Verstappen pleased with P3, as rival Leclerc vows to 'finish the job'

Max Verstappen said he was "pretty pleased" to start Sunday's Miami GP in third, despite a late error which cost the Red Bull driver a potential pole position.

Verstappen was pipped by Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in a tense final few minutes of qualifying after making a crucial error into Turn 4 which forced him to abandon his final flying lap of the session.

Verstappen had overcome a multitude of reliability issues with his car on Friday when hydraulic problems and a precautionary gearbox change meant he only completed five full laps of Formula One's newest circuit.

Despite his error in Q3 costing him what could have been a front-row start, Verstappen was pleased with how he recovered from Friday's setbacks and he appeared shocked that he was even in contention for pole position.

"Overall I am pretty pleased with qualifying. Literally, I did four or five laps yesterday so today I was still trying to learn the track and trying to find a decent balance in the car," said the world champion.

"To be that competitive in qualifying, I was a bit surprised.

"This is not an easy track to learn. Of course you want to be on pole, but where we came from I think we did a really good job. We have to start making the weekends a little less difficult.

"We have a good chance tomorrow. We have a bit of speed. The car is handling quite well. I'm looking forward to that."

Leclerc put in solid performances across all three practice sessions before going up a gear to clinch pole as his championship battle with Verstappen intensifies.

The Ferrari driver believes Red Bull will be stronger on Sunday, but with team-mate Sainz alongside him on the front row, he is confident of returning to the top of the podium after finishing seventh at the