Kimi Antonelli secured pole position at the Miami Grand Prix after a dominant performance in Qualifying, marking his third pole position in a row. The achievement came after a disappointing Sprint race earlier in the day.
Sprint Setback Fuels Qualifying Comeback
Antonelli’s Saturday began with a challenging Sprint. He dropped from second to fourth at the start of the 100-kilometre race. A subsequent penalty for exceeding track limits on multiple occasions saw him demoted to sixth after the chequered flag.
The penalty also allowed Mercedes team mate George Russell to close the gap in the Drivers’ Championship.
However, Antonelli demonstrated resilience by turning the day around in Qualifying for the Grand Prix.
Antonelli’s Scintillating Qualifying Performance
Antonelli posted a Q3 time of 1m 27.798s that proved unbeatable. This was despite a mistake on his final lap.
Speaking after the session, Antonelli said: “It’s been an amazing day, 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 I’m super happy with the recovery.”
Antonelli added, “It was a good Qualifying. I got a little bit too excited on the last lap of Q3, but the first lap was good enough, and I’m really happy with that.”
When asked about abandoning his second Q3 lap, Antonelli smiled and said: “I was very stressed! I was just waiting for everyone to finish their laps. At the end, as I said before, it was good enough.”
Eyes on the Grand Prix
Antonelli is now focused on executing a stronger start in Sunday’s Grand Prix. He is also aiming to rebuild his advantage over Russell in the standings.
His advantage was trimmed from nine points to seven in the Sprint.
“Hopefully a magic [start] will happen tomorrow,” he commented. “It would be nice to not lose any positions. We’ll do our best.
“This weekend has obviously been a little bit more difficult for us, but we’re keeping all this together and we’re maximising the performance.”