Max Verstappen bounced back from his mistake in qualifying for the United States Grand Prix to put his Red Bull on pole position for today’s sprint race.
Verstappen will line up from only sixth place for Sunday’s main event at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas after his quickest lap was chalked off for exceeding track limits here on Friday night.
But less than 24 hours later, the triple world champion atoned for his error to seal top spot ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.055 seconds for the 19-lap dash to the chequered flag later today.
“The last lap was not great but we are still on pole so it shows the car is working well,” said Verstappen, with less than a tenth separating the top-three drivers.
“It will be an exciting afternoon with cars close to each other so we don’t know what will happen in the sprint race. Normally in the race we are okay, but this track is demanding.”
Lewis Hamilton finished third, seven hundredths behind Verstappen, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri fourth and fifth respectively for McLaren. George Russell qualified eighth.
It was not all plain-sailing for Verstappen after he spun on the exit of Turn 9 in Q2.
Verstappen took too much kerb on the entry to the left hander which sent him onto the grass and into a pirouette.
But after he completed a 360-degree spin, Verstappen was able to make it back to his garage and into Q3.
Hamilton also survived a hairy moment in the opening phase of qualifying when he nudged the back of Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri.
“Check my front wing,” said Hamilton on the radio. “One of the drivers blocked me and we touched.”
Hamilton was able to continue and although the stewards noted the incident, no further action was taken.
Daniel Ricciardo, absent from the last five races with a broken hand, out-qualified Tsunoda to progress to Q2 and finish 11th.
Tsunoda starts 19th, one place ahead of Logan Sargeant who propped up the order for the second day in a row at his home event.
The sprint gets under way at 5pm local time (11pm BST).
Verstappen clinches sprint victory at Miami Grand Prix, Hamilton hit with penalty
Formula One world champion Max Verstappen claimed victory in the sprint race ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.
Verstappen clinched pole for the sprint in Friday's qualifying session, and capitalised on that effort to finish ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on Saturday.
The Dutchman had to see off an early push from Leclerc, but ultimately had too much.
Sergio Perez, Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate, recovered from an early mistake to finish third.
Daniel Ricciardo took fourth, having fended off the challenge of both Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri.
It was a bad drive for Lewis Hamilton, who was penalised for speeding in the pit lane, dropping him from eighth down to 16th.
Red Bull designer Newey 'flattered' by Hamilton interest in Ferrari link-up
Adrian Newey acknowledged Lewis Hamilton's interest in working with him at Ferrari came as a flattering compliment for the outgoing Red Bull designer.
Hamilton will complete his switch to Ferrari next season as the Italian team managed to convince the seven-time world champion to leave Mercedes.
Newey will also be on the move early next year and is free to join a rival team ahead of the 2026 season.
Hamilton said working with Newey would be a "privilege", with one of the best designers in Formula One history at the top of his list of people to work with.
Those comments did not go unnoticed by Newey, who spoke to Sky Sports about a potential link-up with Hamilton ahead of the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday.
"F1 is all-consuming. I've been at it for a long time now," Newey said of his decision to leave Red Bull after joining the team in 2006.
"2021 was a really busy year because of the tight battle with Mercedes, through the championship and at the same time, putting all the research into the RB18 [the 2022 car].
"There comes a point where I just felt, as Forrest Gump said, 'I'm feeling a little bit tired'.
"It's very kind of Lewis to say that. I'm very flattered. At the moment, it's just take a bit of a break and see what happens next."
Newey's decision to part ways with Red Bull was announced on Wednesday, though the acclaimed designer says it has been on his mind for a while.
"A little while now. I guess over the winter a little bit," Newey said when asked about his intentions to depart.
"Then as events have unfolded this year, I thought, I'm in very lucky position where I don't need to work to live. I work because I enjoy it.
"I just felt now is a good time to step back a bit, take a break and take stock of life.
"Then maybe at some point I will stand in the shower and say 'right, this is going to be the next adventure'.
"But right now, there is no plan."
Verstappen shocked to be on pole for Miami sprint
Formula One world champion Max Verstappen was surprised to claim pole position for Saturday's sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix.
Verstappen was 0.108 seconds faster than Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in Friday's qualifying session.
That is despite the Dutchman believing his drive had not gone well at all.
"To be honest, it felt really terrible," said Verstappen, who holds a 25-point lead at the top of the F1 drivers' championship.
"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.
"Practice felt really nice, it felt like the car was in a really good window but in qualifying it didn’t feel like that anymore. I was really not happy.
"In Q3 I saw I was only going 0.2secs faster and I was sliding around, no grip and they told me it was P1 and I thought it must be a joke but we'll take it."
Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez qualified third for the sprint, which will take place ahead of the main qualifying session for Sunday's race.
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