The four times world champion, a two times winner in Miami, qualified fifth on Friday for the Saturday sprint race.
Verstappen has been unhappy with Formula 1's new rules era, even mulling his future in the sport, and has yet to finish higher than sixth in three races and a sprint so far this season.
"It feels a bit more normal, a bit more together,” the Dutch driver said of his upgraded car ahead of the first race in more than a month.
"There are still, of course, things we are working on, but it’s been a really positive step for us. The last few races, we were like over a second behind. I would say we have almost halved that gap now, so that’s very positive."
Verstappen's best lap time on Friday was 0.592 slower than McLaren's pole sitter Lando Norris, the champion who took Verstappen's title last year.
His French teammate Isack Hadjar qualified ninth, 1.553 off the pole lap.
