Verstappen came out on top in SQ3 Miami: 'That makes a big difference'

The margin between super-fast and way too slow was particularly small during the Sprint Shootout in Miami. Lando Norris knows all about it: the McLaren driver was fastest on medium tyres in SQ1 and SQ2 each time, but on the new softs in SQ3, the Brit struggled. Even Max Verstappen - who eventually ran away with pole for the sprint race - could fully understand the challenge Norris, for instance, was up against.

"On a track surface like this, it means that if you are a little bit out with the tyres it makes a big difference, but I think everyone else particularly struggled with the final run on the soft tyres. We have a few things to analyse and question why it felt a bit different from qualifying, but we should get it together fine for tomorrow. All in all, we have a great starting position for the Sprint and hopefully we can maximise this. Once the tyres stablilise, we should be back on track.”

Everything changed for Sergio Perez

His teammate Sergio Perez will start the sprint race later this Saturday in third place. The Mexican also struggled in the closing part of the session: "we had one shot on that soft compound but we just didn’t maximise it and we got caught out a little bit with the grip, it changed here and there. Given that we only had a single go on that soft tyre it is down to a bit of luck about what the car is going to do."

Due to the sprint weekend, there was only one practice session to work on a setup. "It is very challenging to go from just one practice into that session but it’s the same for everyone. I think the McLarens were the fastest cars out there, but they just couldn’t work it out on the soft compound.  We have some work to do there and hopefully by tomorrow we can work it out. The aim will be to get as many points as possible in the Sprint and then we will go from there into the race. I think we are heading in the right direction and hopefully we can see a stronger race pace.” Perez said.