- Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, 18, took pole for Saturday’s sprint race in Miami
- The Italian was in superb form and edged out Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
Teenager Kimi Antonelli snatched a surprise pole for Saturday’s sprint race in Miami.
The Mercedes rookie edged out the two fancied McLarens – a remarkable feat at the age of 18 and on only his sixth grand-prix weekend.
Nobody younger has taken a pole, albeit this was not for the grand prix itself on Sunday.
Still, the Italian was mightily impressive in seeing off championship leader Oscar Piastri by 0.045sec at a sunlit Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins.
Piastri’s team-mate Lando Norris was third best, exactly a tenth behind Antonelli.
World champion Max Verstappen, a new father to his first child Lily, was fourth quickest and George Russell in the other Mercedes fifth best, three-tenths short.
Teenager Kimi Antonelli, 18, snatched a surprise pole for Saturday’s sprint race in Miami
The Mercedes rookie put in a superb display and edged out Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
Antonelli set the fastest time ever around the circuit after posting a 1min 26.482sec lap
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc qualified sixth and his team-mate Lewis Hamilton seventh.
‘It was a very intense qualifying, and I have felt really good since this morning’s practice session,’ said Antonelli, having set the fastest time ever around the circuit – 1min 26.482sec – on the fourth staging of the Floridian event.
‘The last lap was mighty. I pulled it all together, and I am delighted to get my first pole.
‘It will be a different feeling to start on the front row tomorrow, and I cannot wait to see how we do in the sprint race, and in qualifying for the grand prix, too.’
