MIAMI -- Mercedes wunderkind rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli beat the McLaren drivers to pole position for the sprint race in Miami and in doing so became the youngest pole sitter in any Formula 1 format beat championship leader Oscar Piastri by 0.045 seconds to top a competitive F1 session for the first time in his young career Antonelli replaced seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes this year and has already been tipped for great things Come on," Antonelli said over the radio after securing the pole spot and I felt confident going into qualifying," Antonelli said I put basically everything together and it was nice that it all came very nicely and I'm really happy to get the first pole "Tomorrow it's going to be nice to start on the front row It's going to be a bit of a different feeling but I really cannot wait for tomorrow and to see how we can do in the sprint and then in the qualifying as well." The previous youngest ever pole sitter was Sebastian Vettel at the age of 21 years and 73 days in 2008 at the Italian Grand Prix with Toro Rosso Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said it did not matter what kind of pole it was It's not whether it's a pole in only the sprint he's done it and he's quickest," said the Austrian Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty ImagesAntonelli will start ahead of Piastri and Lando Norris "We can still fight from there in the sprint tomorrow "We've got a bit more pace to unlock hopefully I'll try to make up a spot in the sprint before we get stuck into where the big points are." New father Max Verstappen who missed the media day on Thursday because of the birth of his first daughter qualified fourth ahead of Antonelli's teammate George Russell Red Bull will have only one driver fighting at the top end of the field in the sprint with Verstappen's teammate Yuki Tsunoda failing to make it out of the SQ1 session Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will start sixth and seventh while impressive Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar continued his strong recent run with ninth position took a morale-boosting 10th position for his team Nico Hulkenberg took an impressive 11th position for the Sauber team -- Tsunoda's elimination from SQ1 was the only major surprise otherwise The opening session featured a furious radio message from Alpine driver Jack Doohan Doohan complained that his hopes of progressing to SQ1 had been ruined by the angle he was released from the garage ahead of his final run Doohan lost valuable time while trying to realign his car on its turn into the pit lane as teammate Pierre Gasly emerged from the pit lane next to him I can't turn out and have to turn out because he's going to run into me Doohan's future beyond this week is still unclear with Alpine reserve driver Franco Colapinto waiting in the wings Information from Reuters was used in this report Audi announce organisational restructure ahead of F1 arrival in 2026 5 Winners and 5 Losers from Miami – Who excelled in the Sunshine State Tsunoda concedes he ‘made life much more difficult’ with five-second penalty in Miami after battling for final point Antonelli taking plenty of positives from Miami weekend despite struggles on way to P6 in the Grand Prix ‘We took the tough decision’ – Vasseur defends Ferrari team orders situation in Miami as he acknowledges Hamilton’s frustration Following on from a frustrating result that was out of his control in the Miami Sprint Kimi Antonelli has switched his full focus to capitalising on his third-place starting position on the Grand Prix grid The Mercedes teenager claimed his maiden pole position for the Sprint on Friday but an early tussle with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri saw him lose the lead and drop to P4 after driving wide at Turn 1 in Saturday's dramatic dash Things went from bad to worse as his first attempt at a pit stop was jeopardised by an unsafe release from Red Bull that sent Max Verstappen into Antonelli’s path forcing the Italian to drive around the track again and return to the pits But while he crossed the line outside of the points, a series of time penalties for drivers further up the field saw him promoted back to P7 to salvage two points Antonelli's Qualifying lap time was just 0.002s shy of Norris' Antonelli then came agonisingly close to claiming another pole position in Qualifying for Sunday's Grand Prix as he missed out by just 0.067s to Verstappen – Lando Norris was also quicker by the slimmest of margins “It was a good way to bounce back,” the Italian said after Qualifying “I struggled a little bit during the session – the track was quite a lot different compared to yesterday it washed out most of the rubber so a different feeling in the car and it took a little bit to adapt but I’m happy with the last lap READ MORE: Verstappen surges to pole position ahead of Norris and Antonelli in Miami GP Qualifying I was a little bit greedy going into Turn 1 and had a small lock-up but still managed to have a strong second half of the lap Now [I'm] looking forward to tomorrow I think they will have a bit of a pace advantage but hopefully we can fight with Max and the McLarens eventually Russell: ‘I’ll take P5 because I felt a long way from where we should be’ The Miami outing has seen Antonelli edge out his team mate George Russell for the first time since he joined Mercedes with the Briton struggling to feel comfortable in the car throughout the weekend Russell explained: “I don’t know what’s been going on this weekend – in FP1 I was feeling really good with the car then every lap in [Sprint] Qualifying yesterday so I’ll definitely take P5 because I felt a long way from where we should be “I hope things will be different in the race to be honest We saw today that things can change very quickly – a long race Don't miss your chance to experience the picturesque Imola circuit.. MIAMI LOWDOWN: All the key moments as McLaren and Antonelli shine, Ferrari face tensions and LEGO takes over MONDAY MORNING DEBRIEF: How Leclerc and Hamilton’s opposing Miami strategies culminated in fractious Ferrari radio exchanges HIGHLIGHTS: Piastri leads McLaren 1-2 after thrilling race in Miami Driveable LEGO big builds welcomed to Miami drivers’ parade Cadillac unveil their team logo and brand during dazzling Miami launch event ahead of 2026 entry Verstappen labels Miami Grand Prix ‘a struggle’ after slipping back to P4 as he reflects on gap to McLaren Piastri full of praise for McLaren after ‘unbelievable’ and ‘impressive’ victory in Miami MIAMI LOWDOWN: All the key moments as McLaren and Antonelli shine © 2003-2025 Formula One World Championship Limited Get quick access to your favorite articles Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers Make your voice heard with article commenting Photo by: James Sutton / Motorsport Images Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton said that Andrea Kimi Antonelli's Miami Grand Prix sprint pole "brought warmth” to his heart this weekend The ex-Mercedes racer added that it was “such a great story” to see the 18-year-old rookie deliver for his old team Hamilton re-posted a video of the young Italian's celebrations on Instagram which featured the Briton's former colleagues Toto Wolff and Pete “Bono” Bonnington particularly in the context of Mercedes' decision to promote youth over picking a more experienced driver for 2025 "I posted because it made me really...last night I saw the video of Bono and Kimi and Toto And it generally just brought warmth to my heart because honestly And I know there was a lot of questions around whether or not to take on a more experienced driver To then just continue on and continue to work hard and then get a pole Hamilton, who spent 12 years with the team, suggested that Antonelli should not be disheartened by a fraught start to the race on Saturday, in which he was shown the door by Oscar Piastri in the opening lap of the rain-affected sprint He noted that the 18-year-old should not change his style and called upon him to keep going on his current trajectory And we haven't had any running in the rain here," Hamilton added Also to have the two fastest right beside you is going to be very