Max Verstappen fifth in sprint qualifying in Miami: 'Really positive step'

Published on 01 May 2026 by Florence Cobben

Max Verstappen qualified in fifth place for the Miami sprint race. In the exciting sprint qualifying, the tables appeared to have turned against Mercedes, with McLaren apparently back at the top of the pecking order. Lando Norris took pole position, with McLaren-teammate Oscar Piastri in P3. Kimi Antonelli drove a hard race to place his Mercedes inbetween the two papaya cars. Max Verstappen was, with a 1:28.461 time, almost six-tenths slower than Norris, and ended up in fifth place.

After qualifying, Max shared some thoughts on the strides the RB22 has taken over the break: “It feels more together. Of course, there are still things we are working on, but it’s been a really positive step for us. The last few races, we were almost a second behind. We are almost half that gap now, so that’s positive. We are still very weak in the first sector, which is mainly high speed, so we know that we need to work on that. But yes, the rest seems a bit more together, so I’m a bit happier with that. We’ve cleared the midfield. It’s still not where I want it to be, but it’s allowing me to trust it a bit more.”

After just one free training on the simmering Miami circuit, the drivers are quickly ushered into sprint race qualifying. The grid is required to use the medium compounds in the second segment, and the soft tyres in the third segment of qualifying. Max opens his bid for pole with a 1:29.801 time, putting him in fourth. After setting a satisfactory lap, he returns to the pits and bides his time till the end of the session. Max heads on through to SQ2 in seventh place, with Lando Norris being the fastest man of SQ1.

The losers of SQ1 are: Liam Lawson (P17), Esteban Ocon (P18), Sergio Perez (P19), Valtteri Bottas (P20), and the beleaguered Aston Martins, with Fernando Alonso in P21 and Lance Stroll unable to complete a lap time at all due to braking problems.

In SQ2 Max sets a 1:29.093 time in his first flying lap, placing him in fifth. In the second run almost no cars are capable of improving on their first attempts, meaning Max heads on to SQ3 still in fifth. This time, Charles Leclerc is the fastest man on track. Those to exit stage left are: Gabriel Bortoleto (P11), Nico Hulkenberg (P12), Oliver Bearman (P13), Alexander Albon (P14), Carlos Sainz (P15) and rookie Arvid Lindblad (P16).

At the start of SQ3 the drivers bide their time, patiently waiting for the final minutes of the session, as they can all only manage one flying lap. Max's bid for pole puts him fifth overall with a 1:28.461 time. McLaren, meanwhile, has made obvious strides with their upgrades as Lando Norris confidently takes pole position. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli comes in second, about two-tenths off Norris. Oscar Piastri is just behind, in third. Max will have Charles Leclerc ahead in fourth, and George Russell in his rearview mirrors in sixth. Lewis Hamilton takes home seventh, as Franco Colapinto, Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly round out the top ten.

The Miami sprint race will commence on Saturday at 18:00 EST.

Check the Max Verstappen Miami Collection, featuring T-shirts, hoodies, sweaters, shorts, caps, bucket hats, flasks, mugs, tote bags and scale models (1:2 and 1:4) of Max special Miami helmet: https://store.verstappen.com

Results sprint qualifying Miami: