Elon Musk mocked over embarrassing F1 fail in Miami

The Formula One world has piled on Twitter and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, after the he posted about his suggestion to Red Bull boss Christian Horner about a potential all-electric motorsport series. The embattled billionaire was a guest in the Red Bull garage for the third practice session at the Miami Grand Prix, but fans suggested he pay a bit more attention to the motorsport world before weighing in with any big ideas.

The Miami GP is the first of three times F1 will visit America this season, with a new race in Las Vegas as well as the category's usual fixture at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin Texas later this year. Musk is the latest celebrity to jump on the F1 bandwagon, with Miami's first F1 outing last season bringing out a dazzling array of big names.

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However fans were quick to mock Musk after he took to Twitter to reveal he had talked about a potential 'pure EV (Electric Vehicle) vs gas/hybrid F1 race'.

“Fun discussion of aero & battery technology in F1," he wrote. “I proposed a pure EV vs gas/hybrid F1 race.”

The self-styled tech genius seemingly had no idea about the existence of the Formula E competition, which current F1 driver Nyck de Vries is a former champion of. Formula E held its first season in 2014-15. Formula E is the only championship series outside of Formula One to be given 'world championship' status by the FIA.

It's been a difficult 12 months for Musk, after he was forced by courts to proceed with his signed obligation to acquire Twitter for the agreed-upon price of $44 billion, or $54.20 per share. Musk was contending that his obligation was void because Twitter had, he claimed, inflated its real user numbers and understated the number of bots on the platform.

Since then, Musk has implemented a number of changes at the website which has seen its value plummet since he took over as CEO. The 51-year-old remains the CEO of electric car manufacturer Tesla, as well as aerospace company Space X.

Qualifying chaos in Miami as Sergio Perez claims pole position

Meanwhile, on the track it was a mixed bag for Red Bull, with Sergio Perez claiming pole position - but reigning champion Max Verstappen will start from 9th after his flying lap in Q3 went awry. A slight snap of oversteer saw Verstappen run wide on his hot lap, before the session was red-flagged shortly after when Ferrari's Charles Leclerc crashed.

Verstappen, who leads teammate Perez by six points in the drivers' championship after four races, had failed to complete his first flying lap and had everything riding on a second that never happened. Perez will go top of the championship if he can convert pole into his third win of the season and end double world champion Verstappen's almost year-long run at the top.

"I was trying to put it on the limit and then I made a mistake and had to abort the lap," said Verstappen, who had been consistently faster than Perez in practice. "Then you rely on a bit of luck that there is not going to be a red flag but that can happen on a street circuit. I'm just a bit upset with myself."

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso will line up alongside Perez on the front row. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz will be third, with Kevin Magnussen qualifying an astonishing fourth for Haas.

Alpine's Pierre Gasly will line up fifth with George Russell in sixth place on the grid for Mercedes and Leclerc seventh despite the crash.

With AAP

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