Antonelli takes shock first F1 pole for Miami sprint

Mercedes' teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli took a sensational pole position for the Miami Grand Prix's Formula 1 sprint race

May 2, 2025 - 23:16

Antonelli takes shock first F1 pole for Miami sprint

Mercedes' teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli took a sensational pole position for the Miami Grand Prix's Formula 1 sprint race.

On his debut at the Miami street track, the 18-year-old produced a 1m26.482s in the final part of qualifying to pip F1 championship leader Oscar Piastri's McLaren by 0.045 seconds and became the youngest pole-winner in F1 history.

"I did not see that coming!" he told Sky Sports F1 after the session.

Lando Norris was another half a tenth further back in third, while Antonelli's Mercedes team-mate George Russell was three tenths off in fifth behind Max Verstappen's Red Bull having run earlier in the session.

Though there was no repeat of his China sprint form, Lewis Hamilton was at least closer to Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc again as they took sixth and seventh - with Leclerc 0.222s faster.

Alex Albon got Williams in the top 10 in eighth ahead of Isack Hadjar's Racing Bulls and Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin, but a big lock-up and trip down a run-off area in SQ2 left Albon's team-mate Carlos Sainz only 15th.

Q1 mess

Yuki Tsunoda suffered his first Q1 exit of the season having made a mistake on his first flying lap and then failed to get over the line in time for his second go because he backed off to make a gap to Red Bull team-mate Verstappen who then pitted anyway.

"Communication was pretty poor," said the frustrated Tsunoda.

He starts 18th, a place behind the enraged Jack Doohan.

He also failed to get a final run in having had to be pushed back in the pitlane by his Alpine crew to avoid clipping the pitwall, for which he furiously blamed the team for sending team-mate Pierre Gasly out at the same time without warning him. Gasly then had a heavy clout of the wall in SQ2 on his way to 13th.

Practice crasher Ollie Bearman was another who didn't get a final lap in at the end of SQ1 and starts last.

His Haas team-mate Esteban Ocon made it to 12th, sharing row six with Nico Hulkenberg who produced Sauber's best qualifying result of the year so far in 11th.

Miami Grand Prix sprint qualifying result

1 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
2 Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
3 Lando Norris (McLaren)
4 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
5 George Russell (Mercedes)
6 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
7 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
8 Alex Albon (Williams)
9 Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
10 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
11 Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
12 Esteban Ocon (Haas)
13 Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
14 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
15 Carlos Sainz (Williams)
16 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
17 Jack Doohan (Alpine)
18 Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
19 Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
20 Ollie Bearman (Haas)