Formula 1 News: Antonelli wins pole for GP of Miami Sprint Race

Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli turned a lap of 1m26.482s to win the pole position for the 2025 GP of Miami Sprint Race at the Miami Autodrome.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

The 18-year-old Italian Antonelli is on the Sprint pole in Miami, at a track he has never driven at before today!

“Was a very intense Qualifying<‘ said Antonelli. “I felt really good since this morning and I felt good going into Qualifying. I put everything together, so really happy to get the first pole.

“Tomorrow will be nice to start on the front row, will be a bit of a different feeling.”

The superior McLaren’s of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris came up short, 0.045s and 0.100s behind Antonelli respectively.

Max Verstappen will line up 4th in the Red Bull sled, 0.255s behind Antonelli. Verstappen was the only driver to make two runs on the one set of red Pirelli tires.

George Russell rounded out the top-5, 0.309s behind Antonelli.

Russell said yesterday that the heat here might not favor Mercedes, but that their one-lap pace would still be strong. That seems to be the case, but why did Russell opt to set his lap time so early there before the track was at its best?

Antonelli though, he has looked quick and dialled in all day long. And while everyone was watching the two McLarens, no one was watching Antonelli – which gave him the freedom to go and stick his car on pole.

He is the youngest ever to bag a P1 start. History maker indeed.

At the start of SQ3, Verstappen was first out on track and the Red Bull driver stopped the clock at 1:27.070. Russell was right behind the Dutchman on track, however, and he breezed past the Red Bull man’s time to reset the bar at 1:26.791 first flyer.

But while Russell headed back to the pit lane, Verstappen who had made a mistake on his lap, stayed out for a surprise second attempt. The 2024 Miami winner managed to improve, and he took provisional pole six hundredths of a second ahead of the Mercedes driver.

It was the other Mercedes driver who was going quickest, however. Norris first demoted Verstappen but behind him Antonelli was finding small margins of time and when he crossed the line, he took pole with a superb lap of 1:26.482. Piastri got close but in the end the Italian teenager’s time was good enough to hold on to a historic first pole position.

If Antonelli can make a good start tomorrow, he has an excellent chance of winning the Sprint. It’s what happened to Hamilton in the Sprint in China – running in clean air masked any deficiencies the car had to the chasing McLaren.

Clean air is key – Antonelli has to get off the line well tomorrow, with those two papaya cars likely to be chasing hard behind.

Piastri did get the better of Norris, but the gap was pretty tight so do not discount Norris from returning that favor in Qualifying tomorrow.

Leclerc pipped Hamilton by two tenths, while Albon was once again the pick of the midfield. Alonso getting into the top 10 was a good return too for Aston Martin after some tricky races.

2025 GP of Miami Sprint Race Qualifying Results