Sergio Perez wins pole position in Miami GP qualifying

Red Bull's Sergio Perez won Saturday's Formula 1 qualifying session at Miami International Autodrome, clinching pole position for Sunday's Miami Grand Prix.

Perez, a Mexican driver who had plenty of support in South Florida, is in an intense battle for the drivers' championship with teammate Max Verstappen. The reigning champ leads with 93 points, and Checo sits only six points back in second place.

This is Perez's second pole position of the young F1 season. He claimed the front grid spot in Saudi Arabia as well.

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, a two-time champ and the oldest driver on the grid, will start second alongside Perez. Alonso produced another strong showing to claim his first front-row start this year.

The session ended abruptly with 96 seconds left due to a red flag caused by a crash from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. Leclerc wound up qualifying seventh. He won pole at the first-ever Miami GP last year.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz leads the second row alongside the surprisingly hot Haas of Kevin Magnussen, who placed fourth in qualifying.

Haas is the only American team on the grid. Miami is the first of three grand prix in the United States this year. The United States Grand Prix in Austin and the Las Vegas GP are also on the calendar.

Mercedes' struggles continued Saturday in Miami, as Lewis Hamilton was unable to make it out of Q2. The seven-time champ will begin Sunday's race from 13th, while teammate George Russell placed sixth.

Logan Sargeant, who was born in Fort Lauderdale and is the only American on track, will start his first home race in F1 from the back after posting the slowest time of Q1. His Williams teammate Alex Albon performed much better, finishing 11th and narrowly missing the cutoff to make it out of Q2.