MIAMI GARDENS Fla. — Red Bull’s Max Verstappen narrowly beat Lando Norris to pole position for the Miami Grand Prix to take his third pole position of the season.
Verstappen was 0.065 seconds faster than a mistake-riddled lap by Norris — who won Saturday’s sprint race — which included a rough ride across the kerbs at Turn 17 and a visible struggle for car balance in the high-speed first sector.
Verstappen said afterwards: “It’s been a great qualifying we improved the car a tiny amount … and honestly Q1, Q2, Q3 [I was] improving every run trying to find a bit more of the limit. Around here is very complicated with the tires over a lap.
“In the end it worked out well so I’m very happy to be on pole.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli secured third place for Mercedes, following on from his pole position lap for the sprint race earlier in the weekend. Antonelli failed to convert the pole into victory in the sprint after losing the lead at the first corner and clashing with Verstappen in the pit lane, but will look to secure the first podium of his career on Sunday.
Championship leader Oscar Piastri had to settle for fourth place in Q3 after failing to improve on his Q2 time, which would have been an exact match for teammate Norris down to a thousandth of a second.
George Russell secured fifth place for Mercedes ahead of the two Williams drivers, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, and the highest-placed Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in eighth.
Esteban Ocon will start ninth for Haas ahead of the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda, who was 0.699 seconds off his teammate on pole position.
Lewis Hamilton failed to make the top ten for the first time this season after qualifying 12th behind Racing Bulls Isack Hadjar. Hamilton’s time was 0.039 seconds off a place in Q3, with F1’s graphics saying he lost 0.016 seconds in Turn 2 alone.
The Ferrari driver will start ahead of Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto in 13th place, with Jack Doohan lining up 14th for Alpine ahead of the Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, who complained about a battery deployment issue, in 15th.
Nico Hulkenberg missed out in a place in Q2 by 0.023 seconds and will start 16th ahead of Fernando Alonso, whose Aston Martin was rebuilt in time for Q1 after a crash in the sprint race.
Pierre Gasly will start 18th for Alpine ahead of the second Aston Martin of Lance Stroll and Ollie Bearman’s Haas in 20th.
