F1 news: Zinedine Zidane left red-faced as Hamilton, Norris and Alonso involved in crash

That's your lot from Miami!

Thanks for tuning into Express Sport's coverage of the Miami GP Sprint and qualifying.

Check back tomorrow for the Grand Prix!

Max Verstappen won the Sprint earlier today, and he has now gone fastest in qualifying. He'll be on pole for the seventh successive race in tomorrow's Miami Grand Prix.

Miami GP grid

1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull

2) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

3) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

4) Sergio Perez, Red Bull

5) Lando Norris, McLaren

6) Oscar Piastri, McLaren

7) George Russell, Mercedes

8) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

9) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas

10) Yuki Tsunoda, RB

11) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

12) Pierre Gasly, Alpine

13) Esteban Ocon, Alpine

14) Alex Albon, Williams

15) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

16) Valtteri Bottas, Sauber

17) Logan Sargeant, Williams

18) Daniel Ricciardo, RB

19) Kevin Magnussen, Haas

20) Zhou Guanyu, Sauber

It's disappointment for Aston Martin in Q2, with both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll eliminated.

Out in Q2

11) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

12) Pierre Gasly, Alpine

13) Esteban Ocon, Alpine

14) Alex Albon, Williams

15) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

Wow. Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth in the Sprint just hours ago, but he's out in Q1!

Out in Q1

16) Valtteri Bottas, Sauber

17) Logan Sargeant, Williams

18) Daniel Ricciardo, RB

19) Kevin Magnussen, Haas

20) Zhou Guanyu, Sauber

The cars are out on the track, and Q1 is underway in Miami.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull will, of course, be confident of securing pole for tomorrow's Grand Prix.

However, McLaren do have the pace to challenge them, so Q3 could get tasty.

Results from each session to come.

Kevin Magnussen has been called to the stewards in Miami after collecting four separate time penalties in the space of 19 laps during the Sprint race.

The Dane has had to explain his tactics ahead of qualifying after a charge of alleged unsportsmanlike behaviour.

Toto Wolff has admitted Mercedes need to change things up for qualifying.

"Setup-wise, clearly, we need to change direction for qualy," Wolff said after the Sprint.

"We weren’t working the mediums at all [in Sprint Qualifying]. Literally zero grip, and then you get all the snaps and you have no performance anymore.

"It’s no excuse. We’ve seen it with other teams, McLaren in Q3 on the softs and suddenly going backwards. They remain a little bit of a trick, but it’s the same for everyone."

Zinedine Zidane had a moment to forget during the Miami GP Sprint trophy ceremony.

The football icon went to hand the P2 trophy to Sergio Perez, only for the Red Bull driver to tell him that Charles Leclerc was the rightful recipient of that award...

Lewis Hamilton edged Yuki Tsunoda near the end to pick up the final point of the Sprint.

However, the Mercedes man gets a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane after the race, which has been converted into a time penalty.

So Hamilton drops down to P16 and Tsunoda takes the final point, making it a fantastic afternoon in Miami for RB.

Max Verstappen cruises to victory in the Miami GP Sprint!

Full Standings:

1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull

2) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

3) Sergio Perez, Red Bull

4) Daniel Ricciardo, RB

5) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

6) Oscar Piastri, McLaren

7) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas

8) Yuki Tsunoda, RB

A safety car is called in the first lap of the Sprint after a crash that has resulted in a disastrous early exit for Lando Norris.

Lewis Hamilton went up the inside of Fernando Alonso but couldn't slow down and made contact with the Aston Martin.

Alonso subsequently went into Lance Stroll, who then hit Norris on his outside. Stroll has joined Norris out of the race.

Hamilton has been quite fortunate to escape any further action after stewards assessed the incident.

Esteban Ocon didn't have much chance of scoring points in today's Sprint but he almost certainly won't now.

The Alpine driver has been handed a 10-second penalty for an unsafe release into Charles Leclerc's Ferrari in the pit lane.

Ocon now starts from P13, and Leclerc fortunately avoided any damage ahead of starting alongside Max Verstappen on the front row.

All eyes are on Mercedes as they ponder their replacement for Lewis Hamilton at the end of the season.

Toto Wolff was sent a clear message in the build-up to the Sprint race in Miami this afternoon.

A banner was flown over the track calling on Mercedes to sign Zhou Guanyu.

We are just over an hour away from today's Sprint at the Miami International Autodrome...

Max Verstappen sits on pole after Friday's qualifying, but there have been changes to the grid ahead of the race.

Valtteri Bottas has been hit with a three-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri during qualifying. He'll now start 19th, which will be at the back of the grid.

Alex Albon is starting from the pit lane after Williams' breach of parc ferme.

Williams chief James Vowles has confirmed that Logan Sargeant is under pressure to improve.

Sargeant has scored just a solitary points since the start of his F1 career in 2023.

Williams have been linked with highly-rated Mercedes teenager Kimi Antonelli.

READ THE FULL QUOTES HERE

Lewis Hamilton has been told he made more mistakes during a sector of Miami Grand Prix sprint qualifying than he used to make in a season.

Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle has raised concerns over Hamilton’s display in Miami, which has left the seven-time world champion downplaying Mercedes’ chances of success in Sunday’s main race.

Brundle said: “Blimey, he made more mistakes in that little sector than he used to in a season. He was really fighting the car hard all the way through corners that are just 60 mph.”

