Kimi Antonelli took a stunningly dominant pole position for the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix after pulling a significant gap to his teammate through the session.
While behind him the margins were tight, Antonelli stayed a head above the rest through each phase of qualifying, dominating the session to take a third consecutive pole position.
With a slew of upgrades for the top teams and Sprint Race under their belts, the 11 teams on the grid were raring to fight for the all-important pole position for the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix. McLaren and Ferrari looked to be the strongest in the first half of the weekend, but with the changing temperature and longer qualifying, everything was to play for.
Gabriel Bortoleto’s qualifying came to an early end when his Audi was unable to leave the pits after being disqualified for an incorrect engine air intake in the Sprint Race. The disqualification came just hours before qualifying, leaving Audi scrambling to fix the issue ahead of qualifying, to no avail.
Q1
With the green light at the end of the pit lane, the 21 drivers made their way onto the track, most on used tyres, for their first push laps.
Max Verstappen topped the initial laps, with a time of 1:29.099s, the Red Bull putting a healthy gap between him and the Ferraris behind. Lando Norris looked to take the top position but crossed the line 0.084s behind the Red Bull. Oscar Piastri managed two personal-best sectors but was only the ninth-fastest overall.
While Kimi Antonelli managed to put together a stronger lap, he only went fast enough for second. There was a disparity between the Mercedes drivers, with George Russell a surprising 0.977s off Verstappen’s leading pace. Russell seemed to be off the pace all weekend, falling to the wayside of his younger teammate.
Ollie Bearman managed to put a strong lap in, shooting up to fourth in the order on a newer set of tyres. It was a miracle for Bortoleto, who made his way out of the garage with just over three minutes left in the session.
Russell and Piastri were both dangerously close to the elimination zone in the final stages of Q1. Embarking on another push lap, the Mercedes driver managed to cross the line seventh, but Piastri struggled to improve, ending up 12th.
Antonelli put in a purple first and final sector with an impressive 1:28.653s on the board for the teenager who has taken back-to-back wins in China and Japan. Leclerc crossed the line to go second fastest but was still 0.285s off his competitor.
Piastri failed to improve and ended the session 16th, just 0.2s keeping the Australian in qualifying and in contention for pole position.
Despite making it out on the track, Gabriel Bortoleto’s woes weren’t over. The Brazilian driver’s brakes caught fire on his cool-down lap, forcing the Audi to pull over.
Eliminated: Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso and Arvid Lindblad
Q2
The two Red Bulls left the pits first for the second stage of qualifying. Isack Hadjar set the first lap with a 1:28.941s. Yet, Verstappen bested his teammate immediately with a 1:28.931s.
Both Ferraris were next to cross the line, Leclerc doing a purple second sector and Lewis Hamilton doing a purple final sector. The prancing horses finished the lap first and second, with Hamilton leading the duo.
However, it was short-lived as Antonelli took to the track once again, taking the top spot by 0.125s from Hamilton. Finally, the pieces fell into place for Russell, who crossed the line matching Hamilton’s time exactly. The gap between Mercedes teammates was the smallest it had been all weekend.
Piastri had a much cleaner start to Q2, putting in a strong lap in the 1:28s, which put him fifth.
Norris had an incident in his first push lap, running wide and leaving him at the bottom of the order. McLaren chose to send him out on a new set of tyres out of sequence with the rest of the grid. He tried to put in a banker lap to keep him safe in Q2. However, things went awry for the papaya outfit, as Norris managed only the ninth-fastest time.
Antonelli went on another flying lap with another purple sector in the first stage of the lap. While the young Italian was flying around the Hard Rock stadium, Russell was 0.7s down in the first sector. Antonelli improved slightly on his time, putting in a 1:28.289s, while Russell failed to improve.
As the final runs came in, Verstappen put in a stunning final push lap, going fastest with a 1:28.116s, and Leclerc improved to third. Norris improved to seventh and avoided elimination.
Elimination: Alex Albon, Esteban Ocon, Carlos Sainz, Ollie Bearman, Liam Lawson and Nico Hulkenberg.
Q3
The McLarens were first to get out on track for the final stage of qualifying, both on new tyres, hoping for a better run than Q1 and Q2. Piastri’s first lap was messy at 1:28.687. It was quickly beaten by his teammate, who posted 1:28.181s.
In the final stage of qualifying, the margins were getting smaller, with Verstappen taking the top spot by just 0.002s, but Leclerc crossed the line to best him by 0.06s.
However, Antonelli was midway through his flying lap, once again putting in a phenomenal first sector, and he shot to the top of the timing sheets with a 0.345s margin to those behind.
Cars left the pit lane with three and a half minutes to go for their final push laps. McLaren once again led the field in their outlaps.
The Mercedes got ahead of the papaya cars, with Russell leading Antonelli on a push lap. Russell was putting in personal bests in the first half of the lap but failed to improve from fifth. Piastri and Norris both failed to improve.
Antonelli bailed on his final push lap, locking up in the first sector, leaving it up to Verstappen, the final driver on track, to challenge the Italian. Unfortunately, Verstappen fell short by 0.166s, settling for the first row for Sunday’s race. Giving the championship leader another pole position.
Top Ten: Kimi Antonelli, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri, Franco Colapinto, Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly.
READ MORE: Lando Norris cruises to Sprint Race win at F1 Miami GP
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