Perez takes pole as Leclerc crash shortens Q3 - Miami GP

Sergio Perez secured pole position for the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, with Fernando Alonso starting alongside him on the front row. The qualifying session was cut short due to a red flag caused by Charles Leclerc's crash, preventing anyone from improving their times. 

Perez set a time of 1m26.841s on his first flying run in Q3, while his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen aborted his initial run after going wide through Turn 5. Leclerc, on the other hand, tapped the wall on the exit of Turn 16 and suffered a lock-up at the following corner, which only earned him seventh place after the initial set of runs. 

Both Leclerc and Verstappen began their final runs to try and overturn Perez's bid for pole position. However, Leclerc spun into the wall on the exit of Turn 6, bringing out double-waved yellows in the opening sector. The session was then red-flagged with one minute and 36 seconds left on the clock and not restarted, cementing Perez's pole position and denying Verstappen a chance to fight back for pole.

Alonso claimed his first front-row start of the season alongside Perez, while Carlos Sainz starts behind him on the grid. Kevin Magnussen joins Sainz on the second row of the grid, with Pierre Gasly and George Russell following in fifth and sixth place respectively. Leclerc was seventh fastest prior to his crash, with Esteban Ocon, Verstappen, and Valtteri Bottas completing the top 10.

Lewis Hamilton was eliminated from Q2, only managing to secure 13th place in the session. Russell managed to progress into the top 10, but Hamilton was unable to extract the same degree of pace from the W14 and missed out on Q3 by two tenths. 

The midfield runners faced tight margins in Q1, with the McLaren and Mercedes duos mired in the bottom five with a minute and a half to go. Both Mercedes drivers managed to grab competitive lap times to progress, but Lando Norris dropped out at the first stage. 

Yuki Tsunoda qualified 17th, while Lance Stroll collected an 18th-placed start for Sunday's race. Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant completed the final row.

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