F1 | Qualifying | Miami GP | Max Verstappen on pole after stunning lap - Motorsport

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It’s time for Qualifying at the Miami GP, full report and results below.

After a high-octane Sprint Race, which saw great performances from the two McLarens and a podium for Lewis Hamilton. Having each crashed a few hours prior to the start of the session, the teams of Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, and Fernando Alonso rushed to fix their damaged cars.

Q1: A struggle for grip, nicer weather presents new challenges

The majority of the grid formed a queue awaiting the green light at the end of the pit lane to begin the session. The track conditions — 28ºC and sunny — are a huge departure from the rainy, humid Sprint Race. The entire grid opted for used soft tyres, hoping for more grip after the rain wiped out the rubber that previous sessions had laid down.

Max Verstappen set a preliminary lap time of 1:27.573 before his time was bested by championship-leading Oscar Piastri with a 1:27.307. After the grid put in their baseline laps, most drivers returned to the pits before completing another run.

A small incident in the pit lane saw Alex Albon cut in line in front of Isack Hadjar, who hadn’t set a time at that point.

New soft tyres enabled Carlos Sainz to log a 1:27.980, followed by Kimi Antonelli setting a 1:27.077. Max Verstappen logs a time in the 1:26s. Rookie Gabriel Bortoleto’s second run puts him P7, with a 1:27.367. The Ferraris are still searching for pace as Charles Leclerc jumps up into P9, Lewis Hamilton P15 on their second runs.

George Russell battles major oversteer on his third run, showing the struggle for grip after the rain on Saturday morning.

Lewis Hamilton drops into the elimination zone after Pierre Gasly finds some lap time. Fighting the car, Lewis Hamilton pulls out a personal best lap of 1:27.279 to advance into Q2 in P8. Some other notable last-minute performances come from Alex Albon in P5 and Yuki Tsunoda in P7. Tsunoda qualified only P18 in Sprint Race Qualifying, but had a mega drive that ended just outside the points, in P9.

Knocked out at the end of Q1:

16. Nico Hulkenberg
17. Fernando Alonso
18. Pierre Gasly
19. Lance Stroll
20. Ollie Bearman

Q2: Near misses and minor track improvement

The entire grid comes out with soft tyres equipped for their first runs of Q2, just as in the first session. Max Verstappen set the first fastest time, firmly in the 1:26s with a 1:26.643. Charles Leclerc three-tenths back with a 1:26.948, Verstappen and Leclerc are quickly split by the Williams of Carlos Sainz.

Piastri pulled out three tenths from Max Verstappen in his first run with a 1:26.269, his teammate Lando Norris going two-tenths slower with a 1:26.499. Antonelli joined the party just one-tenth off of 2025 Miami Sprint Race winner Lando Norris.

The grid returns to the pits after two runs. George Russell was heard complaining about how a lack of grip caused a lack of confidence in his Mercedes.

Esteban Ocon saves himself from disaster on his third run, narrowly avoiding a high-speed crash, putting him in P9. The Williams teammates sit P5 and P6 before George Russell puts himself up into P3.

Lewis Hamilton and Isack Hadjar were not able to improve and found themselves knocked out of qualifying. The seven-time world champion narrowly losing control of the car, therefore losing time when it mattered.

Kimi Antonelli is the last rookie standing at the end of the session, heading into Q3 comfortably in P4.

11. Isack Hadjar
12. Lewis Hamilton
13. Gabriel Bortoleto
14. Jack Doohan
15. Liam Lawson

Q3: Driving on a knife’s edge in the low grip, Verstappen takes pole

Max Verstappen holds provisional pole after the first run with a 1:26.492, Lando Norris just three thousandths of a second behind in 1:26.495.

Leclerc was unable to set a time after having his lap time deleted for going wide in turn 17. Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz pull out solid laps, putting them P5 and P7 respectively after their first runs of Q3. Kimi Antonelli sits P4, teammate George Russell in P6. Esteban Ocon sits in P8 ahead of Yuki Tsunoda and Charles Leclerc with a 1:27.407.

The battle for pole looks to be between Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, and Oscar Piastri as time winds down at the end of Miami GP Qualifying.

Carlos Sainz goes fourth, followed by teammate Alex Albon in P5. Kimi Antonelli finishes two thousandths behind Lando Norris to secure P3.

Max Verstappen struggled for grip through turn 1, almost opening the door for the McLarens. Recovering extremely well as he still went purple by a couple of hundreths, Verstappen was able to pull it together in the second and third sectors and ended up with a final time of 1:26.204. The McLarens were unable to answer; Lando Norris P2 with a 1:26.269, Oscar Piastri P4 with a 1:26.375.