Max Verstappen claimed pole position for the 2024 Miami Sprint ahead of Charles Leclerc.
Verstappen struggled through Practice despite setting the fastest lap time and looked outclassed in the first two Sprint Qualifying segments but snatched pole with an excellent lap in SQ3.
Leclerc meanwhile missed most of Practice but showed his pace throughout Sprint Qualifying to claim second ahead of Sergio Perez in a tight finish to the session, with RB’s Daniel Ricciardo a surprise fourth on the grid.
Now here is a roundup of Practice and Sprint Qualifying for 2024 Miami Sprint.
Practice
Haas’ Kevin Magnussen was first out on track and set a benchmark 1m 32.491 but Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton went 1.364 seconds quicker to set the pace, only for Verstappen to post 1m 31.071 to go top from the Brit and Perez on medium tyres.
Red flags were out just nine minutes into the session after Leclerc spun out of Turn 16 in the seventh minute, and got his Ferrari stuck sideways as he tried to reverse and spin round on the narrow straight to no avail.
The session resumed eight minutes later and Perez quickly proceeded to set the pace as he went quickest in the 21st minute with 1m 29.632 on medium tyres, which left him fastest at the halfway mark as drivers focused on medium or hard tyre running.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz however went 0.286s quicker on the hard tyre in the 31st minute and found a further 0.015s on his next flier on the same tyres.
Majority of drivers left the soft-tyre runs until the final ten minutes and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was the first to go quickest with 1m 29.175, which was soon bettered by several drivers in the following minutes.
Verstappen meanwhile had struggled with lock-ups and mistakes throughout the session but with two minutes left, he set a 1m 28.595 on the soft tyre to top the session from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who had struggled with steering issues in his car.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 28.595 |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.105 |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.116 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.189 |
| 5 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.222 |
| 6 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.273 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.417 |
| 8 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | + 0.461 |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.568 |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.580 |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | + 0.583 |
| 12 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 0.594 |
| 13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 0.719 |
| 14 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.798 |
| 15 | Guanyu Zhou | Kick Sauber | + 0.850 |
| 16 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.900 |
| 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber | + 1.041 |
| 18 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 1.296 |
| 19 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 1.428 |
| 20 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 3.504 |
Sprint Qualifying
SQ1
Having missed most of practice, Leclerc was first out on track and set a benchmark 1m 50.790 after he ran wide at Turn 8, with his time quickly usurped by several drivers as Verstappen found himself quickest on 1m 28.601 after everyone set their first lap times on the compulsory medium tyre.
Zhou, Sainz, Hulkenberg, Albon and Bottas meanwhile found themselves in the elimination zone but Zhou and Sainz soon got themselves out of danger at the expense of Ricciardo and Sargeant who found themselves 16th and 18th with Bottas improved to 17th in-between them.
As the checkered flag fell, Hulkenberg and Ricciardo both survived as Gasly was eliminated in 16th position ahead of Kick Sauber’s Zhou and Bottas who qualified 17th and 18th.
Williams locked out the back row with hometown hero, Sargeant only 19th but ahead of his teammate – Albon who had his last lap time deleted after he cut the corner at Turn 15.
McLaren meanwhile finished the segment fastest as Norris set the fastest time of 1m 27.939 to finish 0.117s quicker than Piastri.
SQ2
Magnussen was first out on track but it was Perez who set the initial benchmark time of 1m 27.865 only to be usurped by Norris who went 0.268s quicker with 1m 27.597.
Hamilton, Ocon and Magnussen meanwhile found themselves in the bottom five alongside Verstappen and Tsunoda, although the latter pair hadn’t set a lap time having instead opted to do just one run at the end of the segment with everyone again on medium tyres.
Once the checkered flag fell, only Verstappen survived as Mercedes suffered a shock double elimination as Russell qualified 11th ahead of Hamilton, whilst Ocon, Magnussen and Tsunoda qualified 13, 14 and 15th respectively for the Sprint.
SQ3
A quiet start to the final Sprint Qualifying segment saw everyone opt to stay in their garages, until Hulkenberg led the pack out for the sole runs to determine the top ten order for the Sprint Grid with three minutes left on the clock.
Hulkenberg set benchmark 1m 28.476 to go top but his time was swiftly usurped as Verstappen produced 1m 27.641 to claim pole for the sprint, ahead of Leclerc, Perez, Ricciardo, Sainz and Piastri.
Aston Martin’s Stroll and Alonso qualified seventh and eighth ahead of Norris and Hulkenberg.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 27.641 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.108 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.235 |
| 4 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | + 0.403 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.462 |
| 6 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.520 |
| 7 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.734 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.778 |
| 9 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.831 |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 0.835 |
| 11 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1m 28.343 |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.028 |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.036 |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 0.271 |
| 15 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | + 1.126 |
| 16 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1m 29.185 |
| 17 | Guanyu Zhou | Kick Sauber | + 0.082 |
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber | + 0.175 |
| 19 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 0.366 |
| 20 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.673 |
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