tough always I would just say to continue to do what he's doing I think he knows what he's doing and just continue to enjoy it." Stay up to speed with the latest F1 Miami Grand Prix news, expert analysis, photos and videos. Join us for Sunday's watch along on Race Center Live by signing up here From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport In order to keep delivering our expert journalism we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker Italian youngster sprung surprise of the season by taking pole for the Miami GP sprint Kimi Antonelli sprung the surprise of the season by taking pole position for Saturday’s sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix six rounds into his rookie campaign as a replacement for Lewis Hamilton was born five years after the double world champion Fernando Alonso became the youngest F1 driver to take a pole position Antonelli bettered Sebastian Vettel’s previous record of the youngest pole-sitter in F1 Kimi Antonelli during sprint qualifying in Miami Photograph: Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images“I did not see that coming,” said Antonelli “I felt the lap was good and I was happy with it There were still a few bits I could have done better but I was super happy with how I put all the sectors together having a break really helped me to gather information and process it all and recharging the batteries “The whole qualifying I felt I was able to make a step lap by lap I’m much more aware of how to do a consistent warmup and extract more out of the tyres but there’s a lot to improve Every weekend I get more confident with the car can play with it more and explore the limits I can understand more from the setup and give much better feedback which allows the team to improve the car.” took a look at what the Europeans were doing at Ferrari Aston Martin and Jaguar and decided the could build a better car Victories came at the 1958 LA Times Grand Prix at Riverside Raceway and their front-engined racers would go on to enter 93 races with 39 wins and 32 podium finishes until 1963 In F1 they competed in just one full season – 1960 – racing in six of the 10 grands prix finishing 10th with Chuck Daigh at the US Grand Prix Dan Gurney and the Le Mans winner Carroll Shelby founded All American Racers in 1964 and competed in various classes before taking a crack at F1 with patriotically named Eagle The stars and stripes team were based in Rye East Sussex and ran with British‑built Weslake engines Gurney achieved the first “all-American” victory in a grand prix since Jimmy Murphy’s triumph with Duesenberg at the 1921 French Grand Prix An American team has yet to repeat that double feat The last American team to win a race – the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix with the Northern Irishman John Watson (below) at the wheel but their PC1 cars made their debut in 1974 They scored no points that year and the following season was marred by the death of their driver Mark Donohue A fully fledged American team returned to F1 in 2016 they are still blazing the trail with Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman at the wheel with a lone pole claimed in Brazil in 2022 The General Motors behemoth is eager to tap into the Race to Survive/Gen Z market so is launching a team with its premier marque on the car next year Photograph: Klemantaski Collection/Hulton ArchiveWas this helpful?Thank you for your feedback.Antonelli has quietly impressed since filling Hamilton’s seat at Mercedes Mercedes spotted the youngster in Bologna after he made a huge impact in karting signing him for their drivers academy at 11 He made his racing debut at 15 years old after claiming a number of titles and that earned him a drive in F2 for Prema Racing where his talents blossomed as Oliver Bearman’s teammate A sprint victory in the rain at Silverstone and a maiden win at the Hungaroring impressed the F1 paddock but the real head turner came with his performance at Spa-Francorchamps and a bold overtaking move at the notorious Eau Rouge Free weekly newsletterThe best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend’s action Kimi Antonelli with Toto Wolff at Monza last year Photograph: Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty ImagesAntonelli stands sixth in the drivers’ championship He made an immediate impression in the season-opener in Australia by being the only rookie not to crash in wet conditions The paddock certainly took note of his stellar surge through the field from 16th to fourth where he became the youngest driver to lead a race and set the fastest lap His rapid rise certainly gives an F1-mad nation something to cheer about The last Italian to win a race was Giancarlo Fisichella at the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix Lando Norris rounded out the top three finishers for sprint qualifying on Friday afternoon at the Hard Rock Stadium While it is not an official F1 pole position for Antonelli it is still a monumental moment for the 18-year-old who was tasked with making his name at Mercedes after Lewis Hamilton left for Ferrari Antonelli is the youngest driver to head a race grid in F1 history in any format And it was one of the fastest laps clocked at Miami International Autodrome — a 1:26.482s lap Max Verstappen established the lap record at 1:29.708s in 2023 which remains the official fastest lap as such times are set during race conditions But Antonelli’s time eclipses the previous unofficial track record of 1:26.814s that Verstappen set in Q2 in qualifying for the 2023 race here Verstappen will line up alongside Norris for Saturday’s race after qualifying fourth with George Russell fifth in the other Mercedes and set to line up next to Charles Leclerc I felt really good since this morning and I felt confident going into qualifying,” Antonelli said during his first post-sprint qualifying interview but that’s a massive moment for Antonelli in only his sixth grand prix event at the top level The 18-year-old has made a solid start in F1 picking up a couple of youngest driver records along the way While this won’t be an official pole position in the F1 record books it is still a mighty lap by the young Italian Mercedes boss Toto Wolff took a leap of faith by putting Antonelli in to replace Hamilton this year But the Italian’s performances early this year had already vindicated that decision and this pole makes clear it was the right call We’ve seen all the early signs from Antonelli that he has the makings of something special He’s not been too far behind Russell through the early part of this year and it would always take a bit of time to find those extra couple of tenths to get ahead But this result will surely go down as a moment that truly announces Antonelli’s arrival if his career goes the way that Wolff and the others at Mercedes who have invested so much time into his rise to F1 anticipate will be the first of many pole positions — official or not Antonelli will face a challenge to keep the papaya McLarens of Piastri and Norris at bay tomorrow But if his style in F1 has proved anything (Top photo: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images) Max Verstappen was handed a 10-second penalty for a pit lane collision with Miami Sprint polesitter Kimi Antonelli leaving both outside the points after a delayed wet-dry affair Mercedes rookie Antonelli started on pole for the 18-lap race which started behind the Safety Car and was red-flagged for a period due to the treacherous conditions the race eventually got underway with a standing start as Antonelli lost out to front row starter Oscar Piastri at Turn 1 and dropped to fourth behind eventual race winner Lando Norris and Verstappen With the track drying and drivers' intermediate tyres wearing out as Verstappen rejoined from his Red Bull pit box who was attempting to make his own stop in the next box Verstappen suffered front wing damage while Antonelli was forced to carry on through the pits and come in again a lap later The Red Bull driver finished fourth on-the-road behind the two McLarens and Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari but was demoted to 17th with the penalty after a late Safety Car bunched up the pack Watch the collision by