MIAMI — Kimi Antonelli clinched pole position for the Miami Grand Prix in style, setting a magnificent lap to edge out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to the honor.
The Mercedes driver was consistently towards the top of the times throughout Qualifying and, although he couldn’t improve on his final lap, an earlier effort proved to be unbeatable as he ended the session on a time of 1 minute and 27.798 seconds.
“I am very happy with how qualifying went for us today. It was a great recovery after a difficult Sprint and the best way to finish the day,” Antonelli said. “I was very happy with my lap and felt like I maximised the car and my performance. I was frustrated to abort my last push lap after a lock up but thankfully the first effort was good enough for P1.”
Verstappen looked close to pipping Antonelli to pole position at the last second with rapid sectors at the Miami International Autodrome, but he ultimately lost out by just over a tenth and will line up on the front row ahead of Leclerc.
Lando Norris recovered from a boost issue to take P4 on the grid, with both he and his McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri – who placed seventh – coming close to being knocked out early on. George Russell secured a frustrating P5 ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, with Franco Colapinto, Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly rounding out the top 10.
