Lando Norris was pipped to pole position for the Miami Grand Prix by Max Verstappen. The McLaren driver had hoped that Verstappen would become slower after becoming a father earlier in the week.
Defending Champion Verstappen and partner Kelly Piquet welcomed daughter Lily on Thursday, which meant that the former missed media day duties.
However, the Dutchman was back behind the wheel of his RB21 on the following day, and managed to beat the 19 other drivers to pole position during qualifying on Saturday.
The best of the rest was the McLaren of Norris, who's time of a 1:26.269 was just 0.065 seconds slower than that of the four-time World Champion.
Norris' best time was just two milliseconds quicker than the Mercedes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who will line up P3 on the grid. Meanwhile, teammate Oscar Piastri could only muster fourth during qualifying.
While Verstappen managed to extract the maximum out of the machinery beneath him during qualifying, Norris made a few vital errors, including a mistake at Turn 17 on his final flying lap, which may have cost the Briton pole position.
Speaking after the session, Norris admitted to hoping that Verstappen being a new parent would slow him down, as it has done for numerous former F1 Champions in the past.
He said: "Congrats to Max, especially being a dad now. I was hoping it would slow him down!
"I'm happy with today, happy with the progress I've made with the car. Max did a Max lap once again and I can't fault him. I'm happy and excited for tomorrow," Norris stated.
When asked about his mistakes at the final braking zone of the racetrack, Norris chose to focus on the race on Sunday instead.
He added: "It's all should've, could've, would've stuff. I didn't deliver but the pace was there. The car has been feeling good, better than I have done the last few weekends.
"I've still not put it together but it is what it is. I'm ready to see what we can do into Turn 1 tomorrow.
"I don't mind if it's dry or wet but Miami has been surprising with the weather so I'm ready for both," concluded the McLaren driver.
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