clicking play on the video above ‘We made it count when it mattered’ – Russell satisfied with recovery to podium after troublesome Miami weekend 'It was frustrating' – Hamilton opens up on tense Miami radio messages during Ferrari strategy debate VideoRACE START: Verstappen narrowly holds onto the lead in thrilling start to Miami GP DRIVER OF THE DAY: Piastri's imperious Miami showing gets your vote Miami Grand Prix sprint pole-winner Andrea Kimi Antonelli was left irritated by Oscar Piastri's move on him at the opening corner of the Saturday race - and was disappointed that the Australian was not penalised Piastri grabbed a slightly better getaway off the line in a damp start to the shorter race leaving Antonelli to try to hang onto the lead around the outside of the first corner and revealed his frustrations over the radio that he felt he was pushed off the road by Piastri The stewards deemed that Piastri had the right to the corner and did not take any further action to which Antonelli sarcastically remarked "good to know" "It was a great opportunity; I'm a bit annoyed about lap one with how it went," Antonelli told Sky following the sprint race that you can do basically whatever you want so it's good to know for the future.  but luckily we have a qualifying to bounce back." Antonelli's boss Toto Wolff felt that the current driving guidelines - which prioritise a driver on the inside being ahead at the apex - are not "setting good precedents" and that it enfranchised drivers to simply come off the brakes and leave no room Wolff added that Antonelli had perhaps wised up to the nature of F1 in his first-corner exchange with Piastri "I don't think we are setting good precedents," Wolff told Sky "You're just releasing the brake and then you push the other guy off.  "And it's Kimi's sixth race or whatever it is and now he's learned the lesson that this is what you need to do but maybe that's how we've allowed it for a few years now." Become part of the largest racing community in the United Kingdom Kimi Antonelli is the youngest-ever driver to start any F1 race from pole position Kimi Antonelli has hailed his record-breaking Miami Grand Prix sprint qualifying lap as "mighty" en route to shattering an all-time Sebastian Vettel record Antonelli has become the youngest driver to start an F1 race in any format on pole position at 18 years although the German retains the youngest-ever grand prix pole-sitter record It is also the first time Antonelli has out-qualified team-mate George Russell having already taken two F1 records from Max Verstappen in the Japanese GP of youngest driver to lead a race and youngest to set the fastest lap.  Antonelli described his "good feeling" throughout the day's running and I felt confident going into qualifying," he explained and it was nice that it all came together nicely "It is going to be nice to start on the front row but I cannot wait for tomorrow to see how we can do in the sprint and then in qualifying as well." Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes and Nick Golding as they discuss a hectic opening day of on-track action at the Miami Grand Prix Sign up for the daily digest and/or weekly newsletter and we'll make sure that you are fully up to date with the latest news from the Formula 1 world Find the latest F1 news and news from other motorsport series at RacingNews365.com the world's leading independent F1 website providing daily F1 coverage Check out the 2025 F1 calendar for an overview of all the races with extensive background and real-time information.  Follow RacingNews365 on your favorite social media channels The Miami Drive-In:George Russell and Kimi Antonelli take a ride in a Mercedes-AMG SL 634 May 20255 Min ReadSunshine What more could you want for a drive around Miami George Russell and Kimi Antonelli soak up the scenes while chatting about the Miami track Kimi Antonelli was left believing that Oscar Piastri's move into Turn 1 at the start of the Miami Sprint was "a bit over the limit" as the Mercedes driver eventually finished the chaotic wet-dry race outside the points after a further incident with Max Verstappen Rookie Antonelli had taken his first Formula 1 pole position in Miami and led the field away behind the Safety Car as a deluge hit the circuit just before the scheduled race on Saturday READ MORE: Norris wins chaotic Miami Sprint from Piastri and Hamilton after late Safety Car and multiple incidents the decision was taken to red-flag the event before trying again after a delay Antonelli and Piastri went wheel-to-wheel into Turn 1 with the McLaren driver on the inside in a similar situation to Jeddah at the previous round with Verstappen 2025 Miami GP Sprint: Piastri takes the lead as pole-sitter Antonelli drops to fourth on the start having felt he was forced wide through the right-hander before rejoining behind eventual race winner Lando Norris and Verstappen "It was very disappointing," said Antonelli with the incident noted by the stewards but with no further action being taken Turn 1 was a bit over the limit the move but it's good to know for the future HIGHLIGHTS: Norris pips Piastri in incident-filled Miami Sprint with help from late Safety Car There was more drama to come for the young Italian as with all drivers starting on intermediate tyres but on a quickly-drying track pit crews were called into action to make the switch over to slick tyres But as Antonelli moved toward his pit box he was hit by the Red Bull of Verstappen who had pitted just ahead and was released from his own pit area by his mechanics into the path of the Mercedes 2025 Miami GP Sprint: Verstappen hits Antonelli in pit stop mix-up While Verstappen suffered front wing damage and was slapped with a 10-second penalty for the incident which dropped him from fourth to outside the points Antonelli was forced to drive down the pit lane and come back in a lap later# which eventually left him 10th in the classification WATCH: Verstappen handed penalty for pit lane collision with Antonelli in eventful Miami Sprint "The pit lane [incident] was very unfortunate nothing to blame on Max because he just got released so he respected the order," added Antonelli "What I did is as soon as I saw him coming out I just tried to avoid the crash because it could have been a really bad accident for the mechanics so happy nothing went wrong there." Williams duo keen to 'play with strategies' as they target strong result in Miami after impressive Qualifying Red Bull's protest into Russell over yellow flags rejected by Miami stewards Mercedes Formula 1 rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli claimed his maiden sprint pole at the Miami Grand Prix Antonelli had looked rapid throughout Friday afternoon's sprint qualifying session and his late run of 1m26.482s was enough to withstand a last-ditch run by McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris who qualified 0.045s and 0.100s behind respectively In the deciding top 10 shootout Russell and Verstappen were the only drivers to run early having the track to themselves at the start with Russell leading the Red Bull driver by almost three tenths The remaining eight drivers joined at the end when the Miami Autodrome was at its quickest with Verstappen embarking on a second tour but not as fast as Antonelli who pumped his fists as he celebrated his maiden sprint pole at the age of 18 with Norris topping the second qualifying phase ahead of Verstappen As is often the case for sprint qualifying there was a scramble at end of pitlane for the start of the 12-minute SQ1 session Antonelli – again – led the way after the first run all cars embarked on a second tour – although Verstappen didn't follow through – making it tough to find a pocket of clear air Hadjar climbed to eighth to secure safe passage to SQ2 Tsunoda and Bearman all ran out of time for a second attempt much to their frustration That meant Lawson just about managed to scrape through in 15th despite surviving a wild snap through the chicane The Miami Grand Prix sprint takes place on Saturday at noon local time for 19 laps across the Miami Autodrome Stay up to speed with the latest F1 Miami Grand Prix news Join us for Sunday's watch along on Race Center Live by signing up here The Mercedes