Ferrari's Charles Leclerc grabs pole for the inaugural Miami Grand Prix

World championship leader Charles Leclerc claimed pole position and led Ferrari to a front-row lockout on Saturday when he topped the times in qualifying for the inaugural Miami Grand Prix.

The 24-year-old Monegasque driver clocked a fastest lap in 1minute28.796 seconds to outpace his teammate by two-tenths in front of an enthusiastic sell-out crowd at the Miami International Autodrome.

F1 WRAP | Ferrari locks out the front row with Leclerc on pole for the Miami Grand Prix

Defending world champion Max Verstappen was third after making a slight mistake on his final flying lap. His Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was fourth with Valtteri Bottas fifth for Alfa Romeo and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton sixth for Mercedes.

Charles Leclerc takes pole position no. 3?? for the 2022 season! ??#MiamiGP #F1 @Charles_Leclerc pic.twitter.com/j3E2TilsbF

It was Leclerc's third pole this year and the 12th of his career. For Sainz it is the second time he had secured a front row start. It was Ferrari's first front row lockout since the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix.

"It is amazing to be here and the fans are crazy," said a delighted Leclerc. "It is going to be a big challenge tomorrow, but we feel very motivated as there are so many Ferrari fans here. Hopefully we can come out on top!"

Verstappen, who in the championship and trails Leclerc by 27 points, swallowed his disappointment and said: "Overall, I am pretty pleased with qualifying as I only did four or five laps yesterday. But we have to start making these weekends less difficult."

Unlucky Max! ??A costly error for the Dutchman in the final stages of qualifying ??#MiamiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/alE7EGLyKx

Pierre Gasly of Alpha Tauri qualified seventh ahead of Lando Norris of McLaren and Yuki