Extraordinary performance by the Bolognese driver, beating both McLarens.
18 years, 8 months, and 7 days old. Andrea Kimi Antonelli claims the first pole position of his very young Formula 1 career! The Bolognese driver delivered an extraordinary qualifying performance, showing incredible speed from his very first lap in Q1. An Italian will start from pole position for the first time since the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix, when Giancarlo Fisichella secured it for Force India.
The two McLarens could do nothing, with Oscar Piastri taking second ahead of Lando Norris, the two separated by just a tenth. New father Max Verstappen finished fourth, ahead of George Russell. The two Ferraris struggled, with Leclerc in sixth ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Rounding out the top ten were Albon, Hadjar, and Alonso.
Tune in at 6:00 PM for the Sprint race, with all eyes on the young talent from Bologna, who will be aiming for his first Formula 1 victory — even if it won’t count towards the official statistics.
Sprint Qualifying in Miami: the session report
23:15 – POLE POSITION FOR KIMI ANTONELLI! An extraordinary lap from the Bolognese driver, setting a new track record with a time of 1:26.482. Behind him are the two McLaren drivers, with Piastri ahead of Lando Norris.
23:11 – The other drivers are now on track, with Leclerc and Hadjar waiting until the last moments available to them. Meanwhile, George Russell’s qualifying ends as he decides to return to the pit lane; Max Verstappen, on the other hand, continues and will do two cooldown laps. The Dutch driver had enough fuel for a second attempt.
23:10 – 1:26.791 for George Russell! Track record and provisional pole position for the British Mercedes driver, who is almost three-tenths faster than Max Verstappen.
23:07 – Max Verstappen and George Russell will attempt two laps. All the other drivers are waiting in the pits for the final minutes.
23:05 – Green flag! Q3 begins! Here are the drivers who will fight for pole position in the final 8 minutes: Norris, Verstappen, Piastri, Antonelli, Leclerc, Hamilton, Russell, Albon, Alonso, and Hadjar.
23:03 – Great qualifying for Fernando Alonso, who manages to take his Aston Martin into Q3, while his teammate is eliminated in Q1. Excellent work also from Isack Hadjar, who is tenth, with Liam Lawson only in fourteenth.
23:00 – Lewis Hamilton finishes his lap, moving up to sixth position, just behind his teammate. Hulkenberg, Ocon, Gasly, Lawson, and Sainz are eliminated, with Sainz failing to complete his only attempt due to a lock-up in the third-to-last corner.
22:59 – Chequered flag in Q2! Lando Norris improves his time and moves into first position, while Leclerc secures fourth. Hamilton is out, although he is improving his lap time.
22:56 – Those who haven’t set a lap time yet are now heading out to avoid the risk of yellow flags in the final seconds of the session. Both Ferraris are at risk and will need to make another attempt.
22:53 – The first attempt is complete for the 8 drivers who went out on track: McLaren takes a double, with Oscar Piastri ahead of Norris. Antonelli is third, ahead of Verstappen and Russell. Leclerc is only sixth, ahead of Albon and Hamilton, the last driver to set a time.
22:49 – Green flag! Q2 begins! Immediately on track is Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, followed by Verstappen and the two Mercedes drivers. Remember, the drivers have 10 minutes to secure a spot in the top 10.
22:48 – Meanwhile, Max Verstappen has hindered both Lando Norris’ McLaren and Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, both of whom were on their flying laps. Let’s see if there will be an investigation.
22:45 – The eliminated drivers are Lance Stroll, Jack Doohan, Yuki Tsunoda, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Ollie Bearman!
22:44 –Chequered flag! A dramatic end to Q1: Doohan, Tsunoda, and Bearman fail to cross the line in time and miss their chance to set a lap! Meanwhile, Isack Hadjar delivered an excellent performance, moving up to twelfth place and eliminating Stroll, who couldn’t improve his time.
22:43 – Bortoleto improves his time, but it’s not enough; he’s out of Q2. On the other hand, Hulkenberg does well, moving up to eleventh for now.
22:41 – Oscar Piastri moves up to third position, overtaking Max Verstappen.
22:39 – 4 minutes remaining in the session: all the drivers are in the pits to put on fresh tires. Currently, the eliminated drivers would be Doohan, Tsunoda, Bortoleto, Bearman, and Hadjar, who has not set a time so far.
22:37 – First position for Andrea Kimi Antonelli! 1:27.858 for the Bolognese driver, 32 thousandths of a second ahead of Lando Norris. George Russell is only in fifth place.
22:34 – Lando Norris moves into first position: 63 thousandths of a second ahead of Max Verstappen. Piastri is third, ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc. A small scare for the Monegasque driver exiting Turn 16, who reported to the team that he brushed the wall.
22:31 – Ollie Bearman is back on track as usual: the damage to his Haas has been repaired after the crash in FP1.
22:30 – Green light! Q1 is underway: 12 minutes for the drivers to avoid the first cut. Remember that in Q1 and Q2, drivers are required to use medium tires, while in Q3, the softer compounds are mandatory.
At 22:30, the green light will signal the start of the first qualifying session of the weekend in Miami, an event that was confirmed until 2041 in an official announcement a few hours ago. The fastest in FP1 was Oscar Piastri, ahead of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. However, not all drivers were able to complete their qualifying simulation due to the red flag caused by Ollie Bearman.
PHOTO: F1, McLaren F1 Team, Mercedes AMG-Petronas.