rookie has rapidly come of age Rookie Kimi Antonelli sensationally made F1 history by becoming the youngest polesitter in any qualifying format by setting the fastest time for the Miami sprint Antonelli left his more experienced rivals trailing in his youthful wake as the 18-year-old posted a time of 1:26.482s deposing Red Bull's Max Verstappen from top spot The big guns of McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris lined up behind him to deny him his shot at glory leaving Verstappen having to settle for fourth on the grid Antonelli has obliterated the F1 pole record although the mark set by Sebastian Vettel in the 2018 Italian Grand Prix of 21 years and 72 days was for a grand prix and will continue to be the target - for now Verstappen set the benchmark with a 1:27.070s only to be quickly deposed by Mercedes' George Russell by three-tenths of a second Verstappen stayed out for a second run on the same set of tyres whilst Russell pitted as no tyre changes are permitted in the final session The four-time F1 champion's strategy paid off to a certain extent as he improved significantly on his second run will have to doff his cap to Antonelli on this one Russell will start fifth ahead of Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton and with the medium-compound Pirellis the mandated tyre choice for SQ1 the first time Mercedes has topped any session this season it was a disaster again in a qualifying session resulting in the shock exit of Yuki Tsunoda Needing a time on his second flying lap to get into the second session Tsunoda came across a slow Verstappen at the final corner leading to the Japanese driver finishing a miserable 18th Ahead of him will be Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and Alpine's Jack Doohan the latter fuming with his team over the radio upon his return to the pits describing their strategy as "unacceptable" Behind Tsunoda on the back row will be Stake's Gabriel Bortoleto and the surprising figure of Oliver Bearman in his Haas rubbing salt into the British rookie's wounds after a late spin and a clip into a wall in the sole practice session brought it to a premature end With the medium rubber again required for SQ2 at the end of which Norris led the way with a lap of 1:27.109s it was Williams' Carlos Sainz who was the key name to depart Sainz made a critical error at the final corner Albon had underlined what was possible in their car Nico Hulkenberg fell just 0.077s shy of giving Stake its first top-10 shoot-out opportunity of the year The veteran German will line up ahead of Esteban Ocon in his Haas with the New Zealander six-tenths of a second behind team-mate Hadjar and describing his performance as "so bad" over the radio Kimi Antonelli was left “over the moon” after scoring his maiden F1 pole position in Sprint Qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix with the Italian admitting that he did not expect to achieve the feat despite feeling confident about his pace After a promising performance throughout SQ1 and SQ2 everything came together for the Mercedes driver in SQ3 as he surged through to displace Red Bull’s Max Verstappen from the top of the timesheets on a lap of 1m 26.482s a time that ultimately proved unbeatable as the McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris slotted into second and third respectively READ MORE: Antonelli storms to remarkable maiden pole ahead of Piastri and Norris during Sprint Qualifying in Miami Having labelled his lap as “mighty” after stepping out of the car Antonelli went on to elaborate further as he later said of his result: “I’m feeling over the moon “I was able to improve lap by lap and find that consistency and now we will enjoy this moment a little bit more but as well I want to focus on tomorrow because I really want to try and repeat myself.” 2025 Miami GP Sprint Qualifying: Antonelli crosses the line to seal pole for the Sprint A touching scene unfolded when Antonelli sought out his father in the Mercedes garage to share an embrace as they celebrated the special moment together with the teenager going on to pay tribute to the support of his family on his journey to F1 and also to find him in the garage after Qualifying,” Antonelli added “I’m super happy to share this moment with him He’s so important to me as well and he’s like a rock HIGHLIGHTS: Catch all the Miami Sprint Qualifying action as Antonelli makes history with maiden pole “Really happy to share this moment with him I would like to share it with my mum and my sister as well Looking ahead to Saturday’s Sprint – as well as the rest of the weekend at the Miami International Autodrome a track that he had never driven at prior to the current event – Antonelli reflected: “We did quite a long run in FP1 to try and gather as [much] information as possible “Of course we don’t really know the pace of the others but I guess we will see tomorrow during the [Sprint] the track is going to keep evolving so it’s going to be important to be on top of it and try to repeat ourselves.” Antonelli shared an embrace with his father after becoming F1's youngest-ever polesitter in Miami team mate George Russell had posted an initial benchmark in SQ3 after setting his lap earlier than his competitors but ultimately found himself pushed down to fifth place Looking back on the session and why he opted to run early Russell explained: “Firstly massive congrats to Kimi – really pleased to see [that] F1 EXPLAINS: The making of the Miami Grand Prix not been so comfortable and we just wanted to go on the early side because ultimately I didn’t quite have that confidence and we thought maybe if there’s a red or a yellow [flag] at the end of the session it would come our way Pushed on why he has been struggling for confidence so far in Miami the Briton responded: “These Sprint race weekends are challenging and just all day today I haven’t quite felt it in the car it’s Sprint [Qualifying] today – obviously disappointing not to be further up the grid Cadillac unveil their team logo and brand during dazzling Miami launch event ahead of 2026 entry Albon delighted with fifth in Miami as Sainz admits frustrations over inability to score 'bigger' points for Williams It was a sprint race to forget for Kimi Antonelli a day after his unbridled history-making joy Kimi Antonelli has expressed relief that he managed to avoid a "big" accident with Max Verstappen during the Miami sprint Heading into the pits for a change to slick tyres midway through the 18-lap race following a start on intermediates due to the heavy rain that fell over the Miami International Autodrome ahead of the event As Antonelli started to turn into his pit box the right-rear wheel of his Mercedes was hit by the front-left of Max Verstappen in his Red Bull shattering the carbon fibre wheel cover on the W15 albeit seven places ahead of the four-time F1 champion who was hit with a 10-second penalty for an unsafe release Verstappen had taken the chequered flag in fourth but the punishment demoted him to last as the race finished behind the safety car after Fernando Alonso crashed into a wall on lap 14 due to being hit by Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson Antonelli would move up to seventh place after various post-race penalties ensuring he scored two points for the Mercedes team.  