Norris leads the way after the Miami Sprint Qualifying

On Friday of the Miami Grand Prix weekend, the drivers were thrown straight into the thick of the action with an extended 90‑minute free practice session, rather than the usual 60, followed by a fiercely contested Sprint Qualifying, at the end of which Lando Norris emerged as the fastest.

During FP1, the teams focused mainly on the C3 compound, which is the Hard tyre for the Miami race weekend. In the second half of the session, almost all the drivers switched programmes, moving onto the C4 or C5 and therefore running all the compounds available for the weekend. As it is a Sprint weekend, the teams will have to return only one set of tyres at the end of the day.

The reigning World Champion, who claimed his first Grand Prix victory here in Miami in 2024, appears particularly comfortable on the circuit that winds its way around the Hard Rock Stadium. He secured pole position in Sprint Qualifying ahead of Kimi Antonelli, who finished second, more than two tenths of a second adrift of the Briton. Third place went to Oscar Piastri. The two McLaren drivers will therefore line up in the first two rows for Saturday’s Sprint race.

As per the regulations, only Medium tyres were used in the first two qualifying segments, with a single set allocated for SQ1 and one for SQ2. The ten fastest drivers were then allowed to switch to a set of Soft tyres for SQ3. Prior to this final session, there was a thrilling battle for a place in the top ten. Both Audis were very close to Pierre Gasly, but the Frenchman managed to stay just ahead of the German team’s pair, relegating Gabriel Bortoleto to 11th place and Nico Hülkenberg to 12th on the grid for tomorrow.

In SQ3, Norris was the quickest with a lap of 1:27.869, the only driver to dip below the 1:28 barrier. As a result, Norris claimed the Pirelli Sprint Qualifying Award, presented by Pirelli Motorsport Director Dario Marrafuschi.

SIMONE BERRA – PIRELLI CHIEF ENGINEER

Today’s free practice session felt like a real step back in time. The extension to 90 minutes allowed us to gather a large amount of data over meaningful mileage that would not normally be covered in a standard one-hour session. The most widely used compound was the Hard, the most suitable for the analysis work carried out today on power units and aerodynamic updates. The information gathered in Miami will also be useful for the upcoming rounds, as the C3 is the compound that appears most frequently in race weekend selections.

The laps completed on the Medium and Soft tyres, on the other hand, made it possible to identify the performance delta between the three compounds, which was quantified at around half a second, in line with simulation expectations. Track conditions are not yet optimal, as shown by a few lock-ups into Turn 1, but they will improve progressively through to Sunday. Today the degradation observed was limited and purely thermal in nature, due to record-high track temperatures.

It is interesting to note that in Sprint Qualifying there is only a 1.4-second gap compared to last year’s best time. With this new generation of cars, the gains achieved through the Miami corners taken with the DRS closed clearly seem to compensate for the lower straight-line speeds.

Kush Maini claimed pole position today in the Miami qualifying session. The ART Grand Prix driver was quicker than second-placed Rafael Câmara and Martinius Stenshorne. The American crowd witnessed a Formula 2 qualifying session of the very highest standard, with the top 21 drivers covered by less than one second. An intriguing Saturday lies ahead in Miami, when the F2 drivers will return to the track for the Sprint Race.

The compounds selected for the weekend are Medium and Supersoft, with a step between the two options. This very difference could prompt some teams to consider starting Sunday’s Feature Race on the Supersoft, in order to gain an early advantage.

The softer compound will clearly suffer from higher degradation, unlike the Medium, which should deliver more consistent performance over a longer stint. Miami has also accustomed us to sudden changes in weather conditions.

Should temperatures be cooler, for example after a downpour, drivers may need to pay closer attention to warming up the yellow-marked tyre, while stints on the Supersoft could be extended by a few laps. However, the latter may be prone to graining, a phenomenon that drivers could manage to limit through careful pace management.