Verstappen closes in on consecutive pole position record with P1 in Miami

Max Verstappen has qualified on pole position for the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, maintaining his 100% record of starting from P1 in every Grand Prix this season. The Dutchman now has seven consecutive poles in total, taking him one short of Ayrton Senna's all time record set between 1988-1989. Ferrari seems to be his closest competitor for the second time this weekend. Charles Leclerc will start from P2 with a repeat of the sprint race front-row. Carlos Sainz rounded out the top three.

Sergio Perez will start from fourth place. The medium tyres made a very rare appearance during qualifying for the Grand Prix. Lando Norris tried the medium tyres first and finished sixth fastest in the first run of Q3 using the yellow-walled tyre. He ended his experiment for the second run and jumped ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri for P5.

The Mercedes looked difficult to drive, with Lewis Hamilton sliding all over the circuit. However, both Hamilton and George Russell reached Q3 compared to the double SQ2 knockout on Friday afternoon. In the second run of Q3, Mercedes tried the medium tyres. Hulkenberg took part in his third qualifying session this season. The Haas driver, who will drive for Sauber next season, continued his fine form.

Q1

Almost all drivers formed a queue at the end of the pitlane to test out the set-up changes made between the sprint race and qualifying. Verstappen briefly reported some concerns about his clutch but soon confirmed everything was fine. He then went to the top of the timesheets after the two Ferrari drivers dominated the early stages. 

With five minutes remaining, Alex Albon sat at the bottom of the leaderboard. He was joined by Zhou, Magnussen and Gasly. Home favourite Logan Sargeant was also in the drop zone but only marginally behind the two VCARB drivers. Daniel Ricciardo dropped down into the drop zone. After scoring his first 2024 points, Ricciardo will start from the back of the grid when his grid penalty is applied. Albon escaped the drop zone, but Sargeant couldn't pull the same stunt. Meanwhile, Gasly jumped to P5. 

Out - 16th Bottas, 17th Sargeant, 18th Ricciardo, 19th Magnussen, 20th Zhou

Q2

Alex Albon had problems managing his tyres and couldn't make a corner. He caused a double yellow flag when he was trying to select reverse but eventually got going again. Both Aston Martin drivers sat in the drop zone, with Albon, Ocon and Hamilton. Perez sat in an uncomfortable 8th place with five minutes remaining. Third-placed Lando Norris opted for medium tyres. 

Stroll and Alonso both stayed in the drop zone, with the Canadian beating his teammate again this weekend. They were joined by both Alpine drivers and Albon. 

Out - P11 Stroll, P12 Gasly, P13 Ocon, P14 Albon, P15 Alonso