Kimi Antonelli shocks the entire grid with a thunderous pole lap for the F1 Sprint in Miami

MIAMI, Florida — It is true what they say about Miami.

The traffic can be unbearable.

That is the case driving in the greater Miami area — as this author can attest to after three days here on the ground for the Miami Grand Prix — and it was true on the track Friday afternoon for qualifying for the F1 Sprint race. Four drivers (Jack Doohan, Yuki Tsunoda, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Oliver Bearman) were unable to set a second lap time in Q1 due to the traffic, missing out on the second segment of qualifying.

But when the dust settled, it was young Kimi Antonelli, in his first Miami Grand Prix, who stole pole position with a thunderous final lap in Q3.

Starting alongside him on the front row will be Oscar Piastri, with McLaren teammate Lando Norris set to start third. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who just arrived in Miami after he and his partner celebrated the birth of their daughter, qualified in fourth.

Antonelli’s lap was the fastest lap in the history of the Miami Grand Prix.

“It was a very intense qualifying,” said Antonelli trackside after qualifying. “I felt confident going into qualifying, the last lap was mighty.”

Antonelli is now the youngest driver to start on pole in an F1 race.

Speaking with the media, including SB Nation, on Thursday Antonelli outlined how his confidence was increasing with each race weekend. Now he has his first F1 pole position.

Here are the provisional qualifying results for the F1 Sprint race here at the Miami Grand Prix.