INCRIDEBLE: Max Verstappen says choosing Red Bull was the worst mistake he has ever made.... read more

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Max Verstappen claimed Sprint pole for Red Bull at the Miami GP; Charles Leclerc second for Ferrari; Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and George Russell both out in SQ2; watch the Sprint on Saturday at 5pm, with Qualifying at 9pm and the Miami GP itself on Sunday at 9pm – live on Sky Sports F1

Verstappen struggled with his Red Bull throughout the session, including on the lap that he secured pole with, but the other contenders fell away to leave the world championship leader at the top of the timesheet.

Ferrari’s Leclerc recovered from missing most of the weekend’s only practice session earlier on Friday to take second as he finished a tenth back from the Dutchman.

Lando Norris had appeared the most likely driver to deny Verstappen pole having topped SQ1 and SQ2 in his significantly upgraded McLaren but the Brit will only start ninth after struggling in SQ3.

Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez took third, while Daniel Ricciardo claimed a hugely impressive fourth for Red Bull’s junior team RB as the Australian fights for his future in the sport.

The upgraded MCL38 had been the talk of the paddock on Friday morning as McLaren revealed what chief executive Zak Brown admitted is basically a B-spec car, such are the extent of the changes.

The new parts, which Norris had all of and team-mate Piastri only some of, appeared to be working as planned as the Brit showed strong pace to top SQ1 and SQ2 on medium tyres.

However, the mandatory switch to soft tyres for the final eight-minute shootout seemed to totally throw Norris off, as he was almost a full second slower than he had been in SQ2.

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