REPORT: A strong Saturday in Miami

Our most successful Qualifying session ever recorded in Miami saw both of our FW47 cars reach Q3, with Carlos and Alex putting in lap times good enough for P6 and P7 ahead of the Grand Prix tomorrow.

The day began with an eventful Sprint Race, as the morning saw plenty of rainfall over Florida. It was the first wet session seen around this circuit, and there was drama throughout the 19 lap race.

Carlos was battling his way up from P15 on the grid but had to retire the car after making contact with the wall. Alex, meanwhile, crossed the line in P5, was promoted to P4 after Max Verstappen received a penalty, before eventually being demoted back to P11 after falling below the minimum speed required behind the Safety Car.

It was a disappointing end to what had been a very promising Sprint – but both drivers put that to one side and delivered great performances in the drier Qualifying session later in the day.

The session could barely have been executed any better, with both drivers improving their times each time they exited the pits.

The P6 and P7 result was richly deserved – our best Saturday result of the season so far – and focus will turn now to converting those grid positions into more points on Sunday.

James Vowles was delighted with the result, saying, "what I love about this team is that even when we are kicked down, we come back stronger.

"It was great to see the whole team fired up and wanting to show the world that we have a fast car this weekend. It was a perfectly executed Qualifying and the result is an incredibly rewarding one.

"We’ve got a good car for the race tomorrow - we have to acknowledge that there are fast cars behind us - but our job is to get two cars in the points."

Carlos meanwhile, said "I’m very happy with that Qualifying result. I’ve felt good in the car since FP1 and I knew I was fast this weekend, so it feels good to have a clean session and extract the maximum out of the car.

"The weekend is not over yet and we still need to deliver a perfect race if we want to pick up some good points, so full focus on tomorrow."

Alex was understandably frustrated with the Sprint result, adding, "it's hard to go into a Qualifying session straight after receiving a penalty in a really strong Sprint race. You try to shake it off and go again but it’s difficult. I think I did it though!

"I rose to the challenge, I’m pleased with P7 and having both cars in Q3 is great for the team. Our pace is super strong and this will help us a lot tomorrow. We can do a good job in the race, we just need to keep it clean."