Max Verstappen takes pole for Miami Grand Prix ahead of Charles Leclerc

Kieran Crichard
Max Verstappen on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Miami
Max Verstappen during qualifying in Miami - Getty Images/Chris Graythen

By Philip Duncan

Max Verstappen continued his crushing dominance of Formula One by taking pole position for the Miami Grand Prix.

Four hours after racing to victory in Saturday’s sprint race, Verstappen saw off the challenge from Ferrari at the Hard Rock Stadium to retain his perfect record in qualifying this season.

Verstappen’s latest one-lap triumph marked his seventh consecutive pole – just one short of Ayrton Senna’s record – and he will start Sunday’s main event as the strong favourite to take his fifth win of the campaign.

Verstappen headed into the final runs in the Sunshine State holding a 0.141-sec advantage over Charles Leclerc but none of the major players improved, paving the way for the Dutch driver to take top spot.

Leclerc will join Verstappen on the front row with Carlos Sainz third in the other scarlet machine. Sergio Perez took fourth spot, ahead of Lando Norris, who was fifth for McLaren.

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton qualified seventh and eighth respectively for Mercedes.

Russell urged Hamilton to “hurry up” as he prepared for his last go, ultimately lapping four hundredths quicker than his team-mate to take a 5-1 lead in qualifying this season.

For Verstappen, he could now match Senna’s mark in Imola – the venue which claimed the great Brazilian’s life three decades ago – in a fortnight’s time.

“I find it difficult to be consistent here over one lap,” said Verstappen.

“It was about finding that balance today and I think we did OK. It was not the most enjoyable lap because of how slippery it is, so the confidence is not there, but I am on pole so I am happy.”

Fernando Alonso’s sprint race effectively ended in the opening hundred metres following a coming together with Hamilton.

The double world champion accused Hamilton of ruining his race and then claimed the Mercedes driver escaped punishment from the stewards “because he isn’t Spanish”.

Alonso’s mood will not have been improved by a poor qualifying session which leaves him 15th on the grid and four places behind team-mate Lance Stroll.

Daniel Ricciardo delivered the best drive of his comeback to take fourth in the sprint race. But the Australian was brought crashing down to earth in qualifying after he failed to make it out of Q1.

Verstappen takes pole: As it happened

10:45 PM BST

George Russell talking to Sky Sports

10:45 PM BST

Max takes another pole

10:40 PM BST

Lewis Hamilton speaking to Sky

“The track temperature was pretty similar the whole way through and the grip of the track felt really good. These tyres are so sensitive. Trying to get the tyres to work and deliver the maximum potential is something we struggle with.

“Then we had that glimpse of hope in Q2 then in Q3 we were nowhere. Generally, it’s been a much better day. We went forwards in the Sprint and then Qualifying, getting into Q3 was positive. Q3 just wasn’t really great but I’m grateful to get into there.

“For us to be eighth tenths off is tough. We are fighting the Haas and I don’t really know if that’s the true speed of our car or whether it’s the tyres. I think there’s a lot in these tyres that we are struggling to... we have not been able to use them all year.”

10:36 PM BST

Zak Brown on X

10:34 PM BST

Max dominance

10:31 PM BST

Lando Norris talking to Sky Sports

10:30 PM BST

Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg speaking to Sky Sports

10:27 PM BST

Haas’ Kevin Magnussen speaking to Sky Sports

10:23 PM BST

Verstappen’s dominance continues

10:22 PM BST

Jenson Button on Sky Sports

“The problem is, you do a lap in Q3 and think ‘there’s definitely a little bit more there, I can find some more with a new set of tyres’.

“Then you go out and push that tiny bit more, you overheat the tyre and one little slide, it’s done.

“They are finding it really difficult to find the limit of the tyre. When they do, they are over the limit and it’s gone.”

10:19 PM BST

The thoughts of Carlos Sainz

“A bit of a shame about the Sprint, I couldn’t get past Daniel but I knew the pace was there. I knew with a clean Qualy I could be in the top three. We managed to do some clean laps.

“It’s really tricky around here with a new soft. Every lap is a bit of adventure. With the wind you don’t know what will happen. Keeping all that in mind, the laps were not too bad.

“You always finish the lap and think you could have gone so much faster, but it’s almost impossible to put a perfect clean lap around here.”

