Red Bull's Sergio Perez claimed pole for the Miami Grand Prix with a time of 1m26.841s on Saturday at the Miami International Autodrome just outside of Miami, Florida. The pole was the third of the Mexican native's career.

"We had a difficult weekend up until qualifying it has been a struggle. The track was improving but this tarmac has only recently been laid and is really sensitive, it has made things a little tricky so I needed that second lap," said Perez.

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was three-tenths slower in second, while Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was third on a 1m27.349s

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who claimed pole in Miami last year, lost control of his car in the closing minutes of Q3 and hit the Turn 7 barriers: the same part of the track where he had a problem in FP2 yesterday.

"I pushed too hard on my last lap in Q3 and there are no excuses to be made," said Leclerc.

The session consequently finished early, as there was no longer enough time for the other nine competitors on track to set a flying lap.

Points leader and two time World Champion Max Verstappen was one of the aforementioned nine drivers and will subsequently start P9 on the grid on Sunday.

"The initial problem starts with me today, I was taking the car to its limit and I made a mistake," said Verstappen. "I had to abort the lap and then you rely on a bit of luck that there won't be a red flag. It's painful and upsetting, we've been really quick all weekend."

Seven time World Champion Lewis Hamilton did not reach Q3 and will start 13th on the grid on Sunday. The last time Hamilton did not make it into Q3 was 2022 Monza.

"I got backed up by a lot of traffic in the final corner and just couldn't get the tyres in the window," said Hamilton.

Hamilton's teammate, George Russell, will start sixth.

Kevin Magnussen took advantage of getting ahead of the Leclerc incident and qualified fourth, the Kannapolis-based team's highest grid position on home soil.

"Kevin, ending up in P4 after setting the fastest time on used tires out of his opponents did a fantastic job on that one," Guenther Steiner, Haas Team Principal.

Alfa Romeo made it into Q3 for the first time this season with their C43 piloted by veteran Valtteri Bottas.

Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap


1	Perez		Red Bull	1:26.841	139.409 mph
2	Alonso		Aston Martin	1:27.202	0.361
3	Sainz		Ferrari		1:27.349	0.508
4	Magnussen	Haas		1:27.767	0.926
5	Gasly		Alpine		1:27.786	0.945
6	Russell		Mercedes	1:27.804	0.963
7	Leclerc		Ferrari		1:27.861	1.020
8	Ocon		Alpine		1:27.935	1.094
9	Verstappen	Red Bull	No Time	
10	Bottas		Alfa Romeo	No Time	
11	Albon		Williams	1:27.795	
12	Hulkenberg	Haas		1:27.903	
13	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:27.975	
14	Zhou		Alfa Romeo	1:28.091	
15	de Vries	AlphaTauri	1:28.395	
16	Norris		McLaren		1:28.394	
17	Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	1:28.429	
18	Stroll		Aston Martin	1:28.476	
19	Piastri		McLaren		1:28.484	
20	Sargeant	Williams	1:28.577

w/ Pirelli Media