Max Verstappen for the second Grand Prix in a row broke his career-best for most consecutive pole positions, and has his sights on Ayrton Senna's record after securing the front spot on the grid for the Miami Grand Prix.
The three-time world champion, who cruised to victory in the Miami Sprint race, had his work cut out to secure pole at the Miami International Autodrome.
Charles Leclerc pushed Verstappen all the way but fell just short and will instead simply join the Red Bull driver on the front row.
Verstappen's 1:27.241 on his first Q3 flying lap was ultimately enough for his seventh consecutive pole position, putting him joint-second on for most poles in a row alongside Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.
Senna's record for most consecutive pole positions stands at eight, and can be matched by Verstappen in a fortnight at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
Whilst the Dutchman is one pole short of Senna's record, his Miami GP pole saw him become the first driver since Prost in 1993 to secure the first six pole positions in a season.
Leclerc secured a front row start in P2, ahead of Carlos Sainz in third and Sergio Perez in fourth. The usually rapid Fernando Alonso was slowest in the second part of qualifying.
Result Qualification - Miami
Q3
On the first runs, Verstappen secured provisional pole following an impressive 1:27.241. The Dutchman's lap was one of his cleanest of the weekend, and was 0.141s quicker than Leclerc's opening attempt.
Q3 is traditionally an all-soft tyre session, yet Lando Norris posted his first flying lap on the medium compound.
It was a failed experiment, as his opening lap was only enough for sixth provisionally on the grid.
Mercedes trialled the medium-tyre experiment in the dying seconds of Q3 but as it was for Norris, it was an incorrect decision but one that was forced due to the side having no softs remaining.
In the fight for pole position, Verstappen discovered time in the first sector but failed to improve on his fastest lap.
To Verstappen's relief, nobody managed to improve enough to contest his time, with his opening Q3 lap being enough for a seventh pole position in a row. It meant Leclerc remained in P2 ahead of Sainz in third.
Perez qualified fourth ahead of Norris, who improved to fifth on a set of soft tyres. Oscar Piastri, Russell, Hamilton, Nico Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda completed the top 10.
Alonso out in Q2
In Q2, there was a brief period of double-waved yellows after Alex Albon had to find reverse at the tight Turn 17 hairpin after he failed to slow his Williams quickly enough.
Albon did well to avoid the barrier and continued on his way; however, he could only salvage P14 come the end of the second phase of qualifying.
The big shock in Q2 was the elimination of Alonso, who went wide at the same corner as Albon did earlier in the second part of qualifying and was only 15th fastest.
Alonso's team-mate Lance Stroll narrowly missed out on Q3 in P11, whilst Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon impressed for Alpine in 12th and 13th.
Topping the second part of qualifying was Leclerc with a 1:27.533, whilst Verstappen did enough for second with a 1:27.566.
Shock Q1 elimination for Ricciardo
As it did throughout the session, track evolution played a significant part at the start of qualifying. The big shock was Daniel Ricciardo, who dazzled in the sprint race but could only manage P18 in Q1.
Due to a three-place grid penalty, Ricciardo will start the Miami GP from last, with Zhou Guanyu joining him on the last row.
Alonso was the driver on the bubble but Valtteri Bottas failed to go faster than the two-time world champion on his final flying lap.
Bottas will start from P16 ahead of local boy Logan Sargeant, who has still never qualified ahead of Albon in a traditional qualifying session. Kevin Magnussen will start from 18th.
Verstappen topped the opening part of qualifying after posting a 1:27.689.
Most read
In this article
Join the conversation!