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Miami Grand Prix track 'slippery': Leclerc

Simon EvansPress Association
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc will start on pole position at the Miami Grand Prix.
Camera IconFerrari driver Charles Leclerc will start on pole position at the Miami Grand Prix. Credit: AP

Ferrari's world championship leader, Charles Leclerc, grabbed pole position for the inaugural Miami Grand Prix but warned the new track was going to be tough to negotiate.

"(It is) tricky, very slippery, it's a sliding all around with everywhere and it is very, very difficult to put everything together," said the Monegasque driver after picking up his third pole in five events so far this season.

"As soon as you get out of the line a little bit you lose a lot of grip and a lot of lap time. So the lap wasn't perfect, but yeah, good enough to be in P1," he added.

Leclerc was joined at the front of the grid by Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz, who shrugged off his crash in practice to finish ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

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"Carlos was amazing today, and hopefully we can keep that pace for tomorrow," said Leclerc.

"Both cars are very competitive, so Carlos and I are very competitive. So it's great for the team and yes, we'll push to try and finish in the same positions tomorrow," he added.

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Sainz will be hoping he can get ahead of Leclerc at some stage while aware that Ferrari's priority will be the maximum points possible.

"The consideration is that we are teammates and that we want to score for the team independently of who is ahead or behind," said Sainz.

"You always treat your teammate with a bit more respect like I've done in the past for all my teammates. This will still be there tomorrow like it was there last year," said the Spaniard.

"But the will of winning is still there and the chance of winning. If I think there's a chance then I will go, taking into account that this is my teammate of course," he said.

Laurent Mekies, Ferrari's racing director, said it would be a busy session at the team's headquarters in Italy as they work out how to make the right decisions for the conditions.

Max Verstappen blew his chances of claiming his second pole in as many grands prix when he made a mistake on his final run.

"I f***** it," said the world champion over the radio.

Lewis Hamilton qualified sixth and Australian Daniel Ricciardo's torrid time at McLaren continued.

Ricciardo, a seven-time grand prix winner, could manage only 14th, seven tenths adrift of his teammate Lando Norris in Q2.

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