Antonelli claims first pole in rookie season.
Formula 1 is in Miami this week for Round 6 of the 2025 season, bringing with it the second Sprint Race of the season. The Sprint Race will start in under an hour, which is already shaping up to be an exciting and memorable event!
Kimi Antonelli took pole for the Sprint Race, the first of his career, becoming the youngest driver in F1 history to start from pole position in any race format (Sprint or Grand Prix). This just so happens to be his first time on the Miami street circuit, so even with his inexperience I foresee big things on the horizon for this rookie!
Making it look effortless! 💨
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 3, 2025
Let's take in Kimi Antonelli's fastest time from SQ3 in Miami 👇#F1 #F1Sprint #MiamiGP pic.twitter.com/YjkJoGxEqv
The Papaya pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who are sitting in the top two spots in the Drivers’ Championship standings so far, will be starting just behind Antonelli in P2 and P3 respectively. I would assume that both Piastri and Norris will be pushing themselves to the limit to take the win from the young Mercedes driver, but they will only have 13 laps to get it done during the Sprint.
Reigning champion Max Verstappen will be starting from P4 on the grid, who seemed to have a decent practice and qualifying following the birth of his daughter on Thursday, and managed to sit on provisional pole early in SQ3 (Sprint Qualifying 3). To me, this shows that whatever upgrades Red Bull brought with them to Miami are working for now, but the real test will come in about an hour!
Mercedes veteran George Russell will be starting the Sprint from P5 after having a decent practice run, and will have a lot of work to do if he wants to try to catch his teammate. But, I think this will be a perfect opportunity for Russell to be a team player and be as defensive as possible to allow Antonelli to build up a lead if he can.
But, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will be starting right behind Russell in P6 and P7 respectively, so don't count them out of this one either. If you recall, Hamilton won the first Sprint Race in China after starting from pole position, showing that the Ferrari does have the pace to challenge the Mercedes and Red Bull machines, so I would expect to see them attempt more than a few overtakes during this race.
Other than the surprise of Antonelli taking pole, Alex Albon, Isack Hadjar, and Fernando Alonso all made it into SQ3, and will all be starting in the middle of the pack. I would like to see all three of these drivers and teams do well, so I hope to see them have a good and clean race to finish in the points.
Full Starting Grid
Honestly, I couldn't believe that Antonelli managed to take pole, especially with the hard charging McLaren's of Piastri and Norris closing in behind him, waiting to pounce on any mistake. To me, this shows that the rookie has a bright and successful future ahead of him, and is definitely a champion in the making!
Do you think that Antonelli can win from pole, or do you think we will see the rookie falter in his first front row start? Let me know your thoughts below!
God Bless, and see you after the race for the recap!
Tyler
- Images sourced from F1 on X