Brown left impressed by Verstappen: 'He always there!'

Piastri will start alongside pole sitter Andrea Kimi Antonelli, but Norris will have to share the second row of the grid with Verstappen, unless the Dutchman gets penalised by the stewards.

“He's always there. So it was impressive he was able to do his time on his second run because that's a first lap tyre. So I think that shows you there's a little bit left in the tank there,” the American CEO of McLaren said about the Dutchman after Sprint Qualifying to F1 TV.

Zak Brown is very positive about the current F1 season, as believes McLaren are far from dominating.

“It’s awesome. The sports’s never been healthier. It's never been more competitive. I know we won four of the first five races, which obviously statistically sounds dominant, but I can tell you everyone's been a close call, other than maybe Australia, which had its own close calls."

He concluded: "But pace-wise, we weren't even the quickest team last time out (in Jeddah). We just had a great race. Oscar drove a great race, so I think there's a lot of racing yet to go this year.”

The Miami weekend will continue with the Sprint and Qualifying on Saturday.