In Miami Gardens, Florida, Red Bull`s Max Verstappen claimed pole position for the Miami Grand Prix, just edging out Lando Norris. This marks Verstappen`s third pole of the season.
Verstappen`s fastest lap was 0.065 seconds quicker than Norris. Norris, who had won the earlier sprint race, had a challenging lap, including contact with the kerbs at Turn 17 and difficulties with car balance in the initial high-speed section.
Following the session, Verstappen commented: “It`s been a great qualifying. We made slight improvements to the car… and honestly, through Q1, Q2, Q3, I was improving on every run, trying to find a bit more of the limit. Managing the tires over a lap here is very complex.”
“Ultimately, it worked out well, so I`m very happy to be on pole.”
Norris expressed satisfaction with the progress made on his car and his overall performance on Saturday.
“Congratulations to Max, especially now that he`s a dad. I was hoping that might slow him down!”
“Max delivered a typical `Max` lap once again, and I can`t fault him for that. I`m happy and looking forward to tomorrow.”
Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli took third place in qualifying, building on his sprint race pole from earlier in the weekend. Although Antonelli couldn`t convert his sprint pole into a win after losing the lead early and having an incident with Verstappen in the pit lane, he will aim for his first career F1 podium in the main race on Sunday.
Antonelli commented, “This weekend has gone well so far. This morning was a little disappointing, but it was good to bounce back like this.”
Championship leader Oscar Piastri finished fourth in Q3, unable to improve on his Q2 time. Interestingly, his Q2 time was identical to his teammate Norris`s time to within a thousandth of a second.
George Russell placed fifth for Mercedes. He finished ahead of the two Williams drivers, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon. The top Ferrari was Charles Leclerc in eighth.
Esteban Ocon qualified ninth for Haas, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull. Tsunoda was 0.699 seconds slower than his teammate Verstappen on pole.
Lewis Hamilton missed out on the top ten for the first time this season, qualifying 12th behind Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls. Hamilton was just 0.039 seconds away from reaching Q3, with TV graphics indicating he lost 0.016 seconds specifically at Turn 2.
Gabriel Bortoleto of Sauber qualified 13th, ahead of Jack Doohan in 14th for Alpine. Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls will start 15th, reporting a battery deployment problem.
Nico Hulkenberg narrowly missed out on Q2 by 0.023 seconds and will line up 16th. Fernando Alonso starts 17th after his Aston Martin was successfully rebuilt following a crash in the sprint race.
Pierre Gasly will start 18th for Alpine, followed by Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin and Ollie Bearman for Haas in 20th.
Rupert Caldwell 
Tristan Blackwood