Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli “did not expect” to take his maiden F1 pole position for the 2025 Miami Sprint.
Having sat out the first SQ3 runs in Sprint Qualifying, Antonelli nailed his sole flying lap to snatch his first pole position in F1 from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri by 0.045 seconds, which made the Italian the youngest pole-sitter across all F1 race formats at 18 years, eight months and seven days.
Speaking post-session, Antonelli admitted that he “did not expect” to take pole despite Mercedes’ strong pace throughout Practice and Sprint Qualifying, but is pleased to finally secure a pole position despite feeling that his lap could of been better.
“It feels fantastic to take my first pole position. When I crossed the line, I thought it was a good lap. I was happy with how it came together. There were a few areas that I felt I could have found a little bit more time, but I was pleased that I managed to hook up all three sectors.
“I will enjoy this moment but quickly focus on tomorrow as it would be good to repeat today by taking victory in the Sprint itself.”
Antonelli however spoke of his belief that McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will be difficult to keep behind in the sprint.
“We know the McLarens, the Ferraris, and the Red Bull of Verstappen have strong race pace. It won’t be easy to keep them behind tomorrow, but I will be giving it my all to do so. It will be important to have a good start and hopefully from there, set a good pace without suffering too much from tyre degradation.”
Antonelli’s teammate, George Russell will start fifth in the sprint and the Brit was impressed by his performance to claim his first F1 pole.
“I’m really pleased to see him take his first pole position. He’s been really quick right from the first lap in FP1 and that is really impressive.”
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