Charles Leclerc took his third pole position of the season in Saturday’s (May 7) qualifying session for the Miami Grand Prix. Carlos Sainz will start in second with Max Verstappen following in third.
Though qualifying to this point in the year has been the Max and Charles show, Verstappen’s bid for pole was ended when the back end of his Red Bull stepped out from under him on his final lap of Q3. This left the front row to be decided between Leclerc and Sainz.
This pole marks a quick return to form for Leclerc, who saw the last round in Imola slip through his hands in the closing stages.
“The last weekend hasn’t been great for me, I did a mistake in the race, but today went well,” Leclerc remarked. “We’re starting on pole and we need to finish the job tomorrow.”
“[Red Bull] are extremely quick in the straight lines, we are quick in the corners. It will be a tight challenge tomorrow, and hopefully we’ll come back on top.”
Leclerc may be on pole, but the happiest man in red may be Sainz, who had placed his Ferrari in the wall in Miami’s FP2, as well as retiring from both the Emilia Romagna and Australian Grands Prix. This return to form places Sainz in prime position to challenge Leclerc off the line come Sunday.
Behind the Ferraris, Verstappen had a loose back end undermine his push for pole at the last minute.
Leading his teammate Sergio Perez through the first sector, Verstappen took a bit more curb than his Pirelli tires could handle through turn six and had to quickly counter-steer off track to keep his Red Bull car facing the right direction.
“I literally did four or five laps yesterday, so the whole day today was still trying to learn the track … to be that competitive in qualifying, I was a bit surprised,” Verstappen said.
“We have a good chance for tomorrow. We have good top speed, the car is handling well. So I’m looking forward to that.”
While this ended his chances for pole, his third place time stood without…
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