10:16 PM BST

Quotes from Charles Leclerc

10:12 PM BST

Top 10

  1. Verstappen

  2. Leclerc

  3. Sainz

  4. Perez

  5. Norris

  6. Piastri

  7. Russell

  8. Hamilton

  9. Hulkenberg

  10. Tsunoda

10:11 PM BST

The thoughts of pole-sitter Max Verstappen

10:04 PM BST

Top five

  1. Max Verstappen

  2. Charles Leclerc

  3. Carlos Sainz

  4. Sergio Perez

  5. Lando Norris

10:03 PM BST

Another pole for Max

That is a seventh straight pole for Max Verstappen, who was a tenth and a half quicker than Charles Leclerc. Verstappen has now qualified on pole for the first six races of the 2024 season.

10:01 PM BST

Verstappen on pole

Max Verstappen started on pole for the sprint and he will be on pole for the race tomorrow.

10:01 PM BST

Yellow sectors

Drivers are struggling to make improvements here.

10:00 PM BST

Here we go

Everyone is now on the final flying laps. This is where pole is going to be decided.

Russell only just got over the line with a second remaining.

09:58 PM BST

Mercedes on mediums

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton have opted for the mediums for their final runs.

09:57 PM BST

Final runs

The drivers are heading back out onto the track.

Having done his first stint on mediums, Lando Norris is now going out on softs.

09:55 PM BST

Preparing for final runs

All the drivers have headed back to the pits and everyone will have one final run to see who will get pole position.

09:54 PM BST

Verstappen fastest after first runs

The first runs in Q3 are done and it is Max Verstappen goes fastest with a 1:27:241. Charles Leclerc goes second fastest ahead of Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri. Lando Norris, on the mediums, is in sixth.

09:49 PM BST

Q3 under way

The final qualifying session has begun.

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown just told Sky that Lando Norris might be going out on medium tyres and he does. He was rapid on the mediums yesterday in sprint qualifying. Everyone else looks like they are on the softs.

09:43 PM BST

Top five in Q2

  1. Leclerc

  2. Verstappen

  3. Hamilton

  4. Piastri

  5. Perez

09:42 PM BST

Bottom five in Q2

11. Stroll

12. Gasly

13. Ocon

14. Albon

15. Alonso

09:40 PM BST

Alonso out

It was a miserable sprint race for Aston Martin earlier and their woes continue in qualifying as Fernando Alonso is out in Q2. Lance Stroll is also out.

09:37 PM BST

Final few minutes of Q2

The drivers are starting to file out of the pitlane and Lando Norris, who is in third at the moment, is going out on a set of mediums. He was rapid on the mediums yesterday, topping SQ1 and SQ2.

09:35 PM BST

Top five and bottom five with five minutes left

  1. Leclerc

  2. Piastri

  3. Norris

  4. Sainz

  5. Verstappen

Bottom five: Ocon, Hamilton, Stroll, Alonso, Albon

09:34 PM BST

Yellow flags

There were double-waved yellow flags momentarily as Albon went deep at turn 17, but he has got going so no need for a red flag.

09:33 PM BST

Leclerc fastest

Charles Leclerc sets a 1:27:533 to go top of the timesheets, ahead of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. The two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are fifth and seventh respectively, but they are both on used softs.

09:27 PM BST

Q2 under way

The second qualifying session has begun but, unlike Q1, there is not a queue at the end of the pitlane. Drivers are not rushing out at the start of Q2.

In Q1 Max Verstappen was fastest.

09:22 PM BST

Out in Q1

Here are the five drivers who are out in Q1:

16. Bottas

17. Sargeant

18. Ricciardo

19. Magnussen

20. Zhou

09:20 PM BST

Alonso a lucky man

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso can count himself lucky there, as he just a hundredth of a second from being knocked out in Q1.

09:19 PM BST

Ricciardo out

He may have finished fourth in the sprint but Daniel Ricciardo is out in Q1. He also has a three-place grid penalty from the previous race.

09:17 PM BST

Under two minutes left

All of the drives except Sergio Perez, who is top of the timesheets, are out on the track with just seconds remaining.

09:14 PM BST

5 minutes to go

Here are the bottom five with under five minutes left:

16. Sargeant

17. Gasly

18. Magnussen

19. Zhou

20. Albon

09:13 PM BST

Sainz top of the timesheets

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz has now gone fastest, with McLaren’s Lando Norris tucked in just behind him. Oscar Piastri has also moved up into the top four.

