Max Verstappen took pole position for the Miami Grand Prix, delivering a standout lap at Hard Rock Stadium amidst a fiercely competitive session. He bested Lando Norris in second place for McLaren and Kimi Antonelli in third for Mercedes. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished fourth, with George Russell from Mercedes coming in fifth.
Lewis Hamilton’s expectations for a strong qualifying were dashed. After finishing third in the sprint earlier, he was unable to advance past the second qualifying phase, marking his first exit since joining Ferrari this season.
Verstappen’s pole was achieved with an impressive final lap in Q3, marking a significant comeback following a penalty in the previous sprint race that dropped him from fourth to 17th. The Dutch driver, who welcomed his first child, a daughter named Lily, just the day before, is currently 21 points behind Piastri in the championship standings but has a solid chance to regain some ground on race day.
After a sixth-place finish in Bahrain, Verstappen had been struggling with doubts about battling for the title. The team held discussions post-race, recognizing the gap between wind tunnel predictions and actual track performance but cautioned that significant improvements were not immediately on the horizon.
However, they came back strong in Saudi Arabia, securing pole positions, and arrived in Miami optimistic about a new floor that might narrow the performance gap to McLaren. It seems at least one lap has indeed helped in that regard.
In his initial runs of Q3, Verstappen looked strong, moving quickly through the first two sectors, although he couldn’t quite maintain that pace consistently. Norris, for his part, excelled in the middle sector but ultimately couldn’t match Verstappen’s overall performance due to missteps in the final sector.
As the track conditions improved, Verstappen’s earlier tentative pole position faced challenges from Norris during his final attempt, though struggles with curbs hampered Norris’s performance in the last sector. Meanwhile, Piastri couldn’t improve his time, but Antonelli secured another solid run, ensuring Mercedes a strong showing in third. Verstappen’s time of 26.204 seconds narrowly edged out both Norris and Antonelli.
This pole might play a decisive role in what remains a very tight championship battle. Piastri is currently leading Norris by a mere nine points, with Verstappen trailing by 21. Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon finished sixth and seventh for Williams, while Charles Leclerc took eighth in his Ferrari, and Esteban Ocon was ninth in Haas, with Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the top ten.
Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson occupied the 11th and 15th positions in the Racing Bulls, Gabriel Bortoleto ranked 13th for Sauber, and Jack Doohan in Alpine followed. Nico Hulkenberg landed in 16th for Sauber, while Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were 17th and 19th for Aston Martin. Pierre Gasly was 18th in Alpine, and Haas rounded out the field with the 20th spot.