Reflecting on the pit-lane incident with Verstappen I was struggling a little with the balance but then the moment to switch to slicks arrived "I think [what happened in] the pit lane was very unfortunate No blame on Max because he couldn't do anything "I'm happy that I avoided a crash because it could have been a really big one was unhappy with what unfolded at the start McLaren's Oscar Piastri enjoyed the marginally better getaway allowing him to draw alongside F1's youngest polesitter into Turn 1 Antonelli had to take the run-off area to avoid a collision with Piastri Despite his claim over the radio that he was forced off the track the stewards opted to take no further action "It was a great opportunity," said Antonelli "[I am] a bit annoyed about how lap one went as they talk through a chaotic day at the Miami Autodrome which featured the sprint race and qualifying for the grand prix Red Bull has held its hands up and taken full responsibility for the "human error" that ruined Kimi Antonelli's sprint at the Miami Grand Prix Christian Horner has apologised to Kimi Antonelli after Red Bull ruined the Mercedes drivers' sprint at the Miami Grand Prix The 18-year-old had started the one-third-distance race in Florida on pole but lost the lead - and a number of places - at the first corner the field began filing into the pits to swap onto slick Pirelli tyres Coming in together on lap 13 of 18 in third and fourth Verstappen attempted to pull out of his pit box just as Antonelli was coming into his causing damage to the front wing of the Red Bull and preventing the Mercedes from making its way into its own pit box at all thus essentially consigning Antonelli to a drive through penalty before successfully pitting for fresh rubber the following lap come on!" Verstappen exclaimed over team radio in response to the Red Bull miscalculation with the stewards handing down a 10-second time penalty to the four-time F1 drivers' champion for an unsafe release dropping him from fourth to P17 at the chequered flag The incident left Antonelli to finish outside the points on the road in P11 elevated him back up to seventh - but still a far cry from his high hopes for the race Whilst Verstappen went on to claim a superb pole position for the grand prix later on in the afternoon Horner was quick to say sorry to the Italian driver for the error that was tough," the 51-year-old told Sky Sports F1 The Briton highlighted how the raised stakes of the moment contributed to the mistake with both McLarens having not pitted from the lead and presenting an opportunity to capitalise on "You're talking about a judgement of about a metre," Horner explained "The determination is to try and get the car back out there But it just demonstrates you're always learning in this business." Kimi Antonelli has clinched his debut pole position after delivering a stunning lap during Sprint Qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix the Italian holding off the challenge from both McLarens to become the youngest polesitter ever – in any race format – in F1 A thrilling conclusion to SQ3 saw the name at the top of the timesheets change more than once with Max Verstappen initially beating George Russell’s benchmark – only for Antonelli to surge through with an effort of 1m 26.482s at the wheel of the Mercedes Oscar Piastri fell short by just 0.045s in second while fellow McLaren driver Lando Norris had to settle for third ahead of Verstappen’s Red Bull in fourth the Mercedes man having set his SQ3 lap early in the segment The Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will start from P6 and P7 respectively followed by the Williams of Alex Albon in P8 Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar in P9 and Fernando Alonso for Aston Martin in P10 Despite initially looking to have made it into the top 10 shootout Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg just missed out in P11 Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson also eliminated in SQ2 the Williams driver having locked up during his final effort which ultimately brought his Sprint Qualifying to a close There was disappointment for Yuki Tsunoda in SQ1 the Red Bull driver failing to make the line in time to set a final lap to end the session in P18 Similar issues affected Alpine’s Jack Doohan and Haas’ Ollie Bearman who also exited in P17 and P20 respectively Joining them in making an early departure from Sprint Qualifying were Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in 16th and the Kick Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in 19th place Sprint Qualifying Highlights: 2025 Miami Grand Prix After championship leader Piastri topped the timesheets during the sole practice session of the weekend earlier on Friday attentions turned to setting the grid for the second Sprint of the campaign as Sprint Qualifying began at 1630 local time With the medium compound mandatory for SQ1 all of the drivers were sporting the yellow-marked tyre as the 12-minute segment got underway As several cars queued to exit the pit lane Doohan claimed that Lawson had been released unsafely into his path amid a busy start to the session reported that he wished to change his helmet after struggling with the wind out on track Red Bull team mate Verstappen seemed to be having no such troubles the new dad initially going fastest before being displaced by Norris and then Antonelli the Mercedes driver setting a benchmark of 1m 27.858s the five drivers at risk after everybody had put a lap on the board were Doohan Hadjar had his lap time deleted during the initial runs of SQ1 There were some hair-raising moments for some with Leclerc and Bortoleto both having kissed the walls of the Miami International Autodrome during their efforts Would everyone keep it clean as the pack all headed back out for their final runs the Japanese driver having failed to reach the line in time to start his lap While his former team mate Hadjar hauled himself up into the top 10 Bearman also did not make it to the line to begin his second effort leading to the Australian voicing his frustrations to the team over the radio about when he was sent out amid traffic in the pit lane While Russell went fastest up ahead – leading Antonelli in a Mercedes 1-2 – those exiting in SQ1 were Stroll Tsunoda was amongst those to exit in the early stages of Sprint Qualifying a segment in which the medium tyre is again mandatory Antonelli once again looked strong as the session got going the Italian beating Verstappen to P1 by just 0.002s the McLaren man setting the pace on a 1m 27.354s to go nearly two-tenths clear of team mate Norris opted to stay in the pits for the opening minutes instead choosing to make just one run in the latter stages who made contact with the wall through Turn 16 but still slotted into eighth An improvement from Ocon pushed the Alpine driver down into the danger zone while Alonso and Hulkenberg also got themselves out of the bottom five Hamilton and Albon both subsequently moved themselves up into the top 10 the Williams driver having suffered a lock-up on his lap that forced him into the runoff area at Turn 11 It all came down to the eight-minute SQ3 segment to decide the top 10 for Saturday’s Sprint with all of the drivers running the mandated soft tyre for the final segment Russell and Verstappen were the first to hit the track for an early run the Mercedes man going two tenths faster than the Red Bull on a 1m 26.791s emerged for their own efforts with just a few minutes remaining While Russell looked to be done after returning to the pits Verstappen remained out on track – albeit on older tyres than the majority of his competitors Hamilton initially slotted in behind Russell while Verstappen stormed through to beat Russell A thrilling sequence then ensued as Antonelli went quickest of all on a 1m 26.482s – and despite the efforts of Piastri and Norris this secured the Italian his first pole position at a track he has never driven before With the McLarens taking P2 and P3 behind the rookie Verstappen was pushed down to fourth ahead of Russell in fifth Leclerc and Hamilton claimed sixth and seventh for Ferrari respectively A thrilled Antonelli labelled his pole lap as "mighty" "It was a very intense Qualifying," said Antonelli "I felt really good since this morning and I felt confident going into Qualifying The last lap was mighty and I put basically everything together and it was nice it came very nicely I’m really happy to get the first pole." With the grid decided, the drivers will take up their positions for the Sprint at 1200 local time on Saturday. