Max Verstappen has enjoyed a dominant day in Miami, winning the Sprint race before claiming pole for Sunday's Grand Prix.
After cruising to victory in China last month, the Red Bull's driver next target was collecting another eight points in the 19-lap Sprint having secured pole on Friday.
Having come through a first corner battle with Charles Leclerc, Verstappen was able to get the job done with minimal fuss, finishing 3.371 seconds ahead of the Ferrari.
Leclerc had to battle far harder to retain hold of the runners-up spot ahead of Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, who ultimately finished in third.
There was a surprise in fourth, however, as Daniel Ricciardo held off Carlos Sainz Jr and Oscar Piastri to secure an impressive five-point haul in the RB.
Nico Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda would complete the points positions, with the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris all missing courtesy of a collision during the opening exchanges.
The Sprint win, now pole.
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 4, 2024
Saturday in Miami belongs to Max Verstappen 👏#F1 #MiamiGP pic.twitter.com/tKtMafOkej
Verstappen edges Leclerc in qualifying
Verstappen did not necessarily have everything go his own way in qualifying with Leclerc having come out on top in Q2.
Nevertheless, the Dutchman did what he needed to do in Q3 as he finished 0.141 seconds faster than the Ferrari man, who was less than a 10th of a second ahead of Sainz Jr.
Incredibly, there were just 0.005 seconds to Perez in fourth, with Norris recovering from the disappointing outcome in the Sprint to finish fifth fastest ahead of teammate Piastri.
Mercedes pair George Russell and Hamilton fill out the fourth row of the grid, and Hulkenberg and Tsunoda completed the top 10.
Darren Plant
