The leader of the Formula 1 world championship, Max Verstappen (Red Bull), won pole position on Saturday for the Miami Grand Prix, the 6th round of 24 of the season, and will therefore start in the lead on Sunday.
A few hours after his victory in the sprint race, the Dutchman beat the two Ferraris of Monegasque Charles Leclerc and Spaniard Carlos Sainz during qualifying at the Miami International Autodrome in Miami Gardens (Florida). The three-time reigning world champion continues his flawless qualifying run in 2024 with this sixth pole position in six Grands Prix.
“It was very difficult to achieve a perfect lap, I don’t know why but it wasn’t possible to get the tires to the right temperature today (Saturday). It was a bit frustrating, it’s not fun to drive in these conditions. The car was still a little better than yesterday (Friday) so that’s positive for the race,” he explained. As during the sprint, Verstappen was not ultra-dominant but it was enough to relegate the two Scuderia single-seaters to 141 and 214 thousandths respectively.
“I’m happy, second is a good starting position. I didn’t change the car settings much after the sprint but the conditions were very difficult because the grip was uncertain,” said Leclerc. Mexican Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) took fourth place, ahead of the two McLarens of Briton Lando Norris and Australian Oscar Piastri.
The fourth row will be occupied by the two Mercedes of the British George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, while the Top 10 is completed by the German Nico Hülkenberg (Haas) and the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls). Spanish veteran Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) disappointed with the 15th fastest time, behind his Canadian teammate Lance Stroll (11th). The Australian Daniel Ricciardo (Racing Bulls), who took a superb fourth place during the sprint in the middle of the day, failed to repeat his feat and will start 18th on Sunday.
Under the eyes of Zinedine Zidane and American football star Patrick Mahomes, three-time SuperBowl winner who recently invested in the Alpine team, the two Frenchmen Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon took 12th and 13th places in qualifying.
