Max Verstappen stormed to an immense pole position at the Miami Grand Prix, fending off Lando Norris to secure a P1 grid slot for Sunday's race. Kimi Antonelli will line up behind the front row in third, but there was more pain for Lewis Hamilton, who was eliminated in Q2. Verstappen, Piastri and sprint race pole-winner Antonelli all showed early pace in Q1, but the two Ferrari drivers struggled to extract pace from their SF-25 machines.

Charles Leclerc scraped through in P12, while a relatively clean lap from Hamilton was only good enough for eighth place. At the wrong end of the field, British starlet Oliver Bearman finished last in Q1, matching his unfortunate result from Friday’s sprint shootout. The Haas racer was rapid in the sprint as he soared from 18th on the grid to eighth, but a brutal post-race penalty stripped him of points. He now faces a similar challenge in the Grand Prix.

Ferrari were equally slow in the second part of qualifying, and Hamilton was dumped out following a poor final attempt. While the Scuderia struggled, Williams thrived as Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz sailed into Q3 with some breathing room. James Vowles’ squad have scored points in all but one of the race weekends so far in 2025.

Hamilton was joined in the bottom five by a quartet of rookies. Among them was Gabriel Bortoleto, who threatened to make an against-all-odds Q3 appearance following his immense first run, but was bumped down to 13th at the chequered flag.

In Q3, Verstappen laid down the early marker, although the top three drivers were separated by less than two-hundredths of a second. Norris, Antonelli and Piastri all improved on their final attempts, but the reigning world champion did what he does best, and produced a stellar run worthy of pole position.

Miami Grand Prix qualifying results

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

2. Lando Norris (McLaren)

3. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

4. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

5. George Russell (Mercedes)

6. Carlos Sainz (Williams)