2023 USA (Miami) Grand Prix - Practice & Qualifying Thread

[Cavallino]

off topic, but one thing i never understood is why they use DRS in qualifying. Then it's not JUST an overtaking tool.

[TTRSMAD]

yeah, you're almost better off going head first into the barrier to save the engine and gearbox

I agree but doesn't look like a big hit. The car bottomed out coming off the curb and destabilized the rear end. Too incisive is going to bite you from time to time.

[PURE PASSION]

Don't see many other top drivers make so many mistakes which is a bit worrying.

Not referring to this perticular mistake , but in general that the team havent provide a stable -fast car and a stable environment inside the team . So he has always to push to the limite and beyong for a better result. But also on the other hand you are right that he need to calm down a bit and act more mature if he wants to win a championship when he eventually have the car to do it !!!

[racingbradley]

Charles must be under mega pressure from the team, the media et al.
I would hate to be inside his head just now. Poor guy.

[KimiBot]

Charles must be under mega pressure from the team, the media et al.
I would hate to be inside his head just now. Poor guy.

Yes, I think so too. I dont mind his crash`s this year, just because RB is too fast, next year maybe different, we`ll see.

[ferrari1.8t]

Too bad for Leclerc. Here at the track the atmosphere was electric…everyone was anticipating Leclerc’s lap. Too bad for Ferrari, however a mixed up starting grid will be good for fans. Good lap by Carlos as well!

Forza Ferrari!!!

Side note, strange that there isn’t a strong “orange army” presence here. Lots of Checo fans, Alonso fans, Ferrari fans and obviously Hamilton fans. But not much love for Verstappen.

[Cavallino]

i think he overdrove the track more than anything else, which you have to do when you have to get all the time you can in the corners because you're chasing a car that gets a half second on you every straight away

[TTRSMAD]

Verstappen must be ****** off with Leclerc. Tomorrow we will see some passing that's for sure.

[Cavallino]

Too bad for Leclerc. Here at the track the atmosphere was electric…everyone was anticipating Leclerc’s lap. Too bad for Ferrari, however a mixed up starting grid will be good for fans. Good lap by Carlos as well!

Forza Ferrari!!!

Side note, strange that there isn’t a strong “orange army” presence here. Lots of Checo fans, Alonso fans, Ferrari fans and obviously Hamilton fans. But not much love for Verstappen.

he's a medicore driver and what's worse a medicore personality

[Cavallino]

Too bad for Leclerc. Here at the track the atmosphere was electric…everyone was anticipating Leclerc’s lap. Too bad for Ferrari, however a mixed up starting grid will be good for fans. Good lap by Carlos as well!

Forza Ferrari!!!

Side note, strange that there isn’t a strong “orange army” presence here. Lots of Checo fans, Alonso fans, Ferrari fans and obviously Hamilton fans. But not much love for Verstappen.

rain would be even better, don't enable the DRS and we can have an actual motor race

problem is the red bull tyre advantage extends even more so to intermediate tyres, and wet tyres are no longer used in Formula 1

[stasera]

leclerc doesn't know his limits, that's his biggest problem. he is way too faster than any driver. But takes a lot of risks. he should be able to make do with it. your car is the second fastest car in the grid. you don't have to obtain the pole position every time. but its okay, qualis are always open to crash more than a race. because in these qualies drivers push more than races.

[nani_s23]

Fred Vasseur:

“When you're fighting for pole, the driver has to push.”

“You can't accuse him of pushing 'too much'. That's how he makes the difference, sometimes the mistake just happens, but I'd rather having him pushing than not.”


I’m starting to like Fred more & more .

He’s banking on Charles & building team around him.

[ferrari1.8t]

rain would be even better, don't enable the DRS and we can have an actual motor race

problem is the red bull tyre advantage extends even more so to intermediate tyres, and wet tyres are no longer used in Formula 1

Nooo, I don’t feel like getting wet lol. Much rather roast in the sunshine!

But yes, a tighter race without the DRS advantage would be nice.

[paolo lalli]

Charles is under no pressure he creates his own pressure,until he learns to master his demons its going to be hard lessons this is not the first time.Charles has a history of binning the car,sure he is fast but being fast is not enough to become a world champion ,it's only part of the equation it takes so much more.

[racingbradley]

Fred Vasseur:
“When you're fighting for pole, the driver has to push.”
“You can't accuse him of pushing 'too much'. That's how he makes the difference, sometimes the mistake just happens, but I'd rather having him pushing than not.”
I’m starting to like Fred more & more .
He’s banking on Charles & building team around him.

