Leclerc sets searing pole pace in Florida: 2022 Miami GP qualifying

After all the seemingly endless hype and publicity, competitive action finally got underway with qualifying in Miami, and it was Charles Leclerc who had the magic required for pole in Florida.

The Ferrari driver held his nerve to deliver a blistering fastest lap, with his team-mate Carlos Sainz less than 0.2sec off in second.

A snap of oversteer ended Max Verstappen’s challenge, but the Red Bull will still start third tomorrow. Sergio Perez was close behind in fourth, whilst a solid session means Lewis Hamilton will start sixth behind Valtteri Bottas‘s Alfa Romeo.

A moment in Q2 ended George Russell‘s fast lap, meaning that he’ll start 12th tomorrow.

Read about 2022 Miami GP qualifying as it happened below.

Q1

Cars hit a hot track – ticking over at 52C – as 15 of the 19 cars attempted to set an early lap. A cracked chassis from Esteban Ocon‘s FP3 shunt had ruled him out of qualifying.

Kevin Magnussen was first to clock a time but this was soon bested by Lance Stroll, the Canadian posting a 1min 31.789sec.

Unsurprisingly, Sainz toppled that lap, 1min 30.858sec putting the Spaniard on top.

Daniel Ricciardo was 0.4sec behind in second, but it wasn’t long before both were shuffled down – Verstappen was now fastest with a 1min 30.235sec.

Perez soon came in with a lap time just behind his team-mate, but it was 0.5sec, the Dutchman with a rapid pace early on.

Russell was then third, 0.6sec off Verstappen, whilst Zhou Guanyu was an impressive fifth – a 1min 31.020sec lap put him there.

Leclerc was soon beating a path quicker than Verstappen; the Monégasque went fastest with a 1min 29.474sec.

Hamilton was struggling to set a decent lap. Having aborted his first lap, and another was then deleted for exceeding track limits, leaving him down in 16th with five minutes to go.

Fernando Alonso was also exploring boundaries as he brushed the wall, but the Alpine was undamaged.

Alex Albon, Magnussen, Hamilton and Nicholas Latifi were squabbling to get out of Q1, but Yuki Tsunoda had no such worries – he posted a 1min 30.485sec to lift him to fifth.

Hamilton went back on track to try and get a fast lap him, but had 12 cars to negotiate on his out lap. The Mercedes driver managed it though, setting a 1min 30.388sec which left him fifth.

Once the flag fell on Q1, eliminated was Ocon in 20th, the two Williams of Latifi and Albon 19th and 18th, Zhou in 17th and a surprise in the form of Magnussen in 16th.

Q2

Mick Schumacher headed out first, posting a 1min 30.423sec, but Sainz immediately saw this off with a 1min 29.729sec, with Leclerc 0.03sec further off.

The Red Bulls were even faster though – a 1min 29.673sec putting Perez second and Verstappen heading to the top with a 1min 29.202sec lap.

Hamilton went fifth, almost 0.6sec off Verstappen, with Gasly a further 0.4sec away from the Mercedes.

By this point Russell was yet to set a lap, and when he did head out on a track a massive moment of understeer meant the Mercedes driver had to call the run off.

Leclerc by this point had deposed Verstappen at the sharp end, but only just – he was 0.072sec ahead.