Miami GP Qualifying: Max Verstappen brilliance beats Lando Norris to pole with Oscar Piastri fourth, Lewis Hamilton 12th

After failing to score points in the Sprint race, Max Verstappen made a strong return in qualifying, once again outperforming McLaren to secure pole position for Sunday`s Miami Grand Prix, finishing ahead of Lando Norris.

The reigning world champion, who recently became a father, replicated his impressive Q3 performances seen in Suzuka and Jeddah, claiming his third pole of the season. This came mere hours after he was penalized in the Saturday Sprint race for colliding with Kimi Antonelli following a Red Bull pit-stop error, which left him point-less.

A late error by McLaren driver Lando Norris on his final lap at Turn 17, where his car became unstable over the kerb, likely cost him the 0.065 seconds by which Verstappen secured pole.

Despite his mistake, the Briton still qualified two places ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri, who is leading the championship. Piastri dropped to fourth in the final moments after not matching the rapid pace he had shown in Q2.

Meanwhile, Sprint polesitter Kimi Antonelli continued his impressive weekend performance, qualifying third.

Antonelli, the Italian teenager, recovered from his Sprint race disappointment (where he finished seventh after starting from pole). He finished a mere 0.002 seconds behind Norris in second place and 0.067 seconds adrift of Verstappen`s pole time.

For the first time, Antonelli outqualified his Mercedes teammate George Russell in both qualifying formats. Russell, the more experienced Mercedes driver, was again dissatisfied with his pace, qualifying fifth, a tenth of a second slower than Antonelli.

However, qualifying brought further disappointment for Ferrari, who have been struggling.

Hours after securing a top-three finish in his second successive Sprint race, Lewis Hamilton`s issues with single-lap pace reappeared. He qualified 12th, marking his first Q2 exit in his six races driving for Ferrari.

Charles Leclerc managed to reach the final stage in Q3 but could only achieve the eighth-fastest time.

This meant Ferrari were beaten in qualifying not only by their usual top three rivals but also by Williams, who secured an impressive sixth and seventh place with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, respectively.

Esteban Ocon put Haas into the top 10 with the ninth-fastest lap, finishing ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull. The Japanese driver was significantly slower, lapping a considerable 0.739 seconds behind his teammate Verstappen.

New Dad Verstappen Delivers `A Max Lap` to Deny Norris

While the earlier rain-affected Sprint race didn`t go according to plan, the four-time world champion looked set for the front row from the start of qualifying, immediately challenging the leading McLarens.

After setting the fastest time in Q1, Verstappen was only fifth quickest in Q2, 0.374 seconds off Piastri`s strong benchmark at that point. However, he found 0.4 seconds on that effort in Q3 to secure provisional pole after the first runs.

Verstappen`s chances of improving on his provisional pole time on his final attempt seemed jeopardized when he had a moment of oversteer at Turn One. Nevertheless, he managed to improve by 0.288 seconds, setting a lap time of 1:26.204 that neither Norris nor Piastri could match.

Lando Norris humorously congratulated Verstappen after the session, saying, “Congrats to Max, especially being a dad now. I was hoping it would slow him down!!”

Norris added, “Max did a Max lap once again and I can`t fault him. I`m happy and excited for tomorrow.”

Reflecting on what he called a “great qualifying” after making setup improvements to his Red Bull following the Sprint, Verstappen commented: “I had a tiny moment on my final lap into Turn One, so I lost a bit of time there. But around here it`s just very complicated with the tyres over a lap. But in the end it worked out well, so I`m very happy to be on pole.”

He explained how he recovered from the Turn One issue: “I mean you can back out of it, but it`s qualifying so you have to try and correct it, and just floor it out of the corner.”

Miami GP Qualifying Timesheet