It was a wildly dramatic and topsy-turvy qualifying session for the 2023 Miami Grand Prix at Miami International Autodrome, with Sergio Perez ultimately clinching pole position for Red Bull ahead of Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso.
Max Verstappen will start from just ninth after making a mistake on his initial Q3 lap, and then not getting a chance to complete a second run before Charles Leclerc crashed his Ferrari again, which triggered a premature red flag finish to the session.
McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Sargeant both failed to make the first cut in Q1, and even Mercedes only just made it through. Lewis Hamilton subsequently missed out at the end of Q2 and will start Sunday's race from a dismal P13, with George Russell scraping through for sixth.
It was hot and humid in Miami, but the newly resurfaced track was slick and slippery and the stiff breeze was gusting as the drivers prepared to head into qualifying for the fifth Grand Prix of 2023. The red hot favourite for pole was without doubt Red Bull's Max Verstappen, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc his closest competitor having bounced back from an unfortunate accident at the end of Friday's sessions. But others who might have been expected to be in the mix - Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, McLaren's Lando Norris, Aston Martin star Fernando Alonso - had really struggled in final practice on Saturday and were under intense pressure to get back on the pace in time in qualifying.
Q1: Verstappen and Sainz quickest, Mercedes just survive while McLaren miss out
Alex Albon's Williams led the queue at the end of pit lane waiting to get underway. Most drivers were not far behind him in wanting to get straight to work, with just the two Ferraris and two Aston Martins holding back. Albon's initial benchmark was a sedate 1:30.967s but Valtteri Bottas was instantly a second quicker in the Alfa Romeo, while Haas' Nico Hulkenberg had a dramatic oversteer at turn 16 and was lucky to escape disaster for the second time in as many days.
The Red Bulls reported for duty with Sergio Perez' time of 1:28.306s proving a tenth quicker than that of his team mate Max Verstappen, followed by the two Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon looking much stronger this weekend than the previous two races which had been horror shows for the squad. By now the Ferrari boys had also come out to play: Charles Leclerc inserted himself between the two Bulls for provisional second place, with Sainz tucking in just behind Verstappen for fourth. But it was bad news for Mercedes as Russell and Hamilton both remained in the bottom five after their initial flying laps; Hamilton reported that he had been squeezed into the wall while trying to pass a slow Kevin Magnussen.
While Hamilton had his car checked out on pit lane, Russell woke up and jumped to what appeared to be relatively safety in P8. Leclerc also found more speed to go top, but Verstappen responded with a new time of 1:27.363s to keep him three and a half tenths clear of Perez, pushing Leclerc down to third ahead of Sainz, Alonso and his Aston team mate Lance Stroll. Magnussen was seventh ahead of Ocon and Gasly, with Hamilton returning to the fray and going tenth to push Russell down to 11th ahead of Alfa Romeo team mates Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas.
At critical risk with time running out were the Williams of Albon and Logan Sargeant, and the AlphaTauri drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries; but Norris and his team mate Oscar Piastri were languishing in the last two places. Albon surged to fifth with his next run, but Hulkenberg and Bottas alto then both powered into the top five as the track rapidly evolved meaning that no one could consider themselves entirely safe, as Hamilton and Russell found as they once again got backed into the bottom five.
It came down to a final flurry of flying laps: Verstappen's existing time was good enough to hold on to top honours from an improved Sainz, while the two Mercedes drivers managed to escape disaster and made it through with Hamilton in sixth and Russell 11th ahead of Alonso. Also scraping through were Albon and de Vries, but both McLarens missed the cut: Norris was 16th ahead of Tsunoda, with Stroll a surprise elimination along with Piastri, and Sargeant slowest of all.
Q2: Verstappen leads Leclerc as Hamilton misses the cut, Russell scrapes through
The Red Bulls immediately swung into action at the start of the second round, Verstappen setting the fastest time of the weekend so far with a lap of 1:27.110s to put him two tenths ahead of Perez, and Alonso looking much stronger in third ahead of the two Haas drivers. They were followed by the still tepid Mercedes cars of Russell and Hamilton, with the Alpine and Ferrari pairings yet to make their runs.
When Alpine did make their move, Ocon and Gasly duly checked in to fourth and fifth place. Leclerc then pipped Ocon, and Sainz was even quicker and able to split the two Bulls at the top. A brilliant lap for Albon put the Williams into seventh meaning that both Silver Arrows were out of the top ten along with Zhou and de Vries, and Bottas yet to set a time. When the Finn did make his belated bow, it was good enough for sixth just half a tenth behind Leclerc.
Everyone else had once last chance to improve their times: Leclerc sprang to the top with a time of 1:26.964s only for Verstappen take back control seconds later with a response of 1:26.814s. Alonso also found more time to go third ahead of Sainz and Perez followed by Ocon, Bottas and Gasly, with Magnussen and Russell just squeezing through to join them in the final round. However it was a disaster for Hamilton who had a horrible final run and failed to find any more time, meaning that he missed the cut in 13th while complaining to the Mercedes pit wall that he had been released too late for his final run.
Russell's own last gasp escape had came at the expense of Albon, who finished in 11th and was duly eliminated along with Hulkenberg, Hamilton, Zhou and de Vries.
Q3: Perez on pole from Alonso, Verstappen P9 after missing out to Leclerc red flag
With the wind picking up, Verstappen led the way out for the final top ten pole shoot-out on fresh soft tyres - but he made an error carrying too much speed into turn 6 on his first run and had to back off and pit. It left the door open for Perez to take the initial provisional pole with a brilliant lap of 1:26.841s. Alonso was second quickest ahead of Sainz, Magnussen and Gasly while Russell was sixth ahead of Leclerc who had lost time locking up in turn 17 and brushing the wall. He was left a full second off Perez' pace, with Verstappen and Bottas yet to set times.
Everyone was back out for one last push, but as they all got underway there was disaster for Leclerc who pushed too hard, bottomed out and spun into the barrier at turn 6, the same place that he had crashed at the end of Friday's second practice session.
It stopped the session, and with just a minute and a half left on the clock when the red flag came out there was no chance of getting restarted. It meant that Perez was on pole with Alonso starting from second. Sainz was third putting him alongside Magnussen on the second row, while behind them were Gasly and Russell starting ahead of Leclerc and Ocon. Verstappen had had no chance to set a time and will therefore start the race from P9 with Bottas in tenth having also not set a time in the curtailed Q3.
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