While it was still another Red Bull one-two finish in Azerbaijan, Sergio Perez's near perfect weekend means the top of the drivers' championship has now been cut down to just six points between himself and Red Bull buddy Max Verstappen.

Charles Leclerc's second in the sprint and third in the main race handed the Ferrari driver 22 points in total in Baku, lifting him up the order from joint 10th with Haas' Nico Hulkenberg to level on points with George Russell.

Image source, BBC Sport/Getty

With two drivers scoring points in both the sprint event and the full grand prix in Baku, Red Bull are pulling away from the rest of the constructors at the top of the standings with a 93-point lead over Aston Martin in second place.

Mercedes are still sitting in third, Ferrari are in fourth spot and McLaren stay in fifth place thanks to Lando Norris bringing home two points for the team.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Get ready for the British Grand Prix in July, because mega star Brad Pitt is going to be driving a real Formula 1 car, designed by Mercedes, alongside the other 20 drivers at Silverstone.

That's right, isn't it? Well, not quite.

You may have seen the story floating around late on Thursday that producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Joseph Kosinski were creating an "11th team" in order to film scenes on track for the rest of the season for their new F1 movie.

BBC Sport's chief F1 writer Andrew Benson can clear up the confusion: "Brad Pitt will be filming on track at Silverstone, yes, but in an F2 car not an F1 car and never on track with other cars."

Stick one of those celebs in a car now for qualifying. There's loads of them knocking around hospitality.

BBC Sport's Ritchie Blackman looks at whether Sergio Perez can rival Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen in the drivers' championship.

The Pirelli engineers have crunched the numbers and those red-banded soft tyres will get you from start to finish in the quickest time possible.

Image source, Pirelli Motorsport

BBC Sounds

Jack Nicholls is joined by former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer and Christian Hewgill to look ahead to the Miami GP. They discuss the championship battle at Red Bull, plus hear from Lewis Hamilton as well as Williams driver Logan Sargeant ahead of his home race.

Listen on BBC Sounds here

Image source, Getty Images

Four races ticked off in the 2023 campaign notebook and this is how the head-to-head stats look for qualifying* so far.

Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon and Yuki Tsunoda have all out-qualified their team-mates at each race this season.

Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso 4-0 Lance Stroll

Haas

Nico Hulkenberg 3-1 Kevin Magnussen

Williams

Alex Albon 4-0 Logan Sargeant

Alpha Tauri

Yuki Tsunoda 4-0 Nyck de Vries

Mercedes

George Russell 3-1 Lewis Hamilton

Red Bull

Max Verstappen 3-1 Sergio Perez

Ferrari

Charles Leclerc 3-1 Carlos Sainz

Alpine

Esteban Ocon 3-1 Pierre Gasly

McLaren

Lando Norris 3-1 Oscar Piastri

Alfa Romeo

Valtteri Bottas 2-2 Zhou Guanyu

*Sprint shootout qualifying results not included.

Image source, Getty Images

Who will be the qualifying MVP on Saturday?

While the Ferrari boys booked the best seats on the grid for the following day's Miami Grand Prix, one of the other stars of the show last year was Valtteri Bottas.

The Alfa Romeo driver delivered a knockout performance in Florida, out-qualifying the British trio of Lewis Hamilton, the second Mercedes of George Russell and the McLaren of Lando Norris to put his car fifth on the grid.

Which driver do you think can spring a surprise in Q3 this year?

The prancing horse of Charles Leclerc was the quickest car around the Hard Rock Stadium last season with a pole time in the 1:28s.

Image source, BBC Sport/Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

The inaugural qualifying session in Miami was a red affair thanks to Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz locking out the front of the grid for the Ferrari.

Leclerc and Sainz were able to jump above the Red Bull of Max Verstappen as the Dutchman struggled on his final run in Q3.

Verstappen stayed in third place, with his team-mate Sergio Perez in fourth.

Image source, Getty Images

Saturday qualifying switched to a Friday last week in Azerbaijan and for the first time this season, a Red Bull did not occupy the P1 box on the grid.

