Max Verstappen couldn’t be stopped en route to his sixth straight pole position of 2024 at Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix as he fended off the challenge from Ferrari.
Despite failing to improve on his final Q3 lap, the Dutchman’s initial 1:27.241s time was enough to be 0.141 seconds clear of Charles Leclerc, with Carlos Sainz third.
Extreme track temperatures exceeding 40 degrees and a slippery asphalt meant that the times did not tumble as was expected as the respective stages materialised.
A surprise factor in the Sprint Qualifying session earlier in the weekend had been that the Soft compound had not provided the expected step over the Medium rubber.
Verstappen headed into the afternoon session on the back of a Sprint win, which he had labelled as the “worst-case scenario”, despite having a three-second margin.
The Dutchman’s complaints related to poor balance on his Red Bull RB20, but that was dispelled as he popped to the top of the times in Q1 prior to Sainz pipping him.
Ferrari’s smooth operator was the first to break the 1:28 barrier, posting a 1:27.937s lap time, with Lando Norris then splitting the Spaniard and Verstappen at the top.
Sergio Perez, who had come home a distant third in the Sprint encounter behind Verstappen and Leclerc, was next to push the pace and moved the benchmark again.
However, the natural order was restored as the Q1 clock hit zero, with Verstappen returning to P1. At the other end, Valtteri Bottas led the eliminated drivers for Sauber.
Also being resigned to a premature exit was home representative Logan Sargeant, who closed the margin to Williams team-mate Alex Albon to a tenth but dropped out.
The biggest surprise was Daniel Ricciardo, who converted fourth in the Sprint but was a shock dropout in Q1. A three-place grid drop would drop him right to the back.
As ever, traffic proved to be an issue at the penultimate corner and a sea of dawdling cars scuppered Kevin Magnussen’s hopes and prompted an expletive-ridden rant.
However, the Dane, who had incurred three 10-second time penalties in the Sprint and criticism from his rivals, was not the slowest as Zhou Guanyu brought up the rear.
Moving into Q2 and the narrative was developing into a three-driver fight at the top, with Leclerc taking over the leading mantle as the McLaren drivers split the Ferraris.
Verstappen had been situated in fifth at that stage but improved to go second ahead of Hamilton, who put in an impressive time to be within a tenth of the leading pace.
Aston Martin, renowned for one-lap pace thus far in 2024, were all at sea and both drivers went out, with Lance Stroll missing the cut in 11th and Fernando Alonso 15th.
Splitting the Aston Martin pairing and also not participating further in the session was the two Alpines – Pierre Gasly heading Esteban Ocon – and Albon’s sole Williams.
Leclerc, Perez, Norris, Piastri and Sainz would all have been hopeful about challenging Verstappen, but those wishes were dashed as he surged a tenth-and-a-half clear.
The top three were covered by two-tenths, but Leclerc nor Sainz could find the time required to defeat Verstappen’s earlier benchmark as improvements proved scarce.
Nevertheless, Verstappen remained not at ease with his car once he had vacated his Red Bull, but admitted the balance was heading in the right direction for the race.
But while Verstappen looks well poised to further extend his margin at the top of F1’s points table, Leclerc and Sainz are best placed to stop him in the 57-lap grand prix.
Elsewhere, Perez classified fourth to complete the second row, with Norris putting behind his woes from the previous outing in the weekend to round out the top five spots.
Piastri posted the sixth fastest time in the second McLaren, besting the two Mercedes cars of George Russell and Hamilton, who finished seventh and eighth respectively.
Nico Hulkenberg continued to show his one-lap prowess, getting his Haas into Q3 for the second occasion in the weekend and finishing ninth by the end of the session.
Yuki Tsunoda strung together a more impressive session than RB team-mate Ricciardo to advance through to Q3 and complete the top-10 runners at the Miami circuit.
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