Quali recap: Charles eighth, Lewis 12th

A few hours on from this morning’s Sprint race, it’s time for qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix. The mechanics did a great job to rebuild Charles Leclerc’s car in time, following his accident that ruled him out of this morning’s race. Lewis Hamilton gets to work, having finished third in the Sprint. The sunshine has returned, it’s very humid with an air temperature of 29 degrees, while the track is at 45.

Q1. Used Softs for Lewis and Charles who start off with times of 1’28”064 and 1’28”503 respectively. They pit for new Softs, Leclerc lapping in 1’27”484 and Hamilton in 1’27”756, having locked up his wheels at the final heavy braking point prior to the finish line. Charles goes again and improves to 1’27”417, while Lewis takes another new set of Soft tyres to get down to 1’27”279. 

Q2. Charles sets a first time of 1’26”948 on new Softs. Lewis runs the set with which he ended Q1 and posts a 1’27”006. They both pit for new Softs but they do not go quicker. Leclerc has done enough to make the cut to Q3 but Hamilton does not and will start from 12^th on the grid.

Q3. Charles goes out on new Softs but he aborts his first attempt after making a mistake at turn 17. The Monegasque switches to a set of used Softs from Q2 and laps in 1’26”754, which puts him on the fourth row of the grid in eighth place.