Max Verstappen doubled up with a sprint race win and qualifying success at the Miami Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton’s torment continued.
Lando Norris was dumped out of the sprint after a first-corner tangle instigated by Hamilton coming down the inside of both Aston Martins, which tipped the McLaren into the run-off area.
Daniel Ricciardo had qualified a surprise third for the second sprint of the F1 season but was quickly reeled in by Sergio Perez before fighting off Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri to earn five valuable points.
Verstappen complained of tyre degradation but rolled home by maintaining a healthy two-second lead over Charles Leclerc.
Hamilton was frustrated in ninth place having overtaken Kevin Magnussen for the final points position, only for the Dane to leave the track and bump the Brit upon his return – earning a ten-second time penalty. However, by remaining in front of Hamilton he protected Haas teammate Nico Hulkenberg to gather a pair of points for the American marque.
Magnussen’s one-man mission to disrupt the seven-time champion led to him shoving his Mercedes into the run-off area at Turn 11 while allowing Yuki Tsunoda to sneak ahead of Hamilton.
Both soon made short work of Magnussen, who finished up with three penalties from the stewards, and Hamilton eased his woes by overtake the RB on the last lap.
And yet, as he crossed the finish line a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane added 20 seconds to his total to deprive him of the point.
Things proved slightly better for Hamilton in qualifying as he left it late to reach Q3 with a stonking final lap in Q2, while Alonso exited early in 15th place.
The final session saw the soft tyres fall off a cliff mid-lap and few improved on their initial times in the final runs, allowing Verstappen to swoop to pole position ahead of Leclerc, Sainz and Perez. The two McLarens and two Mercedes followed through in order to complete the top eight for Sunday’s race.
