Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli revelled in a “mighty” lap that secured him a historic pole in Sprint Qualifying for the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix.
Antonelli, 18, pipped the McLaren duo to Sprint pole by 0.045s, punching in a lap record at the Miami International Autodrome and becoming the youngest polesitter in F1 history.
His extraordinary promise has translated into a methodical approach to his rookie season.
Across five opening rounds, Antonelli had gotten to grips with F1 and his Mercedes W16, enabling him to execute with devastating effect on Friday in Florida.
After jumping out of the car in parc ferme, Antonelli spoke to Mr Le Mans himself, Tom Kristensen, telling the legendary Dane, “Yeah, it was a very intense qualifying. I felt really good since this morning, and I felt confident going into qualifying.
“The last lap was mighty,” the young Italian professed.
“I put basically everything together, and it was nice that it came very nicely. Really happy to get the first pole.
“Tomorrow is going to be nice to start on the front row. It’s going to be a bit of a different feeling, but I really cannot wait for tomorrow to see how we can do in the Sprint and then in the qualifying as well.”
Sky F1 reporter Ted Kravitz grabbed a word with Toto Wolff shortly after, and the Austrian was glowing in his praise of Antonelli.
“This young man, hopefully, will make us lots of fun in the future, lots of happiness,” he said.
“And it’s about the trajectory. It’s not whether it’s a pole and only the sprint race or a pole tomorrow or in the future, he’s done it. He’s the quickest.”
Kimi Antonelli aiming to replicate Miami Sprint Qualifying performance
Whilst Antonelli told the F1 media crew a short while after the session that he was “over the moon” the Italian’s focus quickly turned to Saturday’s Sprint and GP Qualifying sessions, where he wants to repeat his Friday heroics.
“Now we will enjoy this moment a little bit more, but as well, I want to focus on tomorrow, because I really wanted to try and repeat myself,” he said.
“We did a quite a lot, quite a long run in FP1 to try and gather as many information as possible.
“Of course, we don’t really know the pace of the others, but I guess we will see tomorrow, during the race and then about the qualifying.
“I mean, the track is going to keep evolving, so it’s going to be important to be on top of it and try to repeat ourselves.”
A lovely moment saw Antonelli celebrate Sprint Pole with his father, and the teenage star cherished that embrace.
“Iit was really nice. And also to find him in the garage after qualifying, and you know, super, I’m super happy to share this moment with him,” he said.
“And it’s so important to me as well, and he’s like a rock and I know I can always rely on him.
“So, really happy to share this moment with him. And I would like to share with my mom and my sister as well. But, hopefully next time.”
READ MORE – Kimi Antonelli claims historic pole position for Miami F1 Sprint
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