Kimi Antonelli Reveals Qualifying Relief After Miami Sprint Disaster: “Super Happy With the Recovery”
The Sprint was a mess. The Grand Prix pole lap was not. Lando Norris grabbed the Sprint qualifying pole in Miami, and the Sprint race itself went sideways for Kimi Antonelli from almost the first corner.
Oscar Piastri challenged Antonelli into Turn 1 at the start, sending the Mercedes driver wide and dropping him to fourth. A penalty followed, and by the end of the afternoon Antonelli was classified sixth, a result that cost him ground at the top of the championship standings. Early Saturday hurt.
Saturday evening, apparently, was a different matter. Antonelli put together the lap when it counted in grand prix qualifying, banking pole position for Sunday’s race and making it look significantly less stressful than it was. “It’s been an amazing day to be on pole again,” he said afterwards.
“It was a difficult start with the Sprint when it didn’t go our way but super happy with the recovery. ” The Lap Was Good Enough – And He Knows It “I got a bit excited with the last lap in Q3 but the first lap was good enough and I’m really happy with that. ” Mercedes appeared to find something between the Sprint and the Grand Prix sessions, with the Silver Arrows pair looking considerably stronger than their rivals in qualifying.
The gap was real. The first run was enough. The second one didn’t need to be.