Perez, meanwhile, had to settle for a spot on the second row of the grid, two-tenths away from Verstappen’s pole time, as he rued a costly mistake in a challenging conclusion to his qualifying session.
“It was quite tricky,” he said afterwards. “Unfortunately, I didn’t get a clean Q3 run one when the track was at its best, I think. Then I did a slight mistake into Turn 8, which cost me at least the front row, probably pole. We just didn’t maximise it.
READ MORE: Who is Andrea Kimi Antonelli – and why is he such a hot topic in the Miami paddock?
“But I’m optimistic. It hurts to miss out on the front row by a couple of hundredths, but it’s how it is, the margins are super close. We did some mistakes with how we were setting up going into qualifying, so we’ve got to push and understand the issues, but we are getting a lot closer now.”
Asked about his chances of overhauling the Ferraris on Sunday, he signed off: “It’s going to be quite tricky given that they are strong, they have some really strong pace, so it will be an interesting battle with them tomorrow.”
News Summary:
- Max Verstappen relieved to grab second pole on ‘incredibly tough’ weekend in Miami
- Check all news and articles from the latest Cricket updates.