Teenager Antonelli grabs pole for Miami sprint race / Photo: Chandan Khanna - AFP
Teenager Antonelli grabs pole for Miami sprint race
Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli powered to pole position in Friday's qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix sprint race, delivering a sizzling final lap.
The 18-year-old Antonelli stormed to the front of the grid for Saturday's race with a fastest lap of 1:26.482 to leave the McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in second and third.
"It was a very intense qualifying. I felt really good since this morning and I felt good going into qualifying. I put everything together, so really happy to get the first pole," said the teenager.
"Tomorrow will be nice to start on the front row, will be a bit of a different feeling."
The rookie, who only passed his driving test in January, entered F1's record books last month when he became the youngest driver to lead a race, breaking a record held by Max Verstappen from back in 2016 in Japan.
Earlier, McLaren's championship leader Piastri was fastest in the opening practice session for Sunday's Grand Prix.
The Australian's fastest lap of 1:27.18 was 0.56 seconds ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc with Max Verstappen of Red Bull third quickest.
British driver Oliver Bearman of Haas spun and crashed into the barriers on turn 12 with the red flag bringing an end to the only practice session of the weekend.
Y.Lewis--RTC
