Verstappen claims pole to cap perfect day at Miami GP

The Dutch driver, who earlier on Saturday won the sprint race, clocked one minute 27.241 seconds at the Miami International Autodrome to take top spot.

Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was 0.141 seconds behind and his teammate Carlos Sainz completed the top three.

Oscar Piastri will start sixth on the grid, while it was a terrible session for his fellow Australia Daniel Ricciardo who failed to advance out of the first qualifying group.

Having qualified 18th of the 20 drivers, Ricciardo will actually start from last spot as he serves out a three-point penalty from the previous grand prix, in China.

This is Red Bull driver Verstappen's sixth pole of the season - four of which he has converted to wins.

He has so far failed to win only once this season - in Australia, when he was forced to abandon the race due to a car issue.

Verstappen still wasn't fully satisfied, after failing to improve his time in the final flying lap.

"We improved the car a bit, but every year I come here I find it difficult to be consistent," he said.

"Today was about finding that balance and we did OK.

"(The car) feels more under control, which should help us tomorrow."

Leclerc, who was second in the sprint race, said he hopes to "put Max under a bit more pressure" in Sunday's race.

"It felt so much on the limit, it was very close until Q3," he said.

"When we started to push for the last one or two tenths, we started to lose it."

Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull was fourth, followed by the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Piastri.

Mercedes were seventh and eighth with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton respectively, while Nico Hulkenberg of Haas and Yuki Tsunoda of Visa RB completed the top 10.

Verstappen faced no difficulties earlier in the day as he kicked off the weekend with a win in the sprint.

Racing was cut short as the safety car was deployed before the end of the first lap after Norris's McLaren went off the track following contact in an incident involving the Aston Martin cars of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso, and the Mercedes of Hamilton.

Once the safety car left the track, Verstappen had no issues in retaining his lead and cruising to victory, followed by Leclerc and Perez.

Verstappen, who also won the first sprint of the year in China, tops the drivers' standings ahead of teammate Perez as he chases a fourth consecutive world title.

MIAMI GRAND PRIX GRID

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:27.241

2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1:27.382

3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 1:27.455

4. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) 1:27.460

5. Lando Norris (McLaren) 1:27.594

6. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 1:27.675

7. George Russell (Mercedes) 1:28.067

8. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1:28.107

9. Niko Hulkenberg (Haas) 1:28.146

10. Yuki Tsunoda (RB) 1:28.192

Australian Associated Press