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can catch the action Norris concedes he 'paid the price' as he reflects on Lap 1 battle with Verstappen in Miami VideoHIGHLIGHTS: Piastri leads McLaren 1-2 after thrilling race in Miami Kimi Antonelli produced a stunning last gasp effort to snatch Sprint pole at the Miami Grand Prix weekend becoming the youngest ever driver to start a Formula 1 race from first on the grid The 18-year-old Mercedes driver showed strong pace throughout an eventful session before delivering a 1m 26.482s which was enough to beat the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris by 0.045s and 0.100s respectively Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will join Norris on the second row for Saturday’s 19-lap race Charles Leclerc edged Ferrari team mate Lewis Hamilton to sixth while Alex Albon Isack Hadjar and Fernando Alonso completed the top 10 The session proved to be messy at times with teams making miscalculations when timing their flying lap runs A frustrated Jack Doohan was among those to miss out in SQ1 for Alpine alongside Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda The pair will start tomorrow’s race from 17th and 18th respectively Hit go on the video player above to watch the highlights from Sprint Qualifying in Miami Former F1 and Le Mans racer Jochen Mass passes away aged 78 Piastri wins from Norris and Russell as McLaren seal commanding 1-2 in Miami Grand Prix Driveable LEGO big builds welcomed to Miami drivers’ parade George Russell went from comfortably out-qualifying Kimi Antonelli to being three-tenths of a second slower in Miami George Russell has explained why he was off the front-running pace of Kimi Antonelli during sprint qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix The British driver will start the shortened race in Florida in fifth whilst his Mercedes team-mate will lead the pack away after storming to a sensational pole the 18-year-old became the youngest driver in F1 history to claim a pole position of any description beating Sebastian Vettel's long-standing record by two-and-a half years Antonelli has generally found himself two-to-four tenths of a second slower than Russell in qualifying so far this season and it is the first time the Italian rookie has finished ahead of the three-time grand prix winner in any grid-setting session all year going three tenths quicker at the Miami International Circuit which amounted to a considerable swing in performance between the pair massive congrats to Kimi," he said of his team-mate and we just wanted to go on the early side because ultimately I didn't quite have that confidence "And we thought maybe if there's a yellow or red at the end of a session the 27-year-old highlighted how he had not been in the "groove" so far this weekend despite there been evident pace in the W16 "These sprint race weekends are challenging especially the tyres sliding around a bit," he stated Obviously disappointed not to be further up the grid The Mercedes driver still had enough to out-qualify the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton and will start the sprint just behind Max Verstappen How soon do you think Kimi Antonelli will win his first grand prix in F1 Let us know by voting below in the latest poll by RacingNews365 the 18-year-old rookie driver for Mercedes has made Formula One history at the 2025 Miami Grand Prix won pole position for the Miami Grand Prix Sprint race becoming the youngest pole sitter in any race format in Formula One history Antonelli finished with a lap time of 1:26.482 during sprint qualifying marking the fastest lap ever in four years of the Miami Grand Prix race I felt really good since this morning and I felt confident going into qualifying … I’m really happy to get the first pole,” Antonelli said in a post-qualifying interview “Tomorrow's gonna be nice to start (in) the front row It's gonna be a piece of a different ceiling But I really gonna wait for tomorrow and to see how we can do in the Sprint and then in the qualifying the current points leader in the F1 Drivers’ standings with 99 points while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will start from P6 and P7 Williams driver Alex Albon will start in P8 and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso rounds out the top 10 The Miami Grand Prix Sprint Race begins on May 3 at noon ET on ESPN and qualifying for the Grand Prix will follow at 4 p.m Andrea Kimi Antonelli bounced back from a disappointing performance in the Miami Grand Prix sprint race earlier today to secure third place in qualifying for Sunday’s Formula 1 grand prix.  The Mercedes rookie qualified on pole position for the sprint in Miami, but a first-lap tussle with the McLaren of Oscar Piastri saw him tumble down the order After a raft of post-race penalties finalised the rankings Antonelli had to settle for seventh place and just two points.  The Italian racer followed his disappointing sprint result with a stellar run in qualifying for Sunday's Miami Grand Prix, putting his car third and splitting the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Piastri who qualified in second and fourth respectively.  but it was good to bounce back this way,” Antonelli said.  "I struggled a little bit during the quali I didn’t have such a clean run like I had yesterday Antonelli’s best lap in Q3 was a 1m26.271s, which put him just two thousandths of a second behind Norris. Both were outclassed by the Red Bull of Max Verstappen who clinched a thrilling pole position with a lap time of 1m26.204s.  you can make up so many places,” Antonelli added “It’s really about putting everything together Hopefully tomorrow we can have a good race." The Mercedes rookie outqualified his team-mate George Russell in a grand prix for the first time this season Andrea Kimi Antonelli made headlines during the F1 Miami weekend when he became the youngest driver to claim pole for a sprint race The 18-year-old Italian has borne the weight of massive expectation since it was announced last year that he would replace Ferrari-bound seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes For Mercedes boss Toto Wolff this is a vindication of faith and, to some extent, a historic righting of wrongs: back in 2014 Mercedes failed to snare Max Verstappen and he fell into the clutches of rival outfit Red Bull Motorsport.com understands Wolff even feels that had Verstappen been under his wing as Antonelli is now the outbursts and incidents that have accompanied Max’s career would have been reduced in number Wolff signed Antonelli – the son of GT racer Marco Antonelli who owns AKM Motorsport racing team and has a ‘tough guy’ reputation in motorsport circles – back in 2018 when he was just 12 A development programme with F1 as the ultimate destination followed with Wolff now considered a firm friend of the Antonelli family Antonelli stepped up to car racing in Formula 4 in 2021 – winning the Italian and ADAC championships the following year Antonelli won the Formula Regional European championship that F1 teams have come to view as the best breeding ground for future driving success Mercedes opted to skip the F3 step on the F1 support bill and place Antonelli directly in Formula 2 for 2024 – with the intention for the famously precarious championship to stop his ‘winning easy’ streak The plan was for this to be a two-year project – but then Hamilton’s defection to Ferrari turbocharged the pace of Antonelli’s F1 graduation “I made up my mind five minutes after Lewis Hamilton told me that he was going,” Wolff eventually said of his decision to partner Antonelli with George Russell for 2025 Mercedes was more interested in how Antonelli delivered in its Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) programme than his F2 results in a 2024 campaign made harder by his Prema team struggling initially with the championship’s new car Antonelli’s TPC programme utilised both 2021 and 2022 Mercedes F1 cars he made sure to memorize all 30 staff members required to run the car in the test at the Red Bull Ring Both sides took this rise extremely seriously A further sensible exercise in testing Super Formula machinery late in 2024 – specifically to learn the Suzuka track – was scuppered by illness that also severely impacted Antonelli’s final F2 round in Abu Dhabi last year Since taking to the cockpit of a current Formula 1 car in the 2025 season, Antonelli has very much lived up to Wolff’s projected performance trajectory. He has been close enough to Russell on qualifying and race pace to avoid the kind of negative publicity which attended Liam Lawson’s ill-fated outings for Red Bull Some of his races have had a harum-scarum quality at times but that is becoming part and parcel of his appeal taking it all in,” Wolff told Servus TV in Miami He doesn't even know the [Miami] track yet “There were a lot of voices, even within the sport, suggesting he should have a preparation year at Williams or somewhere similar “But for us it was clear: we wanted to give him that year of preparation within our own team so that he’d be ready for next year when the new regulations come in “We were willing to take that risk even if it meant mistakes And now we’re being rewarded for our courage “But he’s kept developing steadily and hasn’t made those errors But the mileage he’s put in is now paying off and that’s what’s allowing him to perform at this level.” Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Toto Wolff insists Mercedes is reaping the rewards for taking the “risk” of promoting Andrea Kimi Antonelli into a Formula 1 race seat after the 18-year-old took pole position for the Miami sprint race Antonelli has never raced in Miami before but quickly settled into the circuit and was at the head of the field for Saturday’s sprint race becoming the youngest driver to take any format of pole position in F1 history Replacing seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton with a teenage rookie for the 2025 season raised plenty of eyebrows especially when Antonelli crashed out at Monza last year in his first free practice outing for Mercedes Now though, having already scored 38 points, Antonelli has taken the next step by securing pole ahead of the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri “There were a lot of voices, even within the sport, suggesting he should have a preparation year at Williams or somewhere similar,” Mercedes team principal Wolff told ServusTV so that he’d be ready for next year when the new regulations come in and he already knows all the circuits But he’s kept developing steadily and hasn’t made those errors Antonelli has been closely associated with Mercedes since 2019 so Wolff has seen the Italian develop at close quarters “This young guy – just a few years ago “I told the cheering crowd in the garage right away: ‘Okay Let's make sure we can replicate that performance in proper qualifying and for Sunday’s race’.” But those doubters have now been silenced in the emphatic lap that totalled a smidge over 86 seconds Antonelli has been quietly going about his business. An incredibly personable character who first faced the F1 media at Silverstone last year. At the time, he had been linked with the seat at Mercedes and spoke openly about his ambition to reach F1. He was not boastful or over-confident. He was honest, spoke with an openness. It was refreshing.Antonelli, who attended the Autosport Awards in January celebrated the pole over the team’s radio with exuberance but it was the reaction from those around him that offered up perhaps the most emotional moment was in the Mercedes garage and as the TV cameras panned in his direction he painted a picture that was a mix of pride and exuberance he made a phone call to his mum in Italy as they shared the excitement as a family Those hours spent at the karting tracks over the years not to mention the thousands of dollars invested in their son’s career to help him climb through the junior ranks to reach the top.There may have been times when they had considered whether the sacrifices were worth it - but the decision to keep going was vindicated with that pole lamp Very hard and not complain before you understand “We are a normal family that work every day And I think that Kimi understood this and this [result] is a very big pleasure for us.” It was not just his family who shared the delight. His teammate George Russell was waiting to congratulate him as he pulled into the pits Bono was the man who had forged that crucial partnership with Hamilton that had spawned all those titles and success at Mercedes He is now replicating that bond with Antonelli Antonelli was 11 when he was signed to the Mercedes driver academy and under the stewardship of talent scout Gwen Lagrue; the man trusted for unearthing racing gems and polishing them to perfection - and his latest discovery has already turned into a diamond Stay up to speed with the latest F1 Miami Grand Prix news, expert analysis, photos and videos. Join us for Sunday's watch along on Race Center Live by signing up here MIAMI GARDENS — In a dramatic qualifying session for the CRYPTO.com Miami Grand Prix Sprint Race 18-year old Italian Kimi Antonelli became the youngest Formula One polesitter in any form of an F1 race Antonelli took the pole position with a lap of 1.26.482 on the 3.363-mile 19-turn circuit, besting current world championship points leader Oscar Piastri by .045-second and recording the fastest pole lap ever at the Miami International Autodrome. Defending race winner Piastri’s McLaren Racing teammate Lando Norris The teenager Antonelli was so excited by the performance he turned in on May 2 he wasn’t sure where to go for the formal pole presentation immediately after climbing out of his No “I’m feeling over the moon,’’ Antonelli said and I felt confident going into qualifying It all came together very nicely and very happy to get my first pole More: Lewis Hamilton's transition to Ferrari not going too fast but he's ready for Miami Grand Prix “It will be nice to start on the front row and will be a bit of a different feeling but I really cannot wait to see how we can do in the sprint and then [grand prix] qualifying as well.’’ Two-time Miami winner and four-time world champion Max Verstappen was fourth fastest for Red Bull Racing with Antonelli’s Mercedes teammate George Russell rounding out the top-five This Sprint Race - at noon on May 3 - is a 19-lap preview of what to expect for the next day's Miami Grand Prix 57-lap main event Qualifying for that race follows the sprint and is set for 4 p.m girlfriend Kelly Piquet welcome first childVerstappen announced that he and longtime girlfriend Kelly Piquet have welcomed their first child Our hearts are fuller than ever – you are our greatest gift,’’ Verstappen posted on Instagram on May 2 to his 14 million-plus followers stayed an extra day close to his Monaco home to be with Piquet for the arrival of their child who Piquet had from a previous relationship Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso earned his best starting position of the season for the May 3rd 19-lap Sprint Race The Aston Martin driver advanced to the third round of qualifying and is hopeful the solid start to the weekend will pay off in the main event – the May 4 grand prix has yet to score a top-10 finish in the season’s five grand prix with a best showing of 11th place twice (at Japan and Saudi Arabia) The Spanish driver's last victory came at Barcelona in 2013 a versatile competitor who has twice raced in the Indianapolis 500 conceded the season start has been slow and disappointing but remained optimistic the Aston Martin Aramco team will turn things around “It is not only one thing but a couple of factors that have made the car difficult in terms of pace and maybe not as fast as some of the midfields [cars],’’ Alonso said “They have raised the level and are a lot closer to the top four and we didn’t make that step but still a long championship and we need to react and do things better and hopefully in the next few races we’ll have a step forward But it has been more difficult than expected.