Verstappen beats Leclerc to Miami sprint pole

Max Verstappen was surprised to take pole for the Miami Grand Prix sprint race

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to take pole position for the sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix.

The Dutchman was 0.108 seconds quicker than Leclerc, with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez third ahead of Daniel Ricciardo’s RB in a surprise fourth place.

McLaren’s Lando Norris appeared to miss an opportunity to compete with Verstappen for pole with a slow first sector of his final lap.

Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton could manage only 11th and 12th places.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fifth, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri heading the Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso, Norris and Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg.

Norris had been fastest in both the first and second parts of qualifying and was quickest in both the second and third sectors of his final lap in the last session, but 0.8secs off the pace in the first sector.

McLaren have a major upgrade on their car, which Norris has all of and Piastri only about half, so this appears to have been a missed opportunity for the Briton.

Verstappen was surprised to be on pole, saying the car had felt quick in race trim but not in low-fuel specification.

The Dutchman said: “To be honest, it felt really terrible. Maybe that last session was just incredibly difficult to get the tyres to work. I didn’t really improve a lot on the soft but somehow we were first.”

Mercedes also have an upgrade – albeit not as significant as McLaren’s – but it appeared to do little to improve their car’s pace.

Hamilton hit the wall lightly on his final run in the second session but the car simply lacked pace.

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