Despite ‘dramatic lap’, Verstappen is fastest in qualifying sprint Miami | formula 1

Fourth place went to the remarkably well-performing Daniel Ricciardo in his Racing Bull.

Despite his fastest time, Verstappen was not satisfied with the performance of his Red Bull in Miami and was therefore surprised that he had still set the fastest time. “It was a dramatic round. But we’ll take it,” he said over the on-board radio.

The World Cup leader had a messy free practice on Friday, in which he also struggled with his Red Bull. Verstappen mainly complained about a lack of grip on the 45-degree warm asphalt in Miami.

Carlos Sainz was fifth in the second Ferrari, ahead of Oscar Piastri in the McLaren. Lando Norris was fast in qualifying in his improved McLaren, but ultimately did not get further than ninth on the grid. Piastri does not have all the components of that update package, but was faster than his teammate.

For Leclerc, the second time was recovery from a bad free practice. The Monegasque was finished after a few minutes, because he could no longer get his Ferrari in the right direction after an innocent spin. Ricciardo took his good form with him from China, where the team gave him a new chassis.

Sprint qualifying did not go well for Mercedes, which saw both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton drop out in the second part. The British start the sprint race on Saturday in eleventh and twelfth respectively.