“ 04-30-2025DESIGN ‘The Seat’ chronicles the decision to name Andrea Kimi Antonelli as Lewis Hamilton’s successor [Photo: Mario Renzi/Formula 1/Formula 1/Getty Images] BY Jeff Beer When Formula 1 superstar Lewis Hamilton announced in December that he would be leaving the Mercedes team for Ferrari after 246 Grands Prix and 6 drivers’ championships in 12 seasons much of the focus was on Hamilton’s future plans Just as compelling was the empty seat Hamilton was leaving at Mercedes His departure triggered an intense internal process for the automaker—the search for a successor Many of the discussions and debates that resulted in Mercedes choosing young Italian driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli played out over messaging app WhatsApp That process is now the subject of a new one-hour documentary on Netflix called The Seat The Meta-owned app is a producer, and created the project with its content partner Modern Arts says the company decided to create the doc in order to fully show how the app is often part of critical inflection points in its users’ lives we believe in giving the space to properly unpack the role we play and share the full story of our user base,” says Odior “We don’t believe we should be limited by ad formats Storytelling allows us to occupy a unique position in the hearts of users and pushes beyond the functional role we play.” This isn’t some ad-tiered piece of content It’s a legitimate addition to the streamer’s F1 library Many marketers will be shaking with jealousy or excitement inspired to make their own move into entertainment creating content that can go head-to-head with other films and TV is not for the faint of heart nor is it for those searching for a formula Even WhatsApp knows this is a unique brand opportunity WhatsApp has long been a brand partner to the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team and last year Modern Arts created a short film on Hamilton called Push Push It chronicled the ups and downs of his racing career as well as his personal struggles with dyslexia and bullying woven into a conversation he has with a group of teens today about their own lives the agency’s cofounder and co-chief creative officer says that made it a lot easier to start figuring out a story to be told around privacy with the Mercedes team “It just so happens that not only is WhatsApp a sponsor of the team but the entire Mercedes team literally runs on WhatsApp,” Ryder says and that’s how their entire team is organized from little details around traveling to big things like engineering and car designs this sounds like a formula for the greatest product demo video ever made But Formula 1 teams are known to be about as forthcoming with secrets as the Pentagon Ryder says Mercedes saw the value in giving the film access to its internal process with the goal of helping F1 fans fall in love with Antonelli the goal was to tell a privacy story by showing how well it functions in high-stakes situations “Our job was to figure out how those two things can coexist to make something that was going to be compelling,” Ryder says It’s a unique situation for a brand to have its product at the center of a major sports story Ryder says the strategy quickly became to make the project revolve around trust The Mercedes team was trusting its F1 driver’s seat to Antonelli but in the process it was also showing its trust in WhatsApp as a communications platform marketers will obsess over how many times the product is mentioned Modern Arts CEO Brooke Stites says the film is not about that because the brand and its product are so intertwined with the story itself Stites says the film cost about as much as it would to make and buy ad time for a 60-second commercial the entire budget went into the production because being on Netflix means there isn’t the need to pay for advertising space on TV and online “It’s a totally different model,” says Stites but it’s what you’re going to spend on a 60-second spot that you then have to spend 10 times more to buy places that force people to watch it Everyone who watches F1 content on Netflix is going to get served our film.” The Seat is not a paid advertising arrangement with Netflix; it was acquired by the streamer in the same way other film and television content is acquired Other major streamers were vying for the film but Netflix’s connection to the long-running docuseries Formula 1: Drive to Survive made it the ideal home For some time brands and ad agencies have been putting “make a film for Netflix” in their marketing briefs Stites says there are some critical ingredients a project needs in order to get anywhere near Netflix or any other top-tier streamer “You have to have an amazing story and quality of craft,” she says “All these streamers are looking at it and asking ‘Is this something that’s adding value to my audience Is this something that my viewers are going to actually want to engage with?’ That was a big part of the F1 piece.” For other brands interested in this type of storytelling Stites has a piece of advice: Tell a compelling story that involves your brand To tell stories people really want to hear you need to find the stories in culture that authentically include your brand instead of trying to force-feed your brand into culture “Stories involving brands already exist in culture that are really actually very interesting and people are willing and wanting to engage with them Tell a story that people are going to care about versus starting from a place of ‘Let’s tell a brand story.’” The final deadline for Fast Company’s Brands That Matter Awards is Friday, May 30, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today. Jeff Beer is a senior staff editor at Fast Company, and has been covering marketing, advertising, and how brands impact culture since 2006. . His coverage varies from in-depth features and interviews, to industry analysis and cultural commentary More Fast Company & Inc © 2025 Mansueto Ventures Fastcompany.com adheres to NewsGuard’s nine standards of credibility and transparency. Learn More Kimi Antonelli is among the most recent additions to the infamous F1 drivers’ WhatsApp chat, but he’s certainly not the most active. The Mercedes rookie, who will start on pole at Saturday’s Miami Sprint race said he’s taking a back seat before he starts contributing to the group chat with all 20 drivers.  I’m just listening and looking at the moment but not interacting that much yet.” The 18-year-old also divulged who’s the chattiest They're kind of the bosses because they're in charge [of the GPDA] and they’re the admins as well So those two are definitely the most active,” he said.  which was made by WhatsApp in partnership with Netflix Although the streaming service is already the home of Drive to Survive and other motorsport content he’s the only driver on the grid with his own “It’s also really cool to get more known worldwide I'm very happy with how it all came together so I’m definitely looking forward to seeing it on Netflix soon.”  The 45-minute documentary - titled The Seat - will reveal the private conversations that led to Toto Wolff’s decision to promote Antonelli after Lewis Hamilton’s exit from the team making him the third-youngest rookie in the sport’s history. “Working with the WhatsApp crew was a really good experience I got to see a bit more of that world as well but I didn't know all the work that there was behind [the scenes],” he said of the filmmaking process.  “The amount of people that were there putting in work was pretty amazing It was a really cool experience.” The crew started filming during Antonelli’s first test with the team but didn’t tell him about it until later in the year The film will also incorporate private texts and phone conversations - but only those relating to work “If I was showing my friends group chat … that would have been a bit embarrassing,” he laughed.  Stay up to speed with the latest F1 Miami Grand Prix news, expert analysis, photos and videos. Join us for Sunday's watch along on Race Center Live by signing up here.  another controversial incident at T1 of lap 1 (in this case lap 3) – this time involving young Italian Kimi Antonelli and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri opinions are divided on whether the Australian who took the lead after the opening corner Telemetry data reveals the real picture behind this contentious clash which ultimately went unpunished Following yesterday’s Sprint Qualifying, significant track evolution created exciting strategic variation, as everyone tried to set their fastest lap as late as possible. Kimi Antonelli took full advantage of the optimal track conditions at the end of SQ3 and secured pole position Even the Italian himself admitted he was expecting a tough task ahead given the McLaren’s clear pace advantage over the W16 wet conditions helped level the playing field and set the stage for proper wheel-to-wheel racing at the start Antonelli started the Sprint from pole position which in Miami is on the left-hand side of the grid – the racing line Oscar Piastri once again got an excellent start and rapidly closed in on the Mercedes driver The speed graph below shows his superior acceