The 2023 Miami Grand Prix qualification ended prematurely after Charles Leclerc found the barrier in Sector 1. The Monegasque, who was pushing on an out lap, lost control of his Ferrari and hit the wall, thus ending the Q3.
However, why the Q3 will not be resumed with a little over a minute to spare? This is because there wasn’t enough time to start the qualification again. With all the cars lined up for their final push, the F1 governing authority didn’t want to risk a chaotic situation.
As Leclerc lost control and hit the barrier, the stewards called for an immediate red flag. The Monegasque went off the road with 1:56 seconds to spare and at that time there were over seven cars who were on out lap.
Charles Leclerc’s incident in Q3.
It hurts. pic.twitter.com/FfKTldqLCj
— Ferrari News 🐎 (@FanaticsFerrari) May 6, 2023
As the qualification ended prematurely, Sergio Perez took the unnatural pole position, followed by Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz in P2 and P3, respectively.
What were the surprises in the Miami GP qualification?
There are many surprising positions in the grid for the Miami GP race. Kevin Magnussen had an amazing qualification to end up in P4. Followed by Pierre Gasly, who is P5.
However, for Max Verstappen, it was another debacle as he has to start tomorrow’s race from P9. On the other hand, Leclerc starts from P7, behind Mercedes’ George Russell in P6.
That’s one tasty looking grid for Sunday 😋#MiamiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/p0sGFaNHmS
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 6, 2023
But the most surprising ones were Lewis Hamilton’s P13, Lance Stroll’s P18, and both McLarens crashing out of Q1. And on a positive note, Perez clinched another pole and Alonso starts from the front row.
What does the grid look like for Sunday’s race?
Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso take the front row, followed by Carlos Sainz and Kevin Magnussen. In the third row, there will be Pierre Gasly alongside George Russell.
In Row Four, Charles Leclerc and Esteban Ocon will take the position. Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas will complete the top ten. In row six, there is Alex Albon and Nico Hulkenberg, followed by Lewis Hamilton and Zhou Guanyu.
Rookie Nyck de Vries will start from row seven alongside Lando Norris. Row eight will see Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll take the position. Rookies Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant, also the homeboy, make it to the last row of the grid.
