Verstappen takes sprint pole in Miami, Russell and Hamilton out in SQ2

Max Verstappen continued his dominant start to the 2024 season by taking pole position in sprint qualifying. The Dutchman will start the sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix from P1, ahead of the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in P2, with Sergio Perez rounding out the top three. 

It was a devastating day for Mercedes, as both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton missed out on SQ3 and could only manage to qualify in P11 and P12, missing out on the final session of the day.

It was a very quiet SQ3 session, as all the drivers waited until the final three and a half minutes to leave their pit boxes, giving themselves just one lap to take pole position for Saturday's sprint race.

Lando Norris topped the timing sheets in both SQ1 and SQ2 and looked to have the best pace around the high-speed Miami circuit, but once again, when it mattered, Verstappen found the pace required to put his RB20 on pole.

Daniel Ricciardo recorded a fantastic lap to put his Racing Bull car into P4 for Saturday's sprint race ahead of Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari in fifth and Oscar Piastri in P6. 

Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso finished in P7 and P8, respectively, for Aston Martin, with Norris only qualifying in P9 as the chequered flag fell. Nico Hulkenberg in the Haas rounded out the top ten.

SQ1

In the blazing sun of Miami, Florida, teams and drivers were thrown into a second sprint qualifying session in back-to-back races, but without the treacherous conditions of two weeks ago at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Leclerc was the first car out on track as the session began, as the Monegasque driver was looking to make up for lost time after he retired from the only practice session of the weekend.

As the session ended, Norris, behind the wheel of a newly upgraded McLaren, topped the SQ1 timesheets, with teammate Piastri finishing in P2 behind his British counterpart.

Unfortunately for home favourite and Florida native Logan Sargeant, he could not entertain the home fans and could only qualify in P19, meaning he starts tomorrow's sprint race from the back of the grid.

Joining Sargeant in missing out on SQ2 was his teammate Alex Albon in 20th as his lap time was deleted, with Pierre Gasly, Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas qualifying in P16, P17 and P18, respectively.

Out - P20 Albon, P19 Sargeant, P18 Bottas, P17 Zhou, P16 Gasly

SQ2

Once again, it was Norris' McLaren that was setting the purple sectors around the high-speed circuit in the shadow of the Hard Rock Stadium, with the 24-year-old setting the pace early in the SQ2 session.

Nobody else replaced Norris at the top of the timing sheet at the end of the session, with Sergio Perez finishing the session in P2.

However, the biggest shock was that neither Russell nor Hamilton could make it into the top ten and the final part of sprint qualifying, with Hamilton clipping the wall during his final lap.

As a result, both Mercedes drivers were eliminated in SQ2 and will start the race from P11 and P12, respectively, compiling more misery for the German team.

Joining the two Mercedes drivers in SQ2 elimination were Esteban Ocon, Kevin Magnussen and Yuki Tsunoda.

Out - P15 Tsunoda, P14 Magnussen, P13 Ocon, P12 Hamilton, P11 Russell