Verstappen and Red Bull dominate preliminaries in Miami.
MIAMI, Florida— Max Verstappen recorded the quickest time for Saturday’s sprint race by qualifying at 1:27:641 ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez. Afterward, the Dutchman wondered where the rest of the challenging drivers were. “What happened to the others?” he asked.
Verstappen took one final lap of the last session, which was enough to take the pole. Leclerc, who spun earlier in the morning, stalled his engine after taking only three laps, which stopped him on track. But he posted his time in the last couple of minutes, and that effort split the two Red Bulls from starting the sprint on the front row.
One positive note about this Friday’s sprint qualifying was Visa Cash App’s Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian was on his game Friday and qualified in fourth, his best result in 2024.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was finally bettered by his Monegasque teammate and had to settle for fifth. McLaren and Aston Martin teams occupied the next four positions as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who took the first two sessions, were sixth and ninth. At the same time, Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso finished seventh and eighth. Nico Hulkenberg took the final top ten position in his Haas.
Both Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and George Russell failed to qualify for the final session. The Briton drivers finished 11th and 12th, just ahead of Alpine’s Ocon, who had new components put on his car.
The sprint race will begin at Noon on Saturday (ESPN), with qualifying for Sunday’s race (also on ESPN) beginning at 4 p.m. Sunday’s race will also start at 4 p.m. and will be televised by ABC.