09:10 PM BST

Verstappen goes fastest

The Dutchman goes to the top of the timesheets with a 1:28:023. The top five currently are:

  1. Verstappen

  2. Sainz

  3. Leclerc

  4. Perez

  5. Hulkenberg

The bottom five are: Tsunoda, Ocon, Albon, Gasly, Zhou

09:07 PM BST

Sainz fastest

The Ferrari of Carlos Sainz has just set the fastest time with a 1:28:159. His teammate Charles Leclerc is just behind him in second, two hundredths of a second behind. Max Verstappen has just made his way out of the pits and is yet to set a timed lap.

09:05 PM BST

Hamilton goes top early doors

Very early into the session Lewis Hamilton goes fastest but most of the grid still has not come across the line.

Logan Sargeant was born very near to this track in Fort Lauderdale and he looks like he is going to set the first timed lap of the session but instead he dives into the pits.

09:00 PM BST

Go! Go! Go!

Plenty of the drivers have been waiting in the pitlane for a few minutes and finally the green light appears at the end of the pitlane so qualifying is a go.

08:57 PM BST

Quali incoming

We are just a few minutes away from qualifying for tomorrow’s race. Who will take pole? Will it be Lando Norris? Will it be Charles Leclerc? Will it be Max Verstappen? We will found out over the course of the next hour.

08:52 PM BST

Work still going on in the pitlane

In the aftermath of the sprint, there is still some work being done on some cars in the pitlane, especially down at Aston Martin. The mechanics are working on Fernando Alonso’s car and there is still a lot of work being done on Lance Stroll’s car with just under 10 minutes to go before qualifying.

With the new rules on sprint weekends, teams are permitted to make changes to the cars as parc-ferme rules are lifted between the sprint and qualifying for the main race. Ferrari have made so minor adjustments to their car,

08:41 PM BST

Adrian Newey speaking to Sky Sports

The big news heading into the weekend was the news of Adrian Newey’s exit from Red Bull in the months ahead. Here he is talking to Sky Sports about his decision to leave Red Bull and whether he might end up at Ferrari:

08:34 PM BST

Celebrities out in force in Miami

08:27 PM BST

Lando’s thoughts

McLaren’s Lando Norris was so unfortunate at turn one on the opening lap of the sprint as his race was ended through no fault of his own. He will be in contention for pole for Sunday’s race and here he is talking to Sky Sports a little earlier:

08:24 PM BST

Magnussen with the stewards

After the sprint having received three penalties, Kevin Magnussen was called to the stewards for “alleged unsportsmanlike behaviour”. We are still awaiting the stewards’ decision. Here is one of a number of reasons why the Dane was in trouble during the sprint:

08:22 PM BST

Qualifying begins at 9pm BST

08:15 PM BST

Qualifying preview

It is time for qualifying in Miami for Sunday’s race. Saturday has already had plenty of action with the sprint taking place just a few hours ago. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen continued his dominant start to the season with victory, but Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished just a few seconds behind Verstappen to take second. Considering Leclerc only had one meaningful lap in the only practice session on Friday, he has done a great job to qualify for the sprint in second and finish in the same position. Sergio Perez took third whilst RB’s Daniel Ricciardo held off Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri to claim fourth. Ricciardo has had a tough start to 2024 and this will be a much-needed boost for him as the pressure had been rising on the Australian.

Max Verstappen during a press conference after winning the sprint
Max Verstappen (pictured) won the sprint earlier today in Miami - Giorgio Viera/AP

The sprint started dramatically with an incident going into turn one on the opening lap. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton flew up the inside of the two Aston Martins and made contact with Fernando Alonso. The knock-on effect resulted in McLaren’s Lando Norris having to retire from the race. Norris was so unfortunate as he was minding his own business on the outside and giving space to those inside him only to be taken out and having his race ended through no fault of his own at the first corner. Lance Stroll also was forced to retire from the race due to that incident. It seemed strange that the stewards decided that no punishments were necessary.

Both Kevin Magnussen and Lewis Hamilton, who were duelling for the duration of the race, received penalties which saw them drop down the order. Magnussen received three penalties in total including for track infringements, which equated to 25 seconds. Hamilton received a drive-through penalty for a pitlane infringement, which ended up being a 20-second penalty as it was given after the end of the race.

Qualifying gets under way at 9pm BST.

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