Why McLaren felt the “real picture” was Miami GP qualifying and not its sprint pole and win

McLaren went from a sprint pole and 1-2 in the race to fourth and seventh in Miami GP qualifying – but it feels its rivals optimising its performance having underperformed was key

McLaren felt the “real picture” of the Formula 1 pecking order appeared in Miami Grand Prix qualifying, as it went from a sprint pole position and 1-2 in the race to fourth and seventh in qualifying.

The reigning F1 world champion squad enjoyed the perfect start to its Miami GP weekend with Lando Norris taking pole for the sprint race, which he duly converted into victory while team-mate Oscar Piastri made it a 1-2 in the 19-lap encounter.

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But in Miami GP qualifying, Norris could only manage fourth on the grid – 0.385s off polesitter Kimi Antonelli – while Piastri dropped to seventh.

While on paper it appeared McLaren’s performance had dipped after its bright start, both drivers felt it was its rivals who underperformed during the two sprint sessions and corrected that come grand prix qualifying.

“I think we still did a good job, I think others just did a really bad job yesterday and just did the job they should do today, honestly, so not too many complaints,” Norris said.

“It was certainly a bit trickier with the car today with the wind and the temperatures, maybe the car just wasn't working quite as well and I certainly struggled a little bit more for whatever reason, but not because we changed anything, it's just the conditions were a little bit different and the others just did a job that they should do and I think we are where we deserve to be honestly.”

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Ryan Pierse / Getty Images

Piastri added: “I think everyone else maximised what they had a lot more. For us it was a big surprise to not see Mercedes be quick yesterday and this morning, and seeing Kimi on pole by that much is more what we expected. And I think even for Max and Charles, I think they probably just maximised a bit more of what they have - and that's a bit more of real picture.”

Norris, who took sprint pole with a 1m27.869s, could only manage a best lap time of 1m28.183s in grand prix qualifying, while Piastri saw a similar dip (1m28.108s in sprint qualifying versus 1m28.500s in grand prix qualifying).

The defending F1 world champion felt it was evidence of McLaren nailing its performance on Friday evening but a small dip coupled with improvements from its rivals culminated in its drop down the order.

“I don't think people gave us good credit for how good of a job we did yesterday comparing to the others, they were clearly quicker and that's why I was very, very happy with yesterday's performance and this morning's performance,” Norris explained.

“We maximised everything and I said yesterday already that it was close between the Mercedes.

“Mercedes around every corner was pretty much just as quick as or quicker than us and they just had some issues and clearly Max and the Red Bull was also very strong as well.

“So I'm not surprised, as a team we're surprised, probably surprised we struggled as much as we did today but I don't think in terms of order and pace of the Mercedes we're surprised at all.”