Leclerc leads a Ferrari 1-2 at the Miami Grand Prix 

Charles Leclerc clinched pole position at the 2022 Miami Grand Prix at the Miami International Autodrome in Florida. Carlos Sainz was in second position, just 0.190 seconds slower than Leclerc. Max Verstappen was in third position behind the two Scuderia Ferrari drivers.

Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas rounded off the top five positions in the qualification session at this brand new circuit.

The qualifying session started in hot conditions with air temperatures at 33 degrees C and track temperatures at 53 degrees C at the Miami International Autodromo circuit. Esteban Ocon suffered a heavy crash in final practice and his car could not be repaired in time for qualification.

The Pirelli tyre choice at this race is the white-striped hard compound tyres (C2), yellow-striped medium compound tyres (C3), and red-striped soft compound tyres (C4), the middle range of compounds in the Pirelli tyre range.

Q1: Magnussen knocked out

Carlos Sainz with a lap time of 1m30.858s went fastest to take the top spot in the early running. Verstappen with a storming lap of 1m30.235s laid down the gauntlet and went to the top of the time charts. Leclerc with a lap time of 1m29.474s displaced Verstappen at the top of the time charts.

Lewis Hamilton was in the dropzone and put on a fresh set of soft compound tyres in the dying minutes of the session. The Briton negotiated through the traffic and slotted into fifth position with a do or die lap.

Fernando Alonso also with a last gap effort escaped the dropzone and pushed Kevin Magnussen into the dropzone. The session ended with Leclerc at the top of the time charts ahead of Verstappen and Pérez.

Q1 dropzone: Kevin Magnussen, Zhou Guanyo, Alexander Albon, Nicholas Latifi, Esteban Ocon

Q2: Russell and Alonso eliminated

Verstappen went fastest with a lap time of 1m:29.202s ahead of Pérez. Hamilton with his first flying lap slotted into fifth position behind the two Red Bull Racing and Ferrari drivers.

Russell had to abort his first two flying laps as his W13 lacked grip and with oversteer was sliding through the early corners. The young Briton with his final lap pushed himself into the top ten positions.

But last gap efforts from Lando Norris, Valtteri Bottas and Yuki Tsunoda pushed Russell back into the dropzone.

Daniel Ricciardo had a disappointing lap and finished in fourteenth position even as team-mate Norris finished in third position. Leclerc topped the session ahead of Verstappen.

Q2 dropzone: Fernando Alonso, George Russell, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Mick Schumacher

Q3: Leclerc takes pole position

The last all-important twelve minutes of the top ten shootout started with pole position being contested by the Scuderia Ferrari and Oracle Red Bull Racing drivers.

Verstappen went to the top of the time charts with a lap time of 1m28.991s. Leclerc was just 0.064 seconds slower in second position. Sainz was only marginally slower than his team-mate. Pérez, Bottas and Hamilton slotted in behind these three drivers.

The two Ferrari drivers on their second flying laps went faster than Verstappen and Leclerc took pole position. Verstappen on his final flying lap oversteered off the track and had to be content with third position.

Pérez managed to finish in fourth position. Bottas with a good final lap slotted into fifth position ahead of old team-mate Hamilton.

Gasly, Norris, Tsunoda and Lance Stroll rounded off the top ten positions. Leclerc will start on pole for the third time this season with team-mate Sainz on the first row with him.

Top 10: Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Max Verstappen, Sergio Pérez, Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton, Pierre Gasly, Lando Norris, Yuki Tsunoda, Lance Stroll

2022 Miami Grand Prix Qualification Results:

Pos	No	Driver	Nat.	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	16	Charles Leclerc	MON	Scuderia Ferrari	1:29.474	1:29.130	1:28.796	25
2	55	Carlos Sainz	ESP	Scuderia Ferrari	1:30.079	1:29.729	1:28.986	26
3	1	Max Verstappen	NED	Oracle Red Bull Racing	1:29.836	1:29.202	1:28.991	18
4	11	Sergio Perez	MEX	Oracle Red Bull Racing	1:30.055	1:29.673	1:29.036	21
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Alfa Romeo Racing	1:30.845	1:29.751	1:29.475	20
6	44	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team	1:30.388	1:29.797	1:29.625	21
7	10	Pierre Gasly	FRA	Scuderia AlphaTauri	1:30.779	1:30.128	1:29.690	22
8	4	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren F1 Team	1:30.761	1:29.634	1:29.750	22
9	22	Yuki Tsunoda	JAP	Scuderia AlphaTauri	1:30.485	1:30.031	1:29.932	21
10	18	Lance Stroll	CAN	Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team	1:30.441	1:29.996	1:30.676	21
11	14	Fernando Alonso	ESP	BWT Alpine F1 Team	1:30.407	1:30.160		14
12	63	George Russell	GBR	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team	1:30.490	1:30.173		15
13	5	Sebastian Vettel	GER	#N/A	1:30.677	1:30.214		15
14	3	Daniel Ricciardo	AUS	McLaren F1 Team	1:30.583	1:30.310		15
15	47	Mick Schumacher	GER	Haas F1 Team	1:30.645	1:30.423		19
16	20	Kevin Magnussen	DEN	Haas F1 Team	1:30.975			11
17	24	Zhou Guanyu	CHN	Alfa Romeo Racing	1:31.020			9
18	23	Alexander Albon	THA	Williams Racing	1:31.266			10
19	6	Nicholas Latifi	CAN	Williams Racing	1:31.325			10