Alex Albon drops to P19 for Miami Sprint after penalty

alex albon will start the Miami Sprint from P19 after stewards deleted his best laps for exceeding track limits at Turn 6 in Sprint Qualifying. He had initially taken 14th on Friday, but the post-session ruling pushed him to the back of the field for Saturday at the Miami International Autodrome.

Albon’s SQ1 Lap

The key lap came on his final SQ1 effort, a 1m 30.988s run that squeezed him into SQ2 and left Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson demoted by less than one-tenth. That single lap was enough to move Albon forward on the provisional sheet before the stewards stepped in after the session.

In the stewards' document, Car 23 clearly exceeded track limits in Turn 6 during SQ1. The same document said the breach was not reported until SQ2 had commenced, which is why the situation was treated as unusual and settled after the fact.

Stewards Delete SQ2 Times

Because Car 23’s lap time in SQ1 was sufficient to place it in SQ2, the stewards deleted that lap and then removed all lap times from SQ2 as well. The ruling wiped out the progress Albon had made during Sprint Qualifying and left him starting P19 for the Sprint.

The practical effect is simple for Saturday: Albon now begins the Miami Sprint from the rear after a session that had briefly put him into SQ2. Lawson, who had been edged by less than one-tenth, gained back the position that Albon’s deleted lap had cost him.

Miami International Autodrome

The Miami Sprint is scheduled for Saturday at the Miami International Autodrome, and the grid now reflects the post-session penalty rather than the on-track result. For Albon, the line from SQ1 to the Sprint grid runs through one deleted lap, one Turn 6 breach, and a fall from 14th to P19.

“This one really hurts.”