Max Verstappen will start the Miami Grand Prix from pole after stunning with a lap around the 3.3-mile circuit.
The Red Bull driver produced a 1:26.204, which was a lap record around the Miami Autodrome and 0.065s faster than Lando Norris who lines up alongside the Dutchman.
It was an impressive turnaround for Verstappen as he was only fourth quickest in Sprint qualifying and looking at least two-tenths off the McLaren’s theoretical best in qualifying for the Grand Prix.
Norris made a few mistakes on his lap, notably at Turns 14 and 15, while Anthony Davidson thinks Oscar Piastri made a critcial error at Turn 8 that cost him a chance at pole.
Verstappen was the quickest through the first sector and made up time throughout the lap, notably through Turn 18. Damon Hill thinks Verstappen was ‘squirming’ through the first sector, as he produced the fastest time.
Discussing his lap after qualifying on Teds Notebook, former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya outlined one ‘annoying’ trait about Verstappen that he keeps doing during qualifying sessions.
Juan Pablo Montoya points out ‘annoying’ Max Verstappen and Red Bull trait
Verstappen and Red Bull have developed a habit of turning things around between Friday and Saturday in F1 qualifying, and this weekend in Miami is no different according to Montoya.
“I was saying, ‘Max is going to struggle here, the car doesn’t seem to have any traction’ and I don’t know what they did, but they figured it out. Again! They always figure it out,” said Montoya.
“It’s great, but it’s like ‘Wow, that’s so annoying!’ in the same way you look at McLaren, and you go ‘Oh, they got this… again?!’”
Verstappen did the same in Saudi Arabia having earned pole despite being eight tenths off in practice, while the Red Bull driver also did the same in Japan and converted his pole into a victory.
Max Verstappen reveals setup change earned him pole in Miami
Verstappen credited a setup change that Red Bull made between the Sprint race and qualifying that enabled him to extract the pole lap from his car, despite McLaren looking quicker.
“Just changed the setup a bit from before to now—that’s why it rotated a bit better. What we are trying to achieve is a better balance in the car,” said Verstappen.
“Now this track is not always the easiest to say that you have improved or nailed something because it’s just a really weird layout I would say. So it takes a bit more time.”
Norris’ theoretical best time was a 1:26.0 while Piastri’s theoretical best was a 1:26.1 based on all of their fastest sectors stringed together.
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