\u2018Pretty woeful\u2019 Lando bounces back as McLaren\u2019s \u2018perfect\u2019 response catches F1 rival by surprise<\/a><\/p>\nSprint Pole qualifier Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren with his Pirelli Sprint Pole award during Sprint Qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Miami.Source: AFP<\/p>\n
McLAREN UPGRADES DO IT AGAIN<\/p>\n
McLaren warned it was bringing what amounted to an all-new car to Miami.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not the first time in recent years the team has gambled on a big upgrade around this time of the season, but this is the first time it\u2019s taken this approach under these regulations. Could the team pull it off again under an unfamiliar rule book?<\/p>\n
On the evidence of the first competitive session with its new package, the answer is emphatically yes.<\/p>\n
McLaren had been on average 0.612 seconds slower than Mercedes over the first three rounds of the season.<\/p>\n
Norris stormed to sprint pole with a 0.222-second advantage over Antonelli, a remarkable turnaround.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very happy for the team of course,\u201d said the sprint pole-getter. \u201cIt\u2019s always a lot of expectation.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of work\u2019s gone into trying to bring these upgrades, and it\u2019s always difficult to anticipate and to know what to expect coming into a new weekend, but since lap 1, literally turn 1, everything has felt better.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt a little bit more like last year, with just having some confidence in the car, and I felt like I exploited that through the whole day today.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s probably better than we were expecting, honestly. We were expecting [it would be] better of course, but we didn\u2019t know in terms of quantity how it was going to be, so a little surprise, but a pleasant one for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Norris even suggested that there was more to come from McLaren given the magnitude of the car changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we were this quick in quali, normally you\u2019d expect to continue that into long runs,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s still a new car for us. We\u2019re still learning things on the go. We\u2019re still trying to exploit things.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure we\u2019ll make some improvements tomorrow into qualifying, but for now I\u2019m happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oscar Piastri was a close pole contender but lost most of his eventual 0.239-second deficit down the straight between turns 8 and 11, where he appeared to lack top speed relative to Norris, presumably due to having less battery charge \u2014 which was likely down to different approaches to turn 7-8.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the car had great potential today, which was really nice to see,\u201d Piastri said. \u201cMy lap in SQ3 didn\u2019t feel the best, so to have turned up third is a good effort, and obviously for Lando a good result too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy with the work the team have done, and a little bit more room to improve for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was telling, though, that he remained cautious about Mercedes\u2019s relatively lack of competitiveness.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve not looked quite as dominant this weekend so far, so we\u2019ll see if that stays true into tomorrow,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we all expected Mercedes to still be the benchmark, so let\u2019s wait and see for tomorrow first.\u201d<\/p>\n
WHAT HAPPENED TO MERCEDES?<\/p>\n
George Russell is rarely lost for words, but the Briton was stunned when he climbed out of his car after qualifying sixth for the Miami sprint.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s the first Mercedes driver to fail to qualify on the front row for any session this season.<\/p>\n
Between him and pole-getter Norris sit teammate Antonelli, Piastri, Ferrari\u2019s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull Racing\u2019s Max Verstappen \u2014 at least one driver from every other frontrunning team.<\/p>\n
He was 0.624 seconds off sprint pole and a chunky 0.402 seconds slower than his teammate.<\/p>\n
\u201cPretty surprising how big a jump McLaren and Ferrari have made,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s pretty damn impressive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew they\u2019d probably close the gap, but they\u2019ve been quicker than us.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy side I\u2019ve been struggling today. Miami is not a track that I love, to be honest, especially these hotter conditions, but it\u2019s only sprint qualifying, so let\u2019s see what tomorrow brings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was struggling to get the right balance with the car. Not much more to say than that really. I\u2019ve just been quite surprised by the progress of the others.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain responds to a question during a news conference ahead of the Miami Formula One Grand Prix.Source: AP<\/p>\n
What\u2019s behind the sudden dip?<\/p>\n
Mercedes is an outlier this weekend as one of few teams not to bring massive upgrades, having listed two new parts for Miami. Only Audi (two), Haas (one) and Aston Martin (zero) have brought similarly small packages.<\/p>\n
