Miami Grand Prix: Verstappen takes pole
Cloudy. Dry. Air +28C, highway +45...39C
The weekend of the Saturday sprint in Miami in 2025 was very interesting. The surprises began on Friday, when Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli won the sprint qualification.
On Saturday, the sprint took place on a drying track with many incidents, including accidents between Leclair and Alonso, and ended with McLaren's double and Hamilton's third place. The audience waited for the sequel.
The start of the sprint was postponed due to the weather, and the start of the main qualifying was postponed by 15 minutes. The teams repaired the damaged cars, and at 4:15 p.m. local time, the traffic light at the exit from the pit lane turned green.
The asphalt was completely dry by this point, but the Hard Rock stadium was once again surrounded by clouds, and it was raining somewhere in the distance.
In the first session, everyone used Soft. Elbon entered the pit lane right in front of Hajjar's car, so Isaac had to stop and let his opponent pass. The stewards reviewed the incident after the session and issued an official (non-racing) warning to Alex.
Norris hit the wall at the exit of Turn 16 with no consequences for the car. Gasly was hampered by traffic on the last lap.
Verstappen led the record, completing a lap in 1:26.870. All the drivers, except Berman, were within a second of the leader. Hulkenberg, Alonso, Gasly, Stroll and Berman dropped out of the further fight.
In the second session, everyone went to Soft. In the first attempt, Piastri showed the best time – 1:26.269 with a new track record.
Piastri missed the second attempt, while the others left to finish the fight for positions. Oscar's result held, Russell moved up to third place, Hamilton blocked the tires at Turn 17 and was unable to improve. Hajjar, Hamilton, Bortoleto, Duane and Lawson did not qualify for the final.
In the final, Leclair left the track at turn 17 and returned to the pits before completing a lap. Russell and Norris also lost time there due to blocked tires. Verstappen topped the protocol in the first attempt with 1:26.492, three thousandths ahead of Norris and 17 hundredths ahead of Piastri.
In the second attempt, Verstappen added 1:26.204, which was enough for pole position. Norris made a mistake when he hit the curb at turn 17.
Max Verstappen won qualifying in Miami, taking the 43rd pole of his career and the third of the season. Tomorrow, Lando Norris will share the front row at the start with him, Antonelli (for him, this is the best result of his career) and Piastri will start from the second, Russell and Sainz from the third.
The unusual arrangement of the racers on the starting field promises an interesting race!
Qualification results
Pilot
Team
1st session
2nd session
3rd session
M
Time
Kr
M
Time
Kr
M
Time
Kr
1. M.Verstappen
Red Bull
1
1:26.870
6
5
1:26.643
6
1
1:26.204
6
2. L.Norris
McLaren
2
1:26.955
9
2
1:26.499
6
2
1:26.269
6
3. K.Antonelli
Mercedes
6
1:27.077
8
4
1:26.606
6
3
1:26.271
6
4. O. Piastri
McLaren
3
1:27.006
7
1
1:26.269
3
4
1:26.375
6
5. D.Russell
Mercedes
4
1:27.014
8
3
1:26.575
6
5
1:26.385
6
6. K.Sainz
Williams
7
1:27.098
8
6
1:26.847
6
6
1:26.569
6
7. A.Elbon
Williams
5
1:27.042
9
7
1:26.855
5
7
1:26.682
6
8. S.Leclair
Ferrari
12
1:27.417
9
8
1:26.948
6
8
1:26.754
5
9. E.Windows
Haas
15
1:27.450
9
10
1:26.967
6
9
1:26.824
6
10. Yu.Tsunoda
Red Bull
9
1:27.298
9
9
1:26.959
6
10
1:26.943
6
11. A.Hajjar
Racing Bulls
10
1:27.301
8
11
1:26.987
5
12. L. Hamilton
Ferrari
8
1:27.279
9
12
1:27.006
6
13. The city of Bortoleto
Sauber
11
1:27.343
9
13
1:27.151
6
14. D. Duane
Alpine
13
1:27.422
9
14
1:27.186
6
15. L.Lawson
Racing Bulls
14
1:27.444
8
15
1:27.363
6
16. N. Hulkenberg
Sauber
16
1:27.473
9
17. F.Alonso
Aston Martin
17
1:27.604
9
18. P.Gasli
Alpine
18
1:27.710
9
19. L. Stroll
Aston Martin
19
1:27.830
9
20. O. Berman
Haas
20
1:27.999
9
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