Max Verstappen has dealt Mercedes a blow in their pursuit of the Red Bull driver.

Some reports have suggested that Mercedes would be prepared to offer Mercedes a mega £150m contract to leave Red Bull.

But the dominant Dutchman insists that money will not be the deciding factor when he chooses where he will race next.

“At the end of the day, it’s not about money for me. I’m already very happy of course with what I’m having at the team,” Verstappen said in Miami.

“It’s really important about having the quickest car, and of course a good environment. That’s what we have currently, and that’s also what I asked for. As long as the environment is right and we have the quickest car, then it’s quite straightforward.”

“At the end of the day, even if let’s say that would be the case, 150 million….money is not going to be the differentiator for me to go somewhere.

“I’m happy with what I’m earning already, it’s about performance.”

Max Verstappen has pole position ahead of the Miami Grand Prix sprint race.

The Red Bull star is also the favourite to win Sunday's Grand Prix.

Here is the schedule for the remainder of the weekend:

Saturday

Miami Grand Prix sprint race - 4pm

Miami GP qualifying - 9pm

Sunday

Miami Grand Prix - 9pm

Lewis Hamilton has downplayed Mercedes’ chances of enjoying a good weekend in Miami after a poor sprint qualifying performance.

“The car felt really good in P1 and then qualifying, it didn’t feel terrible, it’s just we’re seven tenths off. That’s just the pace of our car,” Hamilton said.

“I think the sprint race is going to be tough. We’re in 12th so don’t expect a huge amount from there to be honest. It’s not an easy circuit to overtake on or to follow."

READ MORE HERE

Red Bull have denied Zak Brown’s claim that Adrian Newey is the “first domino to fall” in Milton Keynes.

The McLaren CEO cheekily claimed that CVs were “flying around” in a hint that Red Bull may lose more staff in the near future.

But a Red Bull spokesperson told Racing News 365: "In the past few months, all our technical leadership team have signed long-term contracts committing to Red Bull Racing.

"So we’re not sure what CVs Zak is referring to but we don’t foresee any significant loss, and certainly not the domino effect Zak is hoping for.”

Ferrari are “green with envy” over McLaren in the battle to be the No 2 constructor, Sky Sports reporter Ted Kravitz says.

The Scuderia team are desperate to be considered the best of the rest in Formula One.

But some huge improvements from McLaren have reportedly got them ‘worried’. Lando Norris has been in particularly good form, and the Brit is fifth in the drivers’ standings behind the drivers from Red Bull and Ferrari.

Kravitz said: “Astonishing number of upgrades from McLaren. No wonder Ferrari are a bit worried.

"We thought they might be in an all-blue car, but they’re more green with envy when they look at all the upgrades McLaren have got.”

George Russell was left confused by a disappointing Mercedes performance in the Miami sprint qualifying.

Both he and team-mate Lewis Hamilton missed out on the top 10 places.

Asked what had gone wrong, Russell responded: “I’m not too sure to be honest. In practice the soft tyre was feeling really good on our car, the pace was good. On the medium we just couldn’t get the sweet spot.

“I found myself on the wrong side of it. It was tight out there and we shouldn’t have been in a position to be that close to the margin to the cut-off. We need to work overnight and make some improvement for the main quali.

I’ve got no doubt we’ll move forward in the Sprint race,” he continued. “But we need to try and get on top of our qualifying woes. It’s always difficult to fight with the cars ahead when we’re starting on the back foot.

“Everybody’s brought updates to this race - McLaren have brought a big upgrade, Aston had something [in China]. We’re kind of in the same boat as everybody else, but today it just wasn’t working for us."

Adrian Newey contradicted Red Bull chief Christian Horner by admitting that ‘infighting’ partially prompted his exit.

Engineering guru Newey will leave in the first part of 2025, leaving a remarkable legacy that includes his contributions to Red Bull’s recent dominance.

Asked in Miami if Newey’s exit had been prompted by a power struggle behind the scenes, Horner said: “Absolutely not. This has been coming for some time.”

But later in the day, Sky Sports asked Newey the same question and the 65-year-old responded: “If I’m honest, kind of. I guess over the winter, a little bit, and then events have unfolded [within Red Bull].”

“This year, I’m in a very lucky position where I don’t need to work to live. I work because I enjoy it. And as I say, I just felt that now is a good time to step back and take a bit of a break and take stock of life and go travelling a bit.”

Max Verstappen poked fun at his rivals after learning that he will take pole position in Saturday’s sprint after a “terrible” qualifying session.

Verstappen beat Charles Leclerc to pole despite a messy third sector, with Sergio Perez finishing P3. Lando Norris had initially led qualifying but endured a tough final run.

Informed that he was taking pole position, Verstappen laughed down the team radio: "LOL. What happened to the others? This was terrible. I mean, I will take it!"

The 26-year-old later added: "It felt really terrible. Maybe that last session was just incredibly difficult to get the tyres to work.

"Already in SQ2, I didn't feel great. SQ3, it just felt quite similar for me. I didn't really improve on the soft. Somehow we were first. Of course, I happily take it.

"But it didn't feel enjoyable out there to drive for whatever reason because in practice it felt really, really nice, I was very comfortable and confident, qualifying, not so much."

Welcome to Express Sport's LIVE coverage of the Miami Grand Prix, with the sprint race the main event on Saturday's schedule.

We'll have all the very best news and updates throughout the day as Max Verstappen leads in pole position for the Miami sprint race.

Stay tuned!