Berlin, 5 May 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull capped a perfect day at the Formula One Miami Grand Prix as he secured pole position for Sunday's main race.

Verstappen, who earlier on Saturday won the sprint race, clocked 1 minute 27.241 seconds at the Miami International Autodrome.

Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was 0.141s behind in second, while team-mate Carlos Sainz completed the top three.

This is Verstappen's sixth pole of the season, four of which he converted to wins so far.

As in the past two years, the Red Bull driver has been unstoppable and only failed to win a race this season in Australia, when he was forced to abandon the race due to a car issue.

Despite having a great day in the office, Verstappen still wasn't fully satisfied with his car. He took pole thanks to his initial effort as he failed to improve his time in the final flying lap.

"I think we improved the car a bit, but every year I come here I find it difficult to be consistent. Today was about finding that balance and I think we did okay. It's not the most enjoyable lap of my career just because of how slippery it was," he said.

"[The car] feels more under control, which should help us tomorrow but we'll find out."

Leclerc, who was second in the sprint race, said he hopes to "put Max under a bit more pressure" in Sunday's race.

"It felt so much on the limit, it was very close until Q3. When we started to push for the last one or two tenths, we started to lose it. Tomorrow, I'll try to have an even better [start]," he said.

Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull was fourth, followed by the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Mercedes were seventh and eighth with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton respectively, while Nico Hülkenberg of Haas and Yuki Tsunoda of Visa RB completed the top 10.

Verstappen faced no difficulties earlier in the day as he kicked off the weekend with a win in the sprint race.

The Dutchman held on to his position at the start, while Leclerc was pressured by Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull, but remained second.

Racing was cut short as the safety car was deployed before the end of the first lap after the McLaren of Lando Norris went off the track following contact in an incident involving the Aston Martin cars of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso and the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.

Once the safety car left the track, Verstappen had no issues in retaining his lead and eventually cruising to victory, followed by Leclerc and Perez.

Hamilton thought he had taken the final points place off Tsunoda with a final-lap overtake, but the seven-time world champion was given a 20-second post-race time penalty for speeding in the pit lane and dropped to 16th.

Verstappen, who also won the first sprint of the year in China, tops the drivers' standings ahead of team-mate Perez as he chases a fourth consecutive world title.

Photo: F1