Charles Leclerc beat out both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez with a stunning lap that was 0.188 seconds faster than two-time world champion Verstappen.

The Monegasque Ferrari driver has taken pole position in Baku three seasons in a row and followed up his Friday achievement with another pole spot in the inaugural sprint shootout a day later.

The paddock, which is inside the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL's Miami Dolphins, is bulging with celebrities this weekend. Which makes you think what the inaugural event in Las Vegas is going to be like for A-lister stars (and freeloaders) in November?

Image source, Andrew Benson

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Miami

Image source, Getty Images

It's tech entrepreneur central at the Miami Grand Prix today, with Amazon's Jeff Bezos also here as well as Elon Musk. Mike Tyson, Serena Williams, Shakira, Roger Federer and actor Michelle Rodriguez among the other stars/celebs due to attend.

Image source, Formula 1

World champion Max Verstappen was 0.406secs better off than Charles Leclerc's Ferrari at the end of the final practice session in the United States.

It was another frustrating day for Mercedes, as George Russell and Lewis Hamilton both struggled with their cars throughout the hour. Russell finished in the top 10 but Hamilton, who called the Silver Arrows' practice pace yesterday "a kick in the guts", ended his session down in 13th place.

Hello again, folks. Hope you're all fed and watered now.

The temperatures are still toasty in Miami and it doesn't look like any rain is going to fall tonight, so any potential banana skins can be ruled out for now.

Q1 gets under way at 21:00 BST.

Full commentary will be available on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, the BBC Sounds app and at the top of this page via the audio icon at 20:55 BST.

Commentator Harry Benjamin, former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer, BBC Sport's chief F1 writer Andrew Benson and pitlane reporter Christian Hewgill will be taking you through the session.

Image source, Getty Images

Max Verstappen continues to dominate the field in his rapid Red Bull and is looking for his third pole position of the 2023 season on the hot and humid Miami circuit.

Is anyone up for the challenge of trying to stop the Dutchman reaching new heights in the RB19 rocket ship? Or will Verstappen's headrest issues possibly be his nemesis again?

Qualifying in Florida is only an hour away...

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, Getty Images

Max Verstappen was in a league of his own for Red Bull in final practice at the Miami Grand Prix.

The world champion consistently had a large margin on the rest of the field as tech entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos joined the spectators at Hard Rock Stadium.

Verstappen led Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.406 seconds, with the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez a further 0.109secs adrift.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz completed a conventional-looking top four but behind it the order was jumbled up.

The Spaniard was separated from the next driver from the usual top four teams - George Russell’s Mercedes in 10th place - by five unexpected names.

The Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly were fifth and sixth fastest, followed by the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas and Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas and Williams’ Alex Albon.

Fernando Alonso - third in the championship after the first four races - was only 12th in the Aston Martin, and Lewis Hamilton was 13th for Mercedes.

Both Mercedes drivers were complaining about their cars throughout the session.

Russell said he was experiencing “hopping” through Turn Two, but said the “balance was OK, we’re just struggling for pace”. Hamilton said the team were “losing a lot more on the straights”.

McLaren’s Lando Norris had a wild moment through Turn Four in which he narrowly escaped a big accident when he caught the car after a nasty snap and ended up 19th fastest.

The session leaves a lot of uncertainty heading into qualifying at 16:00 local time (21:00 BST), with one exception - Verstappen looks close to unbeatable.

Can anyone stop Max Verstappen taking pole position in Miami later on? The Red Bull driver struggled in Q3 during last year's qualifying session, so maybe there is hope for the rest of the grid?

Go and grab yourselves a quick pit stop and then come back and join us at 20:00 BST for build-up to the front-row contest.

See you shortly.

11. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

12. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

13. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

14. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

15. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)

16. Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri)

17. Logan Sargeant (Williams)

18. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

19. Lando Norris (McLaren)

20. Nyck de Vries (Alpha Tauri)

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 1:27.535

2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

5. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

6. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

7. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)

8. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

9. Alex Albon (Williams)

10. George Russell (Mercedes)