Kimi Antonelli takes surprise pole position for Miami GP Sprint
2nd May 2025Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli has taken his maiden pole position, of any kind, at the Miami Grand Prix, during sprint qualifying.
Feature image credit: Mercedes F1
Formula 1 returned on Friday with a sprint race weekend at the Miami International Autodrome, around the iconic Hard Rock Stadium.
At the end of the shortened qualifying session, it would be Kimi Antonelli who would reign victorious at the end with a sensational pole position lap.
It also means the 18-year-old becomes the youngest polesitter in any race format, pipping Sebastian Vettel’s record, which was set in 2008 at the Italian Grand Prix.
This weekend was also the Mercedes driver’s track debut, having never competed there previously, adding to the surprise and joy of his achievement.
With a final lap time of 1m 26.482s, Antonelli pipped McLaren’s new championship leader Oscar Piastri by 0.045s as the Australian settled for a second-place start on the front row.
Piastri’s teammate, Lando Norris, completed the top three in third to make it a Mercedes-McLaren-McLaren top three.
The Sprint race will be the first bit of action on Saturday, a 19-lap race, before qualifying returns for the main Miami Grand Prix, in the afternoon.
Miami’s sprint race will get underway at 12pm local time (5pm BST) ahead of qualifying at 4pm local (9pm BST).
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
