Verstappen skated around the Miami Autodrome on his only top 10 shootout lap, but his closest rivals also struggled to improve on their SQ2 times despite using softer tires for the final shootout.
McLaren’s Lando Norris particularly looked to have missed a chance for a second straight sprint pole, his SQ2 at the top of the table being quicker than Verstappen’s pole effort of 1’27”641.
Instead, Verstappen found four tenths to clear Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by a tenth, with teammate Sergio Perez trailing by another tenth.
The Dutchman appeared shocked on Red Bull team radio when his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase informed him that his lap was good enough to line up first on Saturday, and he later explained that his car was difficult to drive on a tour.
“To be honest with you, it was pretty terrible,” Verstappen said. “I don’t know, maybe the last session was incredibly difficult to get the tires working, because already in SQ2 I didn’t feel good. In SQ3 I think it was quite similar for me.”
“I haven’t really improved much on the softs, but somehow we’re first. I’ll happily take it, but it wasn’t really enjoyable to drive for one reason or another .”
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Verstappen said he was confident he could challenge for pole after Friday’s 60-minute practice session alone, but that confidence disappeared once he left the garage for qualifying, while Norris dominated SQ1 and SQ2.
“In practice it was really nice. I was very comfortable and confident, not so much in qualifying,” he added.
“I thought after practice I was pretty confident that we could really challenge for pole, so in qualifying it didn’t really look like that for me.
“But somehow we still finished first. I don’t know what happened to the other cars on the last lap.”
Behind Leclerc and Perez, Verstappen’s former teammate Daniel Ricciardo bounced back from a difficult start to the 2024 season by securing fourth place for RB.
