Leclerc will start ahead of Sainz and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.
F1 Miami Grand Prix qualifying results: Leclerc on pole from Sainz
What happened in Miami Grand Prix Q1?
Leclerc set the pace in the opening session at 1m29.474s, 0.326s clear of Verstappen. Sainz was third fastest ahead of Perez.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton toiled to make it through and had to run again – only qualifying for Q2 with 48s left on the clock. He vaulted up to fifth quickest.
Falling at the first hurdle were Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo), Williams duo Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi, and Esteban Ocon, whose Alpine didn’t run after its shunt in FP3 that cracked the chassis.
Miami Grand Prix Q1 results: Leclerc fastest from Verstappen
What happened in Miami Grand Prix Q2?
Verstappen set the bar at 1m29.202s but Leclerc made a second run and grabbed P1 with a lap of 1m29.130s, which was 0.072s faster. McLaren’s Lando Norris leapt up to third with a flying final lap, ahead of Perez and Sainz.
Knocked out at this point were Fernando Alonso (Alpine, missing out by just 0.032s), George Russell (who had starred in practice for Mercedes), Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) and Mick Schumacher (Haas).
Miami Grand Prix Grand Prix Q2 results: Leclerc fastest from Verstappen
What happened in Miami Grand Prix Q3?
On the first runs, Verstappen dipped into the 1m28s bracket with 1m28.991s. Leclerc was second on 1m29.055s, with Sainz a further 0.016s slower.
On the final runs, Leclerc banged in 1m28.796s to take pole, with Sainz grabbing second on 1m28.986s, 0.19s in arrears.
Verstappen will start third after bailing out of his final run after going off, ahead of Perez, Valtteri Bottas – who only made Q2 by a tenth but with start fifth for Alfa Romeo. Hamilton qualified sixth, ahead of Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Norris, Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin).
