Miami GP – Qualifying: Kimi Antonelli secures his third consecutive pole position

Things change from one day to the next. Formula 1And in just a few hours, the hierarchy that was thought to be established has time to evolve. While Lando Norris Having secured pole position for the sprint race, the Briton was more discreet during the qualifying session for the Grand Prix (4th). McLaren were less prominent, in favor of the strong return of Kimi Antonelli and his Mercedes Benz.

After a difficult sprint race (finishing 6th after a penalty when he started 2nd), the championship leader recovered at the crucial moment, securing his third consecutive pole position after those achieved in China and Japan. Yet, nothing seemed certain for the Silver Arrows before the session, as the Mercedes had appeared to be struggling at the start of the weekend. Despite a relatively undeveloped W17 compared to its rivals, it was Antonelli who would open the proceedings for the Grand Prix on Sunday, May 3rd, ahead of Max Verstappenwho will join him on the front row. The Dutchman was fastest in Q2 and was the only one who could fully challenge the Mercedes driver, but he missed out on his first pole position of the season by 0.166 seconds.

Behind, Charles Leclerc ended his run of five fourth-place qualifying finishes, across both Sprints and Grands Prix, by moving up one position. He will still start from the second row, but slightly higher (third), relinquishing his favorite fourth place to Lando Norris. George Russell, still quite far behind Kimi Antonelli, is only fifth, ahead of Lewis Hamilton (6e) and Oscar piastri (7e).

Alpine Audi puts its two cars in Q3, putting Audi in trouble

As in sprint qualifying, there were only five teams represented in Q3, with once again the two Alpine alongside the four leading teams. Dominated by Franco Colapinto in the first qualifying session of the weekend, Pierre Gasly has once again fallen victim to his teammate. The Argentinian will start 8th, ahead of the Frenchman, who qualified 10th and has once again reached Q3 this season. Between the two Mercedes drivers, Isack Hadjar (9th) slotted in, a good distance behind Max Verstappen, but still qualified for Q3. As fate would have it, he and Pierre Gasly had already shared the fifth row – in the same order, no less – during sprint qualifying.

For Audi, the ordeal continues. The German team is struggling to find reliability in its carAnd this was evident throughout the day. While Nico Hulkenberg Gabriel Bortoleto, who finished 11th in the Sprint, was prevented from starting due to a mechanical problem and was subsequently disqualified for a technical infringement. The Brazilian fared no better in qualifying: leaving the pits late due to a new issue detected on his car – unrelated to the Sprint infringement – ​​the champion of F2 2024 was only able to complete one lap with a very slow time (22nd and last), before his rear brakes caught fire on his return lap to the pits. Stopped at the side of the track, the São Paulo native caused a yellow flag and delayed the start of Q2, where Nico Hülkenberg was eliminated (11th). Esteban Ocon (15th) also stopped in the second segment and will start two places behind his teammate Oliver Bearman (13th).

Note that the Grand Prix start time, set for 22 hours (Paris time), is subject to change during the evening to avoid the race taking place when the expected storm over Miami will be at its most intense.

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F1 – Miami Grand Prix
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