McLaren, on the other hand, listed seven new parts, as did Red Bull Racing. Ferrari named 11 upgraded pieces.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were expecting this weekend to be quite a bit tougher, also because those teams [ahead], everyone brought major upgrades,\u201d Antonelli said. \u201cObviously they closed the gap massively or even went in front of us.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe McLarens have got the same [power unit] as us and improved a lot the car, so it was expected for them to be at the front.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also an interesting suggestion from the telemetry that McLaren is using its Mercedes power unit more effectively \u2014 deploying more energy earlier in the lap but without paying a price later in the lap. You can bet Mercedes will be studying the engine data especially closely tonight.<\/p>\n
Antonelli was optimistic he was closer to the front than the results made it look, having had an engine problem in practice that prevented him from sampling the soft tyre until his sole crack at pole in SQ3.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a team we did a great job on recovering,\u201d he said. \u201cNow we look forward to tomorrow. Definitely we\u2019ll dig deep tonight to see what we can do better in order to be faster tomorrow.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we can be in the fight. That\u2019s what we\u2019re going to try to do tomorrow and on Sunday as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
FERRARI FLAT AFTER UPGRADE UNDERPERFORMANCE<\/p>\n
Ferrari hopes were high that an extensive and effective aero upgrade could begin compensating for the engine\u2019s relative lack of power to Mercedes in Miami.<\/p>\n
Charles Leclerc got the most out of it and qualified fourth \u2014 his same starting position for all three grands prix so far.<\/p>\n
Ferrari was the third-quickest car, just as it has been at the end of every weekend so far.<\/p>\n
It looked like a lot of work for no momentum.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to say there was no progress. At 0.37 seconds off sprint pole, it\u2019s the closest Ferrari has been to P1 all season. It\u2019s just that it\u2019s still not enough to make it onto the front row.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe upgrades are fine; it\u2019s just that everybody brought upgrades,\u201d said a downcast Leclerc, who added he didn\u2019t think the competitive picture has changes much at all despite Norris\u2019s pole.<\/p>\n
\u201cMcLaren did a very big step forward, but I feel like they didn\u2019t really optimise their first races of the season, so they were always there but didn\u2019t put everything together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lewis Hamilton \u2014 who qualified seventh and 0.379 seconds behind Leclerc, thanks largely to time lost down the back straight and at the final turn 17 hairpin \u2014 said the team nonetheless expected more from the extensive package.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d hoped that we would be better, but the car didn\u2019t feel particularly great,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought we\u2019d be stronger than we were today. We\u2019ve got to do some work overnight to try and figure out why we\u2019re not that quick.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was hopeful, coming in positive, that we were going to be much higher, but it wasn\u2019t meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ferrari has looked more competitive in practice and even in SQ2, which Leclerc topped, but it couldn\u2019t kick on in the pole shootout, which seemed to be down to an inability to get the soft tyres around the lap intact. Drivers used the softs for only around 15 minutes at the end of practice and weren\u2019t allowed to use them again until SQ3.<\/p>\n
Perhaps Ferrari\u2019s underperformance relative to expectations just a function of the sprint weekend. Certainly the team will hope so \u2014 and hope it can right that wrong in grand prix qualifying tomorrow.<\/p>\n
RED BULL RACING\u2019S SIGNS OF LIFE<\/p>\n
Red Bull Racing can breathe a small sigh of relief after seeing its own extensive upgrade package deliver a big step forward, even if it doesn\u2019t yet look like enough to really mix in at the front.<\/p>\n
In a car that is clearly visually different \u2014 including with its own take on Ferrari\u2019s rollover rear wing \u2014 Verstappen qualified fifth and 0.592 seconds off the pace.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the first time since Melbourne that Red Bull Racing has been one of the four fastest cars over a single lap.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels more together,\u201d Verstappen said. \u201cOf course there are still things we are working on, but it\u2019s been a really positive step for us.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say we\u2019ve almost halved that gap now, so that\u2019s positive.\u201d<\/p>\n
The numbers bear that out. On average at the first three circuits the RB22 has been 1.156 seconds off top spot, almost exactly twice as distant as it was in Miami.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were still very weak in the first sector, which is mainly high speed, so we know that we need to work on that, but the rest seemed a bit more together,\u201d Verstappen continued. \u201cI\u2019m a bit happier with that. At least it seems like we have cleared a little bit the midfield.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still not where I want it to be obviously, but it\u2019s at least allowing me to trust it a bit more, and I can take a bit more lap time out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The layout is playing a little into Red Bull Racing\u2019s hands here, for while the car is clearly weakest in those high-speed corners in the first sector \u2014 Verstappen loses around half a second alone though there \u2014 it\u2019s also slower through the tighter corners at the far end of the track. It only makes up time down the straights, in particular the run to turn 11.<\/p>\n
A more complex track with more turns and fewer long straights would presumably see that gap expand.<\/p>\n
But Miami isn\u2019t enough of an outlier for that to be a huge asterisk. This is still an improvement, and given the dire start to the season, Red Bull Racing will gladly take it.<\/p>\n
FIA MISS COSTS LAWSON AN SQ2 SPOT<\/p>\n
Williams is confident it\u2019s making progress, and two cars in SQ2 was a positive sign \u2014 until Alex Albon was demoted from 14th to 19th for exceeding track limits.<\/p>\n
Albon ran off the road at turn 6 on his fastest SQ1 lap, but he evaded FIA detection and was allowed to start SQ2. <\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t until the end of SQ2 that the stewards noted the incident, and it wasn\u2019t until after qualifying had finished that Albon was retrospectively punished, dropping him to 19th, where he would have qualified had the lap been deleted at the end of SQ1.<\/p>\n
It was bad news for Liam Lawson, who was knocked out 17th and missed his rightful chance to compete for a higher grid spot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they realised too late and, because he\u2019d already gone out on track,\u201d Lawson said. \u201cI honestly can\u2019t understand how that\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not the first time an incident like this has been missed until after the fact, and it\u2019s certainly not the first time the stewarding process has taken too long to come up with a time-sensitive decision.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s always a lot more going on in the stewards office than is made obvious by the investigation messages in the broadcast, and officiating is one of those thankless tasks \u2014 no-one notices you when things are going smoothly, but mistakes are painfully obvious. <\/p>\n
But the FIA also instituted with great fanfare a remote operations centre in 2022 that it said would serve as the extra resource required to ensure the stewards could be across more incidents in more detail. The governing body also instituted a new AI model in its stewarding program just this season specifically for track limits violations.<\/p>\n
That this is over 14th on the grid makes it a low-profile miss but no less important given the difficulty of scoring points for midfield teams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Miami Grand Prix has been billed as a season reset. For some it\u2019s certainly delivered. Mercedes had…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":644148,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[311704,2095,12295,64,63,13776,248285,239765,13275,311721,16185,24122,311708,90120,24124,311717,817,311720,2755,813,816,54344,311714,3875,18901,14211,311712,311718,311707,1737,21772,3352,825,311702,5140,152574,20590,2041,2067,16280,18929,192129,132250,70693,311705,11095,311716,85,22784,311719,22764,18910,192126,311711,311709,310512,159658,311706,311713,22291,311703,311715,311710,2614,109459],"class_list":["post-644147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-aero-upgrade","tag-america","tag-andrea-kimi-antonelli","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-auto-race","tag-battery-charge","tag-car-changes","tag-charles-leclerc","tag-close-pole-contender","tag-customer-team","tag-defending-world-champion","tag-engine-data","tag-engine-problem","tag-exceeding-track-limits","tag-extensive-upgrade-package","tag-f1","tag-final-turn","tag-florida","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-front-row","tag-frontrunning-team","tag-george-russell","tag-grand-prix-qualifying","tag-grands-prix","tag-grid-spot","tag-interesting-suggestion","tag-investigation-messages","tag-lando-norris","tag-lap-time","tag-liam-lawson","tag-max-verstappen","tag-mercedes-driver","tag-miami","tag-midfield-teams","tag-news-conference","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-pole-position","tag-pole-shootout","tag-positive-sign","tag-positive-step","tag-relative-lack","tag-remote-operations","tag-scoring-points","tag-season-reset","tag-sports","tag-sprint-pole","tag-sprint-pole-getter","tag-sprint-race","tag-sprint-weekend","tag-starting-position","tag-statement-result","tag-stewards-office","tag-substantial-upgrades","tag-sudden-dip","tag-third-quickest-car","tag-top-speed-relative","tag-track-limits","tag-track-limits-violations","tag-underperformance-relative","tag-unfamiliar-rule-book","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-upgrade-package"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=644147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/644148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=644147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=644147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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