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.
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.
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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.“
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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