Berlin, 4 May 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Champion Max Verstappen continued to dominate the 2024 Formula One season on Friday as he topped the qualifying for the sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver clocked 1 minute 27.641 seconds to beat the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc by 0.108 second. Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull was third, 0.235 seconds off the pace.

Verstappen recognized it wasn't his best effort as his car was proving a handful, but was still fast enough to take the best result.

"To be honest with you, it felt pretty terrible. Maybe that last session, it was just really difficult to get the tyres to work. I didn't improve much on the soft but I'll take it," he said.

"It didn't feel enjoyable to drive - practice was really comfortable, I was quite confident we could fight for pole. But qualifying it didn't look like that for me - I don't know what happened to the other cars on that last lap."

Leclerc, meanwhile, impressed with the second-best time after he completed only three laps in the sole practice session at the Miami GP earlier on Friday.

The Monegasque caused a red flag early in the session after he spun and his car stopped on track.

Daniel Ricciardo of Visa RB was a surprise in fourth in a season-best qualifying for him. He was followed by Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari, Oscar Piastri of McLaren and the Aston Martin duo of Lance Strill and Fernando Alonso.

Lando Norris in the second McLaren and the Haas of Nico Hülkenberg completed the top 10.

Mercedes had yet another setback amid a very disappointing season and had both seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton (12th) and George Russell (11th) eliminated in the second part of qualifying.

The sprint race and qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix are on Saturday, while the main race takes place on Sunday.

Verstappen tops the drivers' standings ahead of team-mate Perez as he chases a fourth consecutive world title.

Red Bull are competing at their first grand prix since the announcement that Adrian Newey, one of the most celebrated designers in F1 history, will leave the team next year.

"It's been an amazing ride. When I joined (Red Bull) I had no idea where we're going to end up," Newey told British broadcasters Sky Sport.

With Newey-designed cars, Red Bull have dominated the sport in recent years and claimed six constructors’ titles and seven drivers’ titles between Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen respectively.

Asked why he decided to leave the team amid a very successful run, Newey said that F1 "is very consuming," and mentioned the turbulent 2021 season due to the title battle with Mercedes and the new car regulations introduced in 2022.

"I'm in a very lucky position where I don't need to work to live, I work because I enjoy it. And it felt like now was a good time to step back and take a break," he said, adding: "I got a bit tired."

Newey said he has no plans for now, but appreciated that many drivers, including future Ferrari driver Hamilton, said that they would like to work with him.

"Very kind of Lewis to say that. But at that moment I'll just take a little bit of a break and see what happens next," Newey said.

He has been linked by media reports to a job at Ferrari, who will have Hamilton and Leclerc in their line-up from 2025.

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