Leclerc takes advantage of a mistake by Verstappen, with Alonso out of Q3: "A Ferrari has bothered me a lot"

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Ferrari took advantage of a mistake by

to grab the front row of the grid at the unprecedented, bumpy and spectacular Miami International Autodrome.

There are reasons for optimism in the

because it is their first one-two finish on a Saturday, with

on

(1:28.796), closely followed by

, who was able to make up for his accident the day before and the setbacks mechanics with which this

began .

So close was the fight that it was resolved by just 19 hundredths for the Monegasque.

also had to handle himself in narrow margins

, separated from Q3 by just 32 thousandths.

In need of that morale boost with which to turn around his recent disappointments, Sainz fought for

at the level expected in his garage.

He lost it in the last section, with two straights and hard braking, although nothing should be blamed this time.

He had scratched Leclerc 16 hundredths in the first sector, precisely where Verstappen lost the line and with it, his options.

On asphalt conditions that improved exponentially every minute, the defending champion saw how the man from Madrid left him third by five thousandths.

The chronometers had to be calibrated to the extreme to define the positions and

completed the fight for the favorites, with a deficit of just 24 hundredths.

From then on, the jump was more appreciable, despite the improvement of

, sixth, although again slower than

, with the Alfa Romeo.

At least, the seven-time champion was able to enjoy something at the wheel of a W13 without that painful nod that has been accompanying him since the start of the World Cup.

And he surpassed

, who had embarrassed him in Q1, but who missed at the worst moment and couldn't even get into the last improvement.

Alonso did not agree to that Q3 either, with a notorious disgust when he got off his Alpine.

"I had at least six tenths of an improvement on the wheel, but a Ferrari bothered me a lot in the second sector, so I hope they penalize it," said the Asturian on the DAZN microphones.

Without mentioning it, he was pointing towards Sainz, who could have hindered him between turns 11 and 16. After noting the incident, the stewards did not believe any sanction was appropriate.

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• Carlos Sainz Jr.

• Fernando Alonso

• Max Verstappen

• Red Bull Racing