A late red flag for a Charles Leclerc spin has created a mixed grid for tomorrow’s Miami Grand Prix, with Sergio Perez starting on pole but Max Verstappen languishing in ninth.
It dramatically boosts Perez’s title charge, with the Red Bull driver only six points off his leading teammate.
Seven different teams were represented in Q3, with the sole Aston Martin qualifying being Fernando Alonso, who will start on the front row next to the Mexican.
Carlos Sainz will have another Ferrari-powered car keeping him company on the second row, coming in the form of Haas’s Kevin Magnussen, who impressed over all three sessions.
Pierre Gasly is the first on the Alpine from fifth on the grid, looking to improve on a challenging run of form for the outfit of late. He out-qualified George Russell, who gets the nod for grid spot six.
Despite Leclerc’s crash, which came at Turn 4 as everyone was setting their final flyers, the Monagasque driver will line up seventh next to the second Alpine driven by Esteban Ocon.
Verstappen failed to set a lap early in Q3, which ultimately hurt his chances with the red flag forcing him to start tomorrow’s race from ninth with no time set in the final session.
That was the same result for Valtteri Bottas, who starts tenth due to also not setting a Q3 time.
Lewis Hamilton was the shock driver to be eliminated from the earlier Q2, the seven-time World Champion struggling in Sector 1 on his final run to fail to make the top 10, resulting in him starting from 13th.
Alex Albon was unlucky 11, missing out on qualifying for Q3 by 0.2 seconds. Nico Hulkenberg will keep him company off the sixth row, while Zhou Guanyu starts from 14th next to Hamilton.
Nyck De Vries was the other driver eliminated from Q2, making for a difficult day for AlphaTauri, with teammate Yuki Tsunoda only managing the 17th-fastest in Q1.
Both McLarens join Red Bull’s sister team near the back of the grid, with Lando Norris only managing to qualify 16th and Oscar Piastri 19th.
Lance Stroll was the surprise loss from Q1, only managing to qualify a disappointing 18th in an important weekend for Aston Martin to try and retain second in the Constructors standings.
Logan Sargeant rounds out the grid, starting 20th.
The Miami Grand Prix begins at 7.30 am tomorrow and will be shown live on Sky Sport.
