Toto Wolff breaks silence as Kimi Antonelli secures pole position for the F1 Miami GP sprint

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was ecstatic about young driver Kimi Antonelli securing pole position for the F1 Miami GP sprint and hoped that the young kid would bring a lot of happiness to the team. The young Italian driver turned heads with a stunning lap that helped him secure pole position and become the youngest driver to achieve such a feat.

Kimi Antonelli’s debut was something that many had kept a keen eye on. It’s not often that a teenager gets an opportunity to race in F1 and start his career with Mercedes. This did, however, come true because Lewis Hamilton decided early last season that he was moving to Ferrari.

When the 7x F1 world champion made that call, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff picked young Kimi Antonelli as the driver that would replace Lewis Hamilton. Since his debut in Melbourne, the Italian driver has done a steady job. He’s been fast, but at the same time, he’s not had any crashes as such and has kept his nose clean.

In the F1 Miami GP sprint qualifying, from the very first lap, Kimi Antonelli appeared to be in a good rhythm. This became even more evident when the driver’s first push lap was quicker than George Russell’s. The trend continued into SQ3, where the Italian opted for the strategy to do one push lap late into the session.

The lap was quick enough for pole, making Kimi Antonelli the young pole sitter in any race. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was ecstatic as he told Sky Sports,

“He’s a young man…Hopefully we make a lot of fun in the future, a lot of happiness. It’s about the trajectory. It’s not whether it’s a pole in the Sprint, or tomorrow, he’s done it and he’s quickest.”

Kimi Antonelli’s verdict on his qualifying lap

Kimi Antonelli was happy with his lap after the session, as this was the first time he had gotten the jump on George Russell in qualifying. The driver will start the race alongside Oscar Piastri in P2 and Lando Norris in P3.

Talking about his lap and the race on Saturday, the driver said,

“It was a very intense qualifying. I felt very good since practice and felt confident going into qualifying. The last lap was mighty. I put everything together. I’m really happy to get the first pole. Tomorrow will be nice to start on the front row. It will be a bit of a different feeling, but I can’t wait for tomorrow to see what we can do in the Sprint and in qualifying.”

This is the first time this season that the Italian has gotten the better of George Russell. The Mercedes driver would be hoping to nail the start and build on it, as a win in the sprint is not as far-fetched a possibility.

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Charanjot is an F1 writer and Content Specialist at Sportskeeda with over 5 years of experience covering news, trends, and analyses related to the sport.

He started watching F1 when Narain Karthikeyan made his F1 debut in 2005 and was hooked when Kimi Raikkonen delivered a stunning lap in Monaco in the same season. He has been with the firm for almost 4 years and tries his best to put his links in the F1 paddock to the best use so as to report relevant and accurate information.

Charanjot has interviewed Indian motorsports driver Kush Maini during his time with Sportskeeda. He has also written 4K+ articles on the sport and is the key factor behind all the F1-related content that goes out in the domain.

If given a chance, he would like for India’s Buddh International Circuit to be added back to the calendar. A Mechanical engineer and an MBA, Charanjot aims to spearhead the cause of making F1 a mainstream sport in India. Apart from F1, he also follows MotoGP, cricket and MMA.

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Edited by Charanjot Singh Kohli