Mercedes teenager Andrea Kimi Antonelli will start the Miami Misprint from pole position at the thrilling ending up Friday’s qualifying.
The 18-year-old, who replaced Lewis Hamilton at German Mark this season, completed only one lap in SQ3 and set the benchmark with a 1M26.482S. He comfortably overturned Max Burstappen, who was on the interim pole, and teammate George Russell, who defeated Antonelli in each qualifying session this season.
However, the McLaren driver was still to set up a lap when the Italian took the checkered flag as it was the last in the queue. Lando Norris was the first to cross the line, but was short on 0.1 seconds.
Title leader Oscar Piastri was the last driver to set the time, and he rose to the end of the second sector, but a slow final split led him to hand over Antoneri’s pole, 0.045 seconds away from the pace.
At 18 and 250 days old, the Italian will be the youngest driver to start with poles in any racing format.
“It was a very intense qualification,” he said. “I felt really good this morning, so I was confident I would go to qualify.
“The final rap was powerful. I basically put it all together. It came out really well. I’m really happy to get my first pole.”
Antonelli, who has never raced in Miami before, said he is looking forward to the weekend’s development.
“It would be better to start in the front row tomorrow, and that would make you feel a little different,” he said. “Whether it’s a sprint or a qualifying round, I can’t really wait until tomorrow to see how I can do it.”
Piastri and Norris continued in order, with Verstappen set up two laps in the final segment of 8 minutes before starting fourth.
Russell set up a lap early in the session to avoid the Red Flag, but backfired by Briton, 0.309 seconds later than his teammate who scored poles.
Charles Leclerc was sixth in the lead role, 0.326 seconds off Paul, while Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton was another 0.222 seconds ago.
Alex Albon was Aston Martin’s first top 10 appearance this season, finishing in Williams eighth place ahead of RBs Isack Hadjar and Fernando Alonso.
Nico Halkenberg missed the top 10 spots to just 0.077S, but with Sauber’s powerful show, he had a comfortable margin for the middleman behind him.
Esteban Ocon was 12th in Haas ahead of Pierre Guthrie.
Liam Lawson lost his final lap on Understa with his final hairpin, finishing 14th ahead of Carlos Sainz.
Lance Stroll came in 16th place ahead of Jack Douhan, Yuki Tsunoda, Gabriel Boltreto and Oliver Baerman.
Tsunoda missed the chance to beat the checkered flag with a failed team communication failure as Dutchman returned to Pit Lane, getting caught up in Verstappen’s slowdown at the final hairpin, missing out on the Japanese driver’s chances to beat the checkered flag with a failed team communication.
Bearman and Doohan were behind the horndas on the road and were subsequently captured as they tried to maintain the gap to set their own lap.
Doohan was particularly frustrated by what he saw as a team error after being sent out of the garage at the same time as his teammate Pierre Guthrie. The exterior of the sister car forced Doohan to check up, but then there was no more room to clean up the pit walls and step into the narrow, fast lanes.
He needed his mechanic to move him a little backwards to get into the lane. By then, several drivers had inserted themselves in the line before him, and he had ultimately sacrificed a chance to set the final lap.
“That’s not acceptable,” he fumed on team radio. “If you’re going to send him before me, you need to make sure he’s ready.
“I can’t come out because he turns me, I have to turn. Then you put me out in Q1. That’s a joke.”
