Kimi Antonelli storms to Miami Grand Prix pole as Mercedes rebounds after sprint race stumble
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Kimi Antonelli helped Mercedes rebound from a disappointing showing in the Saturday sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix by winning the pole in qualifying just a few hours later. It's the third consecutive pole for the current Formula One championship leader, who blocked Max Verstappen from taking the top starting spot at Miami International Autodrome for a third straight year.
Mercedes has dominated the competition this season, with George Russell winning from the pole in the season-opening race, then Antonelli winning from the pole in the two grands prix that followed. F1 then had a five-week break when a pair of races in the Middle East were canceled because of the war in Iran. All teams made upgrades to their cars during the break, but after Russell was fourth and Antonelli sixth in Saturday's sprint race, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff acknowledged “we are a little out of sync with our upgrades compared to other teams.
” Antonelli recovered by qualifying and turned a lap at 1 minute, 28. 653 seconds to beat Verstappen of Red Bull for the pole. “Obviously a difficult start of the day with the sprint where it didn't go our way, but super happy with the recovery,” Antonelli said.
“We will do our best this week and obviously it's been a little bit more difficult for us. ” Verstappen earned his best starting spot of the season as Red Bull has seemingly improved with its car upgrades. The four-time world champion — a two-time winner at Miami — had qualified sixth in Australia, eighth in China and 11th in Japan.
His best finish of the season so far was sixth in the Australia season opener, and the Dutchman has been so frustrated with the current car regulations that he's talked about potentially leaving F1. He was all smiles after his qualifying result. “For sure the car has not been great in the previous races and from my side I never felt comfortable with the layout of the car,” Verstappen said.