“Somehow we were first!”

Max Verstappen expressed his astonishment at securing pole position during Sprint Qualifying at the Miami International Autodrome, describing his time in the Red Bull as “incredibly difficult.”

In reference to the Sprint format and tire strategy, drivers navigated using Pirelli’s medium tires through SQ1 and SQ2 before transitioning to softs in SQ3, demanding a delicate balance. Verstappen reflected on Lando Norris and McLaren’s performance, noting their challenge when the soft tires came into play in SQ3.

“After practice I was quite confident that we could fight for pole, then in qualifying it didn’t really look like that, but somehow we still ended up in first,” he added, having finished a tenth clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. “I don’t know what happened to the other cars in the last lap.” Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, wound up another tenth away in third position, acknowledging the challenges faced in the decisive SQ3 segment.

“Given that it’s only a single shot on that soft tire, it’s down to a bit of luck on what the car is going to do… in the soft there is no progression,” commented Perez. “Unfortunately, that wasn’t ideal, so we’ve got some work to do there, but hopefully tomorrow we can sort it out and the most important in these days is to get the points, maximum points tomorrow in the Sprint, and then focus for the race.”

He added: “I think we’ve headed in the right direction, especially for tomorrow, so hopefully we can see a stronger race pace and we can fight from there.”

Following the session, Verstappen admitted to struggling with tire optimization, particularly in the pole shootout, despite setting the fastest time of 1m 27.641s.

“To be honest with you, it felt pretty terrible! In practice, it felt really, really nice, I was very comfortable and confident, but in qualifying not so much,” shared Verstappen about the challenging session.

Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing secured pole position for tomorrow’s Sprint at the Miami International Autodrome after clocking a 1:27.641 lap, outpacing Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, who crashed earlier in the day bringing out a red flag to the first practice session, by 0.108 seconds. Sergio Perez claimed third place, with Daniel Ricciardo impressing in fourth.

The Sprint Qualifying for the FORMULA 1 CRYPTO.COM MIAMI GRAND PRIX culminated in a thrilling conclusion as drivers battled late to set their times on the 3.36-mile track. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris secured the sixth and ninth positions, situated between the Aston Martins. Notably, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell narrowly missed the top ten in SQ2.

Mercedes will start the 19-lap Sprint from 11th and 12th positions, trailing Nico Hulkenberg in tenth place. The Sprint Qualifying proceeded smoothly, except for Alex Albon, who saw his SQ1 lap deleted for cutting across the chicane.

Earlier in the day, Verstappen led the opening practice session, followed by Piastri and Carlos Sainz. Leclerc’s spin at Turn 16 led to a red flag during the competitive lap. The day commenced with practice for the F1 ACADEMY series, where Abbi Pulling initially led but was later overtaken by Doriane Pin.

The day wrapped up with Pulling reclaiming the top spot in the F1 ACADEMY second practice, accompanied by engaging activations around the Campus. McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown commended the organizers for their efforts in expanding the F1 fanbase in the US, setting the stage for more excitement in the upcoming races at the Miami International Autodrome.