Formula 1 in Miami began with emotions.
A mistake by Charles Leclerc at the end of the 3rd qualifying round ended up being decisive in the aspirations of two-time champion Max Verstappen, who will start from 9th place in the Miami GP.
Checo Pérez took pole position but at Red Bull they were left with a bitter taste when they saw that the Dutchman will have to row from behind in the race that will take place this Sunday from 4:30 p.m.
Leclerc made a gross mistake in a curve and got confused when there were less than two minutes to go in Q3, with Checo on pole, Fernando Alonso, 2nd, and Carlos Sainz, 3rd.
As the Monegasque Ferrari was in a dangerous place, the red flag was displayed, decreeing the end of the activities on Saturday.
Verstappen, in the Red Bull pit, had dominated the entire qualifying session but in Q3 he had a failed first attempt and was about to set a good time to be close to his teammate on the starting grid.
Leclerc's mistake shattered the illusion of the two-time champion.
Pérez, who is six points below the leader Verstappen in the World Cup standings, gave the big blow in the qualifying session with a time of 1:26.841, after a very discreet performance in the free trials.
"I think it was being my worst weekend until this qualifying," said Pérez, cheered by the great Latin American fans present in Miami.
"It was one of those weekends where you struggle to find balance, confidence (...) But I managed to reset everything for qualifying," the Guadalajara driver congratulated himself.
Pérez and Verstappen have shared the wins in the first four races of the season equally.
In Miami, the Dutchman clearly dominated the free trials and the first two parts of the standings, but in the latter he was left without a last attempt to fight for pole position due to a crash by Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) in the absence of one minute and 36 seconds, which caused a red flag and the end of the session.
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