap 21 he powered past the McLaren to take P3, just over seven seconds behind Leclerc.
Norris, though, was trying to eke out a tyre advantage over the Mercedes driver and Verstappen and when he pitted at the end of lap 24 for Medium tyres he emerged in P6 behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Leclerc was the last of the leaders to pit and once all the frontrunners settled into their second stint, Verstappen took the lead once more, almost six seconds clear of Russell, with Hamilton in third ahead of Sainz and Norris.
Norris had fresh tyres, however, and on lap 27 he used DRS to power past Sainz to take fourth place, nine seconds behind race leader Verstappen. The McLaren driver’s next target was Hamilton and he powered past the Mercedes under DRS on lap 32. Then after a lap-long battle with Russell on lap 35, Norris at last muscled his way through to take P2, nine seconds behind Verstappen.
Norris then began to close in on Verstappen, and as the race hit two thirds distance the gap shrank to below five seconds. The race leader made his second visit to the pit lane on lap 44 and after a good 2.8s switch for new Soft tyres Verstappen rejoined in third place, behind Leclerc.
Norris, in the lead and in clear air, was told it was his chance to build a gap and over the following laps the McLaren driver pushed his advantage over Verstappen to more than 17 seconds. The champion responded though and on lap 46 he pumped in a race fastest lap to stay in touch.
Norris made his final stop at the end of lap 47 and in a 3.6s stop he took on Soft tyres and as Verstappen swept back into the lead the McLaren driver just managed to stay ahead of the Mercedes cars to slot into second place, eight seconds behind race leader Verstappen.
Verstappen was told that the McLaren driver was “pushing hard, not saving tyres, all corners” and over the following two laps the gap between the leaders fell to 5.7 seconds and with 15 laps left Verstappen was told he needed to “push to the end”.
The champion responded and over the final 10 laps he did enough to keep Norris at bay and to take a controlled seventh win of the season, 2.2 seconds clear of the McLaren and with Hamilton a further 15 seconds back in third. Place.
Fourth place went to Russell, with Leclerc in fifth ahead of team-mate Sainz. Piastri took seventh in the second McLaren and after a three-stop race Sergio Pérez passed Pierre Gasly in the closing stages to take eighth place ahead of the Alpine driver and his team-mate Esteban Ocon.
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Lando Norris takes pole ahead of Max, Lewis: F1
Barcelona, 22 June 2024: Lando Norris beat F1 world championship leader Max Verstappen by the tiny margin of two hundredths of a second to take the second pole position of his career in qualifying for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix. Behind the top two, Lewis Hamilton scored his best qualifying position since last year’s US Grand Prix with third place.
At the start of Q1 Sergio Pérez set the early pace thanks to a lap of 1:13.090, almost seven tenths of a second clear of RB’s Daniel Ricciardo. Verstappen then lowered the benchmark by another seven tenths as he claimed top spot with a lap of 1:12.306. The Red Bull drivers were then split by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who took P2 five hundredths of a second ahead of Pérez. And then, as the opening sequence of runs came to an end, Verstappen was bumped out of P1 by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who took top spot just under five hundredths of a second ahead of the Dutchman.
In the final runs Of Q1 Leclerc, Verstappen, third-placed Norris and P4 driver Carlos Sainz stayed in their garages for the final flyers, but further back Pérez, who had dropped to P10 as better times came in was forced to make another attempt. His lap of 1:12.477 boosted him to P8 and into to Q2.Hamilton meanwhile, used his final flyer to good effect, claiming P1 with a lap of 1:12.143.
There was no place in Q2, however, for Haas’ Kevin Magnussen who was knocked out in P16 ahead of the RBs of Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo and the Williams cars of Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant.
At the start of Q2, Pérez was the first of the frontrunners across the line and once again he set the early benchmark, this time at 1:12.270. That was swiftly beaten by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and by the McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, but it was Verstappen who put in the best opening time, with the title leader taking P1 thanks to a lap of 1:11.653, two tenths clear of Norris and third-placed Sainz. Piastri dropped to fourth ahead of Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell, while Pierre Gasly took seventh ahead of Pérez.
As the second runs got underway, Hamilton who had been languishing in P15 jumped to second place and when Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas also jumped into the top 10, Pérez fell to P10 and was on the brink of exit. Once again, though, the Red Bull driver clawed his way forward and his final lap of 1:12.054 put him eighth ahead of the Alpines of Gasly and Esteban Ocon.
At the top of the order, Verstappen again sat out the final runs and this time the champion’s opening run time was good enough to hold onto top spot ahead of the Mercedes pair of Hamilton and George Russell.
Ruled out after Q2 were Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in P11 followed by Bottas, Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg, the second Aston of Lance Stroll and the second Sauber of Zhou Guanyu.
In keeping with the rest of the session Pérez was out early in Q3, though this time on used Soft tyres. That meant his first time of Q3 was slower than his Q2 times and he ended the opening runs in P9.
Verstappen, though, was powering ahead and he set the benchmark at 1:11.673, a tenth ahead of Norris who was looking likeliest to challenge the Dutchman’s bid for a 40th career pole. The task looked daunting when Verstappen upped the pace even further in his final run and dropped the provisional pole time to 1:11.403. Norris was up to the challenge though and in the final seconds the McLaren driver found more pace to claw his way ahead of the champion by the tiny margin of two hundredths of a second.