That's good to hear. A manager who supports his driver. I'm liking Fred too ......better reaction than finger pointing.

[jgonzalesm6]

Side note, strange that there isn’t a strong “orange army” presence here. Lots of Checo fans, Alonso fans, Ferrari fans and obviously Hamilton fans. But not much love for Verstappen.

ALOT of Hispanics in Miami and out of those Hispanics, it's mostly Cubano's. The Latin "Love" grows even more in Mexico City.

he's a medicore driver and what's worse a medicore personality

riiiiiiight. He's 25yo and going for his 3rd WDC title. That's possibly 2 more than Lewis had at the same age.

Side note: You know they brought Zandvoort back on the calendar because of Max. Can you name another F1 driver where they opened up an F1 venue in his home country?

[jgonzalesm6]

Leclerc's gearbox is off the car. IF changed, no penalty.

[Alonsomaniac]

Just heard Charles' will also get a new rear wing with the letters FOLLOW ME. This in order to keep Max behind.

[Cavallino]

riiiiiiight. He's 25yo and going for his 3rd WDC title. That's possibly 2 more than Lewis had at the same age.

Side note: You know they brought Zandvoort back on the calendar because of Max. Can you name another F1 driver where they opened up an F1 venue in his home country?

i LOVE how butthurt you get everytime i bash Crashtappen. It's hysterical. I've literally replied to comments by other people, and you've interuppted just because it was about Crashtappen.

Lewis had a world championship in his second season in F1 if you want to go by that.

And Mexico is on the calendar because of Chico.

But i will agree, Max is better than mediocre. But then again, he has his hands full with D tier Chico, and C tier Riccardo before that

[Cavallino]

also, if this was a George Russell, or any British driver crashing, Sky would be quick to blame it on the wind

[tifosi1993]

and the team doesnt help him to relax and try to solve his thing !!! All this pressure inside the team ,the uncompetitiveness ,just make the thinhs worse and he push too much

Why are you blaming the team for driver error? The SF23 is not some lemon that Charles can't keep it on track.

Two errors in the same corner resulting in two crashes is quite unacceptable thb. He is the fastest guy in F1 but needs to see the bigger picture. He needs to abondone the "I will give my all" mentality. He must learn to maximize his chances in all scenarios.

[Tony]

Nooo, I don’t feel like getting wet lol. Much rather roast in the sunshine!

But yes, a tighter race without the DRS advantage would be nice.

Unless there's a hurricane on its way, usually you get up to 30 minutes of rain in Miami daily and then it's back to sunshine.

[paolo lalli]

The grid is a mixed grill not a mixed grid the question is who is going to get grilled first.

[nani_s23]

Just heard Charles' will also get a new rear wing with the letters FOLLOW ME. This in order to keep Max behind.

It’s opposite. RB with that DRS advantage, hardly 2-3 laps Charles can hold.

[paolo lalli]

Max and Charles co uld well take each other out they are both aggressive fast drivers and lack the patience its win at all cost this is there working models if it pays hero if it does not then zero.

[jgonzalesm6]

10pm Saturday night and rain has entered the track. Any rubber laid down on the track has washed away.

[jgonzalesm6]

Charles Leclerc takes new MGU-K and gearbox at Miami GP. (This was on Friday...fyi)

https://www.planetf1.com/news/charle...ponents-miami/

[paolo lalli]

Expect max to clear most cars in under 10 laps then he will zero in on Sergio.With some good mistake free driving good points on the offering a possible podium.

[Super M]

Why are you blaming the team for driver error? The SF23 is not some lemon that Charles can't keep it on track.

Two errors in the same corner resulting in two crashes is quite unacceptable thb. He is the fastest guy in F1 but needs to see the bigger picture. He needs to abondone the "I will give my all" mentality. He must learn to maximize his chances in all scenarios.

Fair point there........But for me, there was 3 issues i noticed , 1) Hitting the drainage lip on that bend. 2) Gusty wind that influenced his spin.3) Pushing it a bit too much, over eager.

If i look at Leclerc V Verstappen , the latter took some time to get to grips with F1. You can recall how crashtappen got his nickname, right ? But today, Max is a determined driver, fast and knows car control to the tee, ( i'm excluding the car )

I personally believe that given the same amount of years, Leclerc will become just like max, if not better. One also needs to include that Ferrari give him a strong competitive and reliable car.

[wisepie]

OK so it was an error by Charles but the car looks unstable at times and he was pushing like crazy, that's not really an excuse as Fred has said, but Charles, for your own sake, you don't have to get pole every time. We know why he does it, he's racer and we love him for it, but sometimes you have to be more circumspect.