Kimi Antonelli rewrote history books at the qualifying for the Sprint race in Miami by becoming the youngest pole-sitter in any format of F1 racing. Happy with the achievement of his son, his father, Marco Antonelli, was seen hugging the 18-year-old repeatedly in the Mercedes garage.
The Italian youngster was announced to replace Lewis Hamilton at the Brackley-based squad, and a huge burden was laid on Antonelli’s shoulders. Though the team was assertive in their stance on giving the teenager time to adapt to the new machinery, he has seemingly fast-tracked his growth to the front of the field.
The Mercedes driver started the season with a P4 finish in Australia and has scored decent results since then. He came to the Miami Grand Prix weekend with buckets of inexperience compared to his rivals, as it was his first venture around the 5.4-kilometer track.
Despite this, Kimi Antonelli showcased an impressive performance in SQ1 by leading a fair chunk of the session and repeated this in SQ3. However, this time he was able to retain his lead and bagged the pole position for the Sprint race on Saturday, May 3.
Overjoyed with his kid’s achievement, Marco Antonelli hugged his son as the video of the two surfaced on social media:
Antonelli overthrew Sebastian Vettel to grab the record of the youngest pole-sitter in any format in F1.
Kimi Antonelli reflects on bagging the pole position for the Sprint race in Miami
After clinching the pole position, the 18-year-old punched his hand up in the air from his cockpit multiple times during his in-lap to express his joy. Shaken from the feat that the youngster had achieved in an incredibly close field, the Mercedes garage was on cloud nine.
Reflecting on securing an unexpected pole position, Kimi Antonelli said during the post-Sprint qualifying interview (via Junaid Samodien on X):
“I did not see that coming. I was happy with how it came together. There were bits where I could have been a bit better. I will enjoy this a bit, and then focus on tomorrow. Every weekend I am learning. The break we had has helped me to process the information, and mentally reset. I am more aware of how to do consistent warm-up.”
“There is always room for improvement. Each weekend I am able to play a bit more with the car.”
On the other hand, the Mercedes driver will have two papaya cars for company during the Sprint race. Oscar Piastri will start the Sprint on the front row, while Lando Norris will start one place back in P3.
The papaya duo qualified within a tenth of a second of Antonelli and can cause trouble for the teenager on his route to possibly winning his first Sprint race. Thus, there is still a lot the Italian is required to do before winning his first F1 race in any format.
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Edited by Rupesh
