Max Verstappen on pole for Miami GP as Lewis Hamilton hit with shock Q2 exit

Lewis Hamilton fails to make top-10 shootout for first time with Ferrari

Max Verstappen turned an unspectacular weekend into one to remember for Red Bull after a mighty qualifying lap put the four-time world champion on pole for Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix.

Verstappen topped the first session of qualifying but failed to break into the top three in the second. The third session proved Red Bull’s upgrade package was a fruitful one as a 0.065-second lead put the Dutch driver on top. He was trailed by Lando Norris’ McLaren while Mercedes rookie and sprint pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli rounded out the qualifying podium.

“I thought being a dad would slow Max down, but it didn’t,” Norris joked after the qualifying session. “Clearly it didn’t make me slower, being a dad,” Verstappen echoed. Verstappen missed media day on Thursday for the birth of his daughter Lily.

“We are still struggling a little bit with limitations,” Verstappen said on Saturday after the session. While slow on the straights, the Red Bull was strong in the corners where Norris struggled, veering his McLaren cautiously over the curbs.

Norris, whose qualifying session was a stronger performance than most of his this season, said the pace was “very” encouraging.

But across the pit lane, a sweet qualifying hour for some was more sour for others.

Lewis Hamilton’s third-place sprint finish didn’t translate to one-lap pace. The seven-time world champion who moved to Ferrari at the start of this season failed to make it into the top-10 shootout for the first time racing in Rosso Corsa red.

A slew of rookies — Isack Hadjar, Gabriel Bortoleto, Jack Doohan and Liam Lawson, who suffered a battery issue — joined the 40-year-old Ferrari driver in the elimination zone in Q2. Hamilton will start in 12th on Sunday.

His new teammate, Charles Leclerc, didn’t have much more luck. The Monegasque driver will start in eighth and said he “literally” couldn’t go any faster after a less-than-stellar performance.

While Oscar Piastri dominated the sprint race, despite finishing second, and topped the second qualifying session later in the day, he fell short where it mattered as a solid Q3 lap slipped from his grasp. The Australian will start in fourth for the feature race.

Sunday is set up to be a battle between the championship contending teams, with Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes each in the fight.

However, an underdog is approaching the three amidst Ferrari’s failures. Williams’ Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz dominated the track straights more than any other team for several stints in both Friday’s sprint qualifying and Saturday’s qualifying sessions. The two will start sixth and seventh, ahead of both Ferraris, on Sunday.

The Miami Grand Prix starts at 21:00 BST on Sunday 4 May.