Verstappen takes shock pole after Q2 exit for Hamilton

Red Bull’s world champion Max Verstappen has defeated McLaren driver Lando Norris to pole at Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix.

Verstappen claimed his 43rd career pole by 0.065s over Norris, with Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli impressing once again by keeping Oscar Piastri behind for third on the grid.

In Q3 Verstappen drew first blood with a lap of 1m26.492s, just thousandths ahead of Norris and Piastri, which had more to do with neither McLaren driver finding gains rather than any Verstappen heroics.

But Verstappen then did sprinkle in some magic to find the fastest time across the session, a 1m26.204s, which was enough to fend off a late improvement by Norris, who appeared to lose his pole shot by bouncing over the inside kerb in the final corner.

Russell was fifth in the second Mercedes ahead of excellent Williams duo Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc a low-key eighth. Haas driver Esteban Ocon excelled to grab ninth ahead of the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda.

Hamilton struggles continue in Miami qualifying

Piastri led the running in Q2 by two tenths over team-mate Norris. Before the final attempt Russell found himself in the dropzone – albeit on used tyres – declaring he had no confidence in his Mercedes, but his second lap was more than good enough to go through.

The same couldn’t be said of Lewis Hamilton, whose second lap was worse than his first, dropping the Ferrari driver out in 12th just 0.039s off 10th. Hadjar missed the cut by a mere 0.020s in 11th, while Gabriel Bortoleto took an encouraging 13th starting berth for Sauber.

Jack Doohan was the best of the Alpines in 14th, followed by a disappointing 15th place for Racing Bulls man Liam Lawson who suffered from a battery problem.

Verstappen led Q1 after what had been a frantic affair, intensified by a dramatic rate of track evolution after the morning rain had washed away a lot of rubber.

The typical queues at the end of the pitlane and the scrambling for position continued, but unlike Friday’s sprint qualifying no drivers were caught out by the chequered flag.

The narrow margins meant only leader Verstappen could afford to stay in the garage for the final flyer, with Hamilton one of the drivers under pressure before booking a spot in Q2.

Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg just missed the cut in 16th, ahead of Fernando Alonso, whose Aston Martin was repaired in time after his sprint race crash. Gasly was 18th, ruing traffic on his final lap, with Lance Stroll and Oliver Bearman also eliminated.

F1 Miami GP qualifying results