Charles Leclerc took pole position for the inaugural Miami Grand Prix, registering a qualification timing of 1:28.796
Championship leader Charles Leclerc will start on pole position for the inaugural Miami Grand Prix after leading a Ferrari one-two in a fiercely-fought qualifying as Max Verstappen narrowly missed out on clinching the top spot. Leclerc topped the qualifying by a margin of 0.2 seconds ahead of Sainz and Verstappen, taking his third pole in the season’s first five races, while Ferrari has their first front-row lockout since Mexico 2019.
Leclerc will now aim to make the most of his number 1 spot in the starting grid and win his third race of the season after Bahrain and Australia. Ahead of the race on Sunday, Charles Leclerc leads the drivers’ championship with 86 points.
Charles Leclerc has a huge chance to extend his championship lead over Max Verstappen as he lines up on pole for Sunday night’s Miami GP. Leclerc and Verstappen’s title rivalry – which has already produced incredible wheel-to-wheel racing and skill – is poised to dominate the F1 2024 campaign and it also headlines F1’s latest race in America, much to the delight of a bumper Miami crowd who have generated a wild atmosphere through the weekend.
Charles Leclerc is aiming to come back strong after a dismal show in Imola
Ferrari failed to continue its incredible run so far this season in Imola. They were the favorites to dominate the race on home turf, in a circuit name after their late founder but it was not to be. Carlos Sainz registered a DNF while Charles Leclerc (6) failed to make a podium finish.
Ferrari’s strategy change of changing tires seemed odd given Leclerc was on for such a comfortable third place, although managing the tires to the end was a tough ask after such an early-round of pitstops because the track was drying. It injected unnecessary jeopardy into Leclerc’s race, as even though he was quickly back ahead of Norris he then found himself in a position to attack Perez. That meant Leclerc was taking risks at the end of a grand Prix that could have had a straightforward finish.
Leclerc compounded his problems with a bad Grand Prix start and eventually a spin that meant a certain third-place finish became an only-just-salvaged sixth.
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