The first two competitive sessions at the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix delivered a surprise, as Lando Norris broke the stranglehold Mercedes had on the top of the timing sheets through the first three race weekends of the season. The McLaren driver secured pole position for the F1 Sprint race on Friday, and led wire-to-wire in the F1 Sprint race itself early on Saturday.
F1 qualifying results: Kimi Antonelli takes pole at the Miami Grand Prix
Kimi Antonelli rocketed to pole position for the F1 Miami Grand Prix
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But when the dust settled at the end of the qualifying hour for the main event, young Kimi Antonelli was back at the top of the board.
The Mercedes driver delivered a thunderous lap early in Q3, and while rivals such as Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc came close, Antonelli will roll off the line in P1 when the lights go out in Miami on Sunday.
“Yeah, it’s been an amazing day, you know, to be on pole again. It was obviously a difficult start of the day with the Sprint, where it didn’t go our way, but super happy with the recovery. And yeah, it was a good quali. Obviously got a little bit too excited in that last lap of Q3, but the first lap was good enough. I’m very happy with that,“ said Antonelli after the session.
For Verstappen — who was eliminated in Q2 during qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix — the P2 was a result of the driver feeling more “comfortable” in the car, thanks to some recent upgrades from Red Bull.
“Yeah, for me it’s been two things. For sure, the car has not been great in the previous races, but also from my side I never felt comfortable with the layout of the car,“ said Verstappen. ”And I think over those last few weeks the team has been pushing flat out to try and bring upgrades to the car and making me feel more comfortable with a lot of things in the car, and it really pays off. I mean, I feel more in control of the car again and then I can push a bit more, then the upgrades are working. And yeah, I mean, to be on the front row is way better than I expected heading into this.“
The start of Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix has been pushed up three hours, in advance of heavy rain and thunderstorms that are expected to arrive late in the afternoon.
Here is the provisional starting grid for Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix:
Row | Position | Driver | Team | Position | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Row 1 | 1 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull |
| Row 2 | 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren |
| Row 3 | 5 | George Russell | Mercedes | 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari |
| Row 4 | 7 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 8 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine |
| Row 5 | 9 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine |
| Row 6 | 11 | Nico Hülkenberg | Audi | 12 | Liam Lawson | VCARB |
| Row 7 | 13 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 14 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Williams |
| Row 8 | 15 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 16 | Alexander Albon | Williams |
| Row 9 | 17 | Arvid Lindblad | VCARB | 18 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin |
| Row 10 | 19 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 20 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac |
| Row 11 | 21 | Sergio Pérez | Cadillac | 22 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi |
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