“It was pretty much a perfect lap,” said Norris of his first pole since the 2021 Russian Grand Prix. “You know you’re on a good lap when you’re getting excited but the whole thing went perfectly in the end. So, close, still, but super, super happy. One of my, I’d say, my best pole positions. I’ve not had many but out of the ones I’ve had, my best.”
Verstappen was left with a 67th career front row ahead of the Mercedes cars of Hamilton and Russell. Leclerc was fifth for Ferrari ahead of team-mate Sainz, while Gasly took a welcome seventh for Alpine ahead of Pérez, Ocon and Piastri. However, with a three-place grid penalty from Canada coming his way for tomorrow, Pérez will starts the race in Barcelona from P11 on the grid.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:11.383 – –
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:11.403 0.020 0.028
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:11.701 0.318 0.445
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:11.703 0.320 0.448
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:11.731 0.348 0.488
6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:11.736 0.353 0.495
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:11.857 0.474 0.664
8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:12.061 0.678 0.950
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:12.125 0.742 1.039
10 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes – – –
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:12.128 0.745 1.044
12 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:12.227 0.844 1.182
13 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:12.310 0.927 1.299
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:12.372 0.989 1.385
15 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:12.738 1.355 1.898
16 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:12.937 1.554 2.177
17 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:12.985 1.602 2.244
18 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:13.075 1.692 2.370
19 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:13.153 1.770 2.480
20 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1:13.509 2.126 2.978 -
Verstappen takes his first Sprint pole of 2024: Miami F1
Miami, 3 May 2024: Max Verstappen took his first Sprint pole of 2024, beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by just over a tenth of a second in a tight qualifying session for the Sprint at the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix. Sergio Pérez took third place, but Mercedes’ George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were eliminated at the end of SQ2.
At the start of SQ1 it was Pérez who took the early lead but the Red Bull driver was immediately bounced out of top spot by team-mate Verstappen who posted a time of 1:28.601 to eclipse the Mexican by eight hundredths of a second.
Pérez was then shuffled back to fourth as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took second, just 0.038s behind Verstappen, and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Lando Norris, in the other McLaren, then bumped all four down a place by taking top spot with a lap of 1:27.939.
Haas’ Kevin Magnussen then made a big jump, posting a lap of 1:28.377 to climb to third behind Verstappen, and the Danish driver’s time was followed by a slew of late improvements, with Piastri slotting into P2 behind Norris and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso moving ahead of Verstappen thanks to a final lap of 1:28.192.
At the bottom of the order there was no place in SQ2 for Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who went out in P16, ahead of the Alfa Romeos of Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas. The bottom two places were filled by Williams pair Logan Sargeant and Alex Albon. Thai driver Albon might have made it through but his final lap was deleted for a track limits infringement in Turn 15 and he exited in P20.
At the start of the second segment, Pérez again set the early pace. The Mexican posted a lap of 1:27.865 to take top spot a tenth of a second ahead of Leclerc and two clear of RB’s Daniel Ricciardo. However, Norris then appeared to once again bounce the Red Bull driver out of P1, with the McLaren going quickest of all with a lap of 1:27.597.
Verstappen opted for a single SQ2 run but after emerging with just over three minutes remaining, the Dutchman could only make his way to fourth place on the timesheet behind Leclerc and 0.121 ahead of Ricciardo. Piastri went through in P6 ahead of Alonso, the second Ferrari or Carlos Sainz, the second Aston of Lance Stroll and the 10th-placed Haas of Nico Hülkenberg.
However, the major shock was the exit of both Mercedes drivers, with George Russell dropping out in P11 a little under three hundredths of a second ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton who took 12th place. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon exited in P13 ahead of Magnussen, while Yuki Tsunoda in the other RB was ruled out in P15.
In SQ3, Pérez led the way for the third time in the session, with the Mexican stopping the clock at 1:27.876. Behind him Verstappen had a nervous moment in Turn 14, but despite the snap he moved to the top of the order, two tenths ahead of his team-mate.
After topping the first two session and with Verstappen making a mistake, the way looked clear for Norris to take a second Sprint pole of the season but a lurid slide on his lap lost the Briton a chunk of time as Leclerc took second, Norris had to settle for ninth.
Behind the top three, Ricciardo took an impressive fourth for RB ahead of Sainz, Piastri and Stroll. Alonso was eighth ahead of Norris and the final top 10 place was filled by Hülkenberg.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:27.641 – –
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.749 0.108 0.123
3 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 1:27.876 0.235
4 Daniel Ricciardo RB 1:28.044 0.403
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:28.103 0.462
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:28.161 0.520
7 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:28.375 0.734
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:28.419 0.778
9 Lando Norris McLaren 1:28.472 0.831
10 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 1:28.476 0.835
11 George Russell Mercedes 1:28.343 0.702
12 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:28.371 0.730
13 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:28.379 0.738
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:28.614 0.973
15 Yuki Tsunoda RB – – –
16 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:29.185 1.544
17 Zhou Guanyu Sauber 1:29.267 1.626
18 Valtteri Bottas Sauber 1:29.360 1.719
19 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:29.551 1.910
20 Alexander Albon Williams 1:29.858 2.217
