New Delhi: Max Verstappen takes pole position for the Miami Grand Prix, beating the sprint race winner Lando Norris. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who took pole in Friday’s sprint qualifying session, starts in the second row, as Verstappen finished 0.065 seconds ahead of Norris. Antonelli himself finished just 0.067 seconds behind the Dutch driver, putting in a clinical performance, as the Mercedes driver pushed ahead of Oscar Piastri, who starts the Sunday race in fourth.
Quite early on, it was clear that the race margins would be minimal, with Verstappen and Norris separated by just 0.003 seconds during the first flying laps of Q3. Norris had locked up in the hairpin while his teammate Piastri was only 0.017 seconds behind Verstappen.
Another Max masterclass 👏
Here’s your starting grid for tomorrow’s Miami Grand Prix 😎#F1 #MiamiGP pic.twitter.com/H0uSDb0SE5
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 3, 2025
Verstappen manages to bounce back strongly despite struggles
It wasn’t till Alex Albon took the fifth fastest lap that the gap between the provisional top 10 grew to more than half a second. During the second run, Verstappen did appear to be affected by some understeer but managed to bounce back and improved his provisional pole position lap.
By the looks of it, McLaren’s two cars weren’t looking to improve based on their first sector performance. However, Norris managed to put together a strong second sector and a decent final sector performance. Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon of Williams qualified ahead of Esteban Ocon of Haas and outqualified Yuki Tsunoda of Red Bull and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari. The Williams duo are in contention to finish in the points during the Sunday race, qualifying sixth and seventh.
Lewis Hamilton’s woes at Ferrari continue
Lewis Hamilton’s woeful season at the Ferrari continued after he was knocked out of Q2 while his teammate advanced with the eighth fastest time in Q2, with a gap of 0.058 between them. Having secured a podium finish in the sprint race, there were high expectations from Hamilton in the qualifying itself. Ferrari, unlike the McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes and Williams, didn’t see both their drivers advance.
The four young drivers were knocked out in Q2, with Gabriel Bortoleto starting at P13, his best start in a race this season. Both Racing Bulls drivers Liam Lawson and Isaac Hadja,r failed to advance. With Miami offering very chances of overtakes, the duo are on the backfoot, with Hadjar having the best shot at taking points as he starts on P11.
Aston Martin is out early as the grid is divided marginally in Q1
During the opening section, Hamilton and Tsunoda looked to be in trouble, with the seven-time world champion just away from the drop zone for a portion of the session. However, he set up a time that put him in eighth place, while Tsunoda was ninth following his final lap of Q1. Leclerc finished 12th after failing to give a complete performance, while Verstappen posted the fastest time at the end of Q1.
The grid was separated by just a little margin as Nico Hulkenberg, who qualified 16th, was just 0.603 seconds behind the Dutchman. Hulkenberg was just 0.056 seconds behind Leclerc. The Q1 fallers included the Aston Martin pair Lance Stroll and F1 veteran Fernando Alonso. For Alpine’s Jack Doohan, it was a question of his future in the team and outqualifying his teammate Pierre Gasly.
Max Verstappen takes his second consecutive pole position of the season as he starts Sunday race ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli. Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
