Verstappen surges to pole position ahead of Miami GP

Max Verstappen delivered an incredible performance to clinch pole position in Qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix, the reigning World Champion going fastest from Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli despite a slight error on his final run.

After Verstappen claimed provisional pole during the early runs of Q3 by just 0.003s from Norris, the Dutchman’s prospects during his closing effort looked to be at risk after a wobble in the first corner – but the Red Bull man still went fastest on a 1:26.204s, six-hundredths clear of Norris who apologised to his McLaren team for taking too much kerb on his flying lap.

Antonelli followed up his pole success in Friday’s Sprint Qualifying to take third, marking the Mercedes rookie’s best result yet in a Grand Prix Qualifying, while Oscar Piastri had to settle for fourth in the McLaren ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell in fifth.

Carlos Sainz led Williams’ charge in P6 from team mate Alex Albon in P7, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc bounced back from his pre-Sprint crash to take P8. Haas’ Esteban Ocon claimed P9 in his first Q3 appearance for the American squad, with Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the top 10.

The big shock from Q2 was the exit of Lewis Hamilton, with the Ferrari driver ending the session in P12 after being unable to improve on his lap. This put the seven-time World Champion behind Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar in P11.

Also eliminated in the second segment were Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto in 13th – despite this marking his strongest F1 Qualifying performance yet – along with Alpine’s Jack Doohan in 14th and the Racing Bulls car of Liam Lawson in 15th.

Nico Hulkenberg just missed the cut for Q2, the German exiting in P16 for Kick Sauber, while Fernando Alonso’s difficult day following his crash earlier on in the Sprint continued as the Aston Martin driver ended Qualifying in P17.

Pierre Gasly was outqualified by Alpine team mate Doohan for the first time after ending Q1 in 18th place, ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Haas’ Ollie Bearman on the back row in 19th and 20th.

Q1

As the dust settled on an eventful wet-dry Sprint at the Miami International Autodrome, the attentions of the paddock switched to Qualifying, which would decide the starting order for Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix.

While the session started slightly later than planned at 16:15 local time – due to the Sprint having also ended later than scheduled after the weather triggered a delayed start – there were questions over whether cars that picked up damage in the Sprint would be ready in time for Q1.

Aston Martin allayed any concerns about Alonso’s participation by confirming that the AMR25 had been repaired for Qualifying following his crash out of the 100km dash, and Leclerc was also back in action for Ferrari after sliding into the barriers before the Sprint formation lap, meaning that all 20 cars hit the track for Q1, all sporting the red-marked soft tyres.

After receiving a post-Sprint penalty that dropped him out of the points, Albon again looked to be in trouble early in Qualifying, with the Williams driver noted for a pit lane infringement after seemingly pushing into the fast lane ahead of Hadjar. This will be investigated after the session.

Meanwhile it was advantage Piastri as the first timed laps went on the board, the Australian setting the pace with his effort of 1:27.307s to go nearly three-tenths faster than Verstappen. Hadjar, Russell, Antonelli and Lawson all opted not to post a lap time initially, leaving them all in the drop zone along with Stroll.

As the minutes ticked down and the lap times started to tumble, Antonelli outpaced team mate Russell to go fastest – only for Verstappen to then become the first man to break into the 1m 26s at the top of the timesheets.

Verstappen’s fellow World Champion Hamilton suffered a lock-up during his effort, heightening the pressure for the Ferrari driver after finding himself on the bubble in P15. The other drivers at risk ahead of the final minutes were Ocon, Alonso, Gasly, Stroll and Bearman.

While Verstappen remained in the pits, the rest of the pack were out on track trying to improve. With Alonso moving up to P14, Hamilton was dropped into the danger zone – but the Scuderia racer managed to haul himself up to P8, while Tsunoda also bettered his previous time to go P9.

Bortoleto put himself into an impressive 11th, but his Kick Sauber team mate was pushed into elimination in 16th. Alonso also found himself dropping down the order to 17th, with Gasly a disappointing 18th for Alpine ahead of Stroll and Bearman in 19th and 20th respectively.

Knocked out: Hulkenberg, Alonso, Gasly, Stroll, Bearman

Q2

Q1 pace-setter Verstappen was the first to hit the track as Q2 got underway, the Red Bull driver heading out on a set of fresh soft tyres – before promptly going on to set an early benchmark of 1:26.643s.

After everybody had set a timed lap, it was Piastri who had made his way to the top of the timesheets with an eye-catching 1:26.269s, leading by two-tenths from team mate Norris with Antonelli slotting into third ahead of Verstappen.

At the other end of the spectrum, Russell was a surprise name in the danger zone with several minutes remaining – the Briton reporting struggles with grip, having not been as comfortable as Antonelli during the weekend so far – while the others at risk were Ocon, Doohan, Lawson and Hadjar, the latter having aborted his lap.

Following a lull in the action, the cars started to reemerge for their final efforts into the final minutes of Q2. While Piastri seemed content to remain in the pits, Ocon was fighting to progress to Q3 – and despite a big slide, the Haas driver hauled himself up to P9, pushing Hamilton into the elimination zone.

Russell climbed up to P3, but Hadjar, Bortoleto, Doohan and Lawson all failed to improve, meaning that they were out of Q2. Perhaps the biggest shock, though, was that Hamilton found himself at risk – and then could not better his effort, meaning that he exited in P12 just hours after a promising P3 result in the Sprint.

Knocked out: Hadjar, Hamilton, Bortoleto, Doohan, Lawson

Q3

An interesting mixture of names prepared to battle it out in the top 10 shootout, with the McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes and Williams pairings joined by the remaining Ferrari of Leclerc and the Haas of Ocon, the Frenchman making his first Q3 appearance for his new team.

As all of the drivers completed an initial run – with the exception of Leclerc, who abandoned his effort after going wide – it was Verstappen who held provisional pole on a 1:26.492s, a mere three-thousandths ahead of Norris in second while Piastri was only 0.017s away in third. Antonelli followed in fourth, with Albon just behind in fifth.

With such incredibly fine margins at play, the scene was set for a thrilling showdown in the final minutes of Q3. But who would come out on top? It initially appeared that Verstappen’s chances of holding onto pole may be in jeopardy after a wobble into the first corner – yet the Dutchman still managed to set purple sectors en route to going fastest on a 1:26.204s.

All eyes were on whether Norris could beat that, but a moment over the kerbs seemed to put paid to the McLaren’s man challenge, forcing him to settle for second. Piastri also failed to improve, while Antonelli split the two papaya cars to take third, just one day after the Italian grabbed an impressive pole in Sprint Qualifying.

The other Mercedes of Russell slotted into fifth, ahead of the Williams duo of Sainz and Albon in sixth and seventh respectively, while Leclerc, Ocon and Tsunoda rounded out the top 10.

The 2025 Miami Grand Prix is set to begin at 16:00 local time on Sunday (21:00 GMT). Can Verstappen pick up his second win of the season or will the Sunshine State continue to be a happy hunting ground for Norris and McLaren?