Perez takes Miami Pole, Verstappen P9 as Leclerc brings out red flags

Sergio Perez took Pole Position in Miami after profiting from a late red flag for Charles Leclerc's crash, as Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton suffered in the chaotic session.

The Mexican had set a time good enough for provisional pole with a 1:26.841 after Red Bull teammate Verstappen abandoned his opening flying lap of Q3 following mistakes in Turn 5-8.

With the field embarking on their final flying laps, a crash for Ferrari's Leclerc brought out the red flags with less than 100 seconds remaining of the session, bringing it to an end.

The Monegasque crashed at Turn 6, meaning every driver was denied a final flying lap. As a result, championship leader Verstappen finished the session in P9.

Fernando Alonso took P2 for Aston Martin, with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz in third.

Kevin Magnussen secured a surprise P4 for Haas, ahead of Alpine's Pierre Gasly, Mercedes' George Russell and Leclerc, who had made an error on his first flying lap.

Alpine's Esteban Ocon, Verstappen and Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas completed the top ten.

Hamilton in shock Q2 elimination

Lewis Hamilton - who survived an early scare when he brushed his Mercedes between Kevin Magnussen and the track wall - failed to reach Q3 for the first time this season.

With Mercedes enduring a difficult weekend at the Miami circuit, the Briton was two tenths of a second away from progressing after appearing to struggle for grip, with teammate George Russell only narrowly progressing into Q3.

Hamilton radioed to his team after Q2 to suggest that he was unhappy with the timing of his pit release for his final timed run.

He finished behind Williams' Alex Albon (P11) and Haas' Nico Hulkenberg (P12), whilst Zhou Guanyu took P14 for Alfa Romeo.

Nyck de Vries equalled his best qualifying result of the season so far with P15, and beat his AlphaTauri teammate Yuki Tsunoda for the first time this season.

Stroll, McLaren fall at first hurdle

Despite their much-improved showing in Baku and following it up with a strong Friday, both McLaren drivers were eliminated in a combative Q1, which featured a couple of drivers complaining about being impeded by their fellow competitors.

Lando Norris missed out on salvaging a respectable result in Q2 by just 0.069 of a second, with the Briton pipped by de Vries.

The second AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda took P17 after finishing one tenth of a second behind his teammate, whilst Aston Martin suffered their first Q1 knockout of the season with Lance Stroll in P18.

Oscar Piastri finished in P19 in the other McLaren, whilst home favourite Logan Sargeant propped up the timing screens at the back for Williams.