F1 star deploys CLEVER trick to gain major Miami race advantage

Checo, Alonso, Sainz, 2023, Miami, generic, social — Photo: © IMAGO

Miami Grand Prix

F1 star deploys CLEVER trick to gain major Miami race advantage

A F1 star has made the most out of a poor qualifying to gain an advantage for the Miami Grand Prix.

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Sunday 5 May 2024 16:49

One F1 driver has used their wits to gain an advantage for the Miami Grand Prix despite a poor qualifying performance.

Miami hosts the second sprint race of the season, back-to-back alongside the Chinese Grand Prix sprint.

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Max Verstappen achieved his second sprint race victory of the season, but wasn't the only driver to maximise their result.

Daniel Ricciardo temporarily silenced his critics by finishing a season best fourth ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

Daniel Ricciardo has had mixed fortunes at the Miami GP

F1 star makes the most out of difficult Miami qualifying

However, the Australian had a less successful qualifying session making an early exit in Q1.

Ricciardo also has a three-place grid penalty from the Chinese GP after overtaking during a safety car, meaning he will start the Miami GP last.

The Aston Martin’s of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll also had a difficult qualifying.

"A little bit disappointed with qualifying for us. P15 in Q1, P15 in Q2, so I didn't have much pace today," Alonso said to Autosport.

"We made some set-up changes since this morning - looking at the time, they probably didn't work as expected and we are a little bit less competitive than normal.”

Despite the disappointing session, Alonso already has his eyes on the race tomorrow.

Ted Kravitz noticed a clever trick the Spanish driver deployed to use qualifying to his advantage for the race tomorrow.

Fernando Alonso utilises his experience to make the most out of a poor qualifying

“If you noticed that Fernando went into the pits on the last lap, he was laying rubber in the pit box so that Aston Martin can have better and quicker pit stops tomorrow,” Kravitz said via Sky Sports F1.

“Brilliant idea, when he’s out of the points, great idea for Aston Martin and for Fernando Alonso.”

Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Daniel Ricciardo Miami Grand Prix