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The 2024 F1 Miami GP qualifying was an intriguing state of affairs, with Max Verstappen once again securing pole position. However, what was surprising was the change of form guide for quite a few teams.
Mercedes improved a bit and was able to reach Q3 while Aston Martin struggled a lot and couldn't make it with either driver.
Daniel Ricciardo, the star of the sprint, had a horror show as he was eliminated in Q1, while his teammate had a complete role reversal.
Looking back at the 2024 F1 Miami GP qualifying, what did we learn? Let's take a look.
2024 F1 Miami GP Qualifying: Key Takeaways
#1 Max Verstappen is making the difference
Is Red Bull the fastest car on the grid? It is, but not by much. In the F1 Miami GP qualifying, it all came down to Q3 where it was neck and neck between Max and Charles.
The lap put together by Max Verstappen was cleaner and just overall better than what Charles did. This helped him secure another pole position. At the same time, Sergio Perez could not nail the perfect lap and hence, will start the race in P4.
This could easily have been a Ferrari pole if Red Bull didn't have Max Verstappen in the team, and that should tell you the value of the driver.
#2 Ferrari will be banking on the upgrades
The 2024 F1 Miami GP has shown that in the right conditions, Ferrari can get quite close to Red Bull. The sprint showed that the gap between the two teams was not too big either.
Having said that, there's still a gap, and the Red Bull is still the quicker car, even though it's not by much. Ferrari will be hoping to put together a challenge at the F1 Miami GP, but in all likelihood, the aim is to get the first set of upgrades in place at Imola and then build the momentum from there.
#3 The McLaren performance might have been a false dawn
McLaren's upgrades and performance at the F1 Miami GP sprint shootout might have been a false dawn. Either the team has tilted the set-up more towards the race or the conditions changed because the gap to the front was quite appreciable compared to Friday.
#4 Alpine will become a player in the midfield soon
One has to tip the hat to Alpine for the kind of progress that team has made in the first six races. The car was last in the first race of the season but now both drivers are almost knocking on the door of reaching Q3.
While we cannot just ignore the fact that as a works team, Alpine has thoroughly underperformed, it's also quite clear that since the start of the season, progress has been tangible, and a point finish might not be too far.
#5 Daniel Ricciardo went from Hero to Zero
Daniel Ricciardo will be kicking himself after the F1 Miami GP qualifying because the lace and the potential were clearly there for a better result, but he just messed it up. The Australian, coming off an impressive P4 finish in the sprint, completely killed all of his momentum. Let's see what he does in the race, but it surely is going to be frustrating for Daniel.
