MIAMI — The championship battle between Ferrari and Red Bull continues to swing back and forth. Charles Leclerc‘s performance on Saturday at the Miami Grand Prix means pole position has alternated between the two teams at each round this season, with Ferrari leading Red Bull 3-2 overall after five races.
But Saturday’s session in Miami could have gone either way. Max Verstappen, who ended up third on the grid just 0.005s behind Leclerc’s Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz in second, looked like he was the favourite early in Q3 only for Leclerc to snatch the fastest time overall on his final attempt.
Verstappen may have improved on his last lap, but ultimately dropped out of contention when his car snapped out of shape in Turn 5. The reigning champion, who missed the vast majority of the second practice session on Friday due to a hydraulic issue, said his lack of preparation ahead of qualifying ultimately cost him his shot at pole.
“I only did four or five laps yesterday and you cannot afford that on a new track like this and a street circuit in general, because it’s very critical to just do laps and get in a rhythm,” Verstappen said.
“On a normal track it is quite easy to get into a rhythm. On a street circuit it’s a lot more difficult and we basically failed on that side. Of course, in general, we are experienced enough to catch up on a lot of it, but to really fight, especially against a strong team like that, you cannot afford it.
“We still got close, but I think we could have done a much better job today if we had a cleaner Friday.”
As for the mistake itself, Verstappen added: “A bit of a weird moment to lose the car but again it’s just not really knowing the limits, I guess, and just trying a bit more, and then it snapped suddenly in Turn 5.
“I tried to keep it on the road but it didn’t really work, so I…
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