Under the Miami Sun: Antonelli Snatches Pole in Dramatic Qualifying

Following a dramatic Sprint Race earlier in the afternoon, Qualifying proved to us that we are in for an extremely exciting race tomorrow. Kimi Antonelli trumped everybody else to take pole position and showed us all that Mercedes isn’t to be messed with.

Qualifying 1

Haas’ Oliver Bearman was the first out onto the unforgiving surface of the Miami International Autodrome. With the track temperature being 53 Degrees Celcius, tyre management for the flying laps is extremely important. The Audi of Gabriel Bortoleto, meaning he won’t be partaking in Qualifying. Nico Hulkenberg did make it out of the garage on a set of used medium tyres for some installation laps rather than early flying laps. Mercedes was the last out of the garage to hopefully gain a tow from other cars on track.

Ollie Bearman put the first fastest lap on the board, but Max Verstappen and Lando Norris quickly took that away, Verstappen almost 9 tenths faster than his teammate. Lando Norris only managed to place P2 with his initial flying lap. Kimi Antonelli placed his Mercedes in P2 with 12 minutes left of the first session of Qualifying, 0.059 seconds off the Red Bull, while Piastri only managed seventh.

With 10 minutes to go, Red Bull seemed to have found some pace off the back of qualifying, with Max Verstappen topping the table with a 1:29.009, and his teammate planted his own car in sixth. At seven minutes to go, Audi seemed to have fixed the issue on Gabriel Bortoleto’s car and the Brazilian was seen climbing in. Pierre Gasly firms his Alpine in 12th position, but was quickly moved down one spot by his teammate.

With only three minutes to go, Bortoleto exited the garage on a set of new soft tyres with time only for one flying lap. Piastri was still in 11th and not improving. Antonelli moves to the top of the board with two minutes to go and a set of fresh softs.

As the chequered flag dropped on Q1, Hadjar pulled himself up to fourth place, saving him from the elimination zone. Unfortunately, Lindblad, Alonso, Stroll, Bottas, Perez and Bortoleto are out in the first session and starting P17-22 respectively. Oscar Piastri surprisingly scraped through to Q2 in 16th place. Bortoleto’s brakes caught fire on the way back to the pits and pulled over at a marshal post to let them extinguish the flames.

Qualifying 2

After the start of the delayed second session of qualifying and the broken Audi being recovered, Isack Hadjar and his Red Bull led the remaining 16 cars out onto the track to determine who the next 6 are to meet the fate of elimination, with Verstappen and Hulkenberg following him out.

13 minutes remained, and everybody was out on the C5 soft tyre, which lasts for 2 push laps. The track held at a steady 52 Degrees as Verstappen went to the top, creating a 0.01-second gap between his teammate and Albon, climbing up to 4th.

With 10 minutes left, Hamilton planted his Ferrari on top, and Piastri slotted into 3rd, but Hamilton’s glory was short-lived as Antonelli moved up to provisional pole with over a tenth clear of him. Meanwhile, Norris made a mistake on his flying lap and aborted before returning to the pits.

Norris only managed P9 with 5 minutes to go, and the wind was picking up, slowing the cars down on the back straight. Lawson was pushed down into P10 by Norris as all the cars returned to the track for their final flying laps of Q2. 2 minutes left, and Hadjar was the only car on track with used rubber, the others on new tyres, while Antonelli raised the benchmark for pole.

The chequered flag fell on Q2 as Verstappen went fastest, but Hulkenberg, Lawson, Bearman, Sainz, Ocon and Albon found themselves at the bottom of the board and out of qualifying.

Qualifying 3

Only 10 cars remained from 22 as the clock started to count down on the final session of qualifying. The track temperature had dropped to 49 Degrees Celsius as the McLarens emerged, followed by the Red Bulls and Ferraris.

With only 8 minutes to go, Piastri took provisional pole but was quickly pushed down by Norris, Verstappen and then Leclerc, with Antonelli joining the fun. Colapinto slotted into 8th ahead of Hadjar and Gasly, a mirror of Sprint Qualifying.

Everybody returned to the garage to don new tyres and emerged with 3 minutes to go for their chance of a final flying lap and potentially pole position. One minute remained as everyone flew around the Hard Rock Stadium for their final laps.

As the final flag fell, Piastri said 7th, Norris 4th and Gasly 10th. Verstappen flew around the final corner to take 2nd place, giving pole position for the Miami Grand Prix to Championship Leader Kimi Antonelli.

The race starts at 4 pm local time tomorrow, with the potential for an earlier start due to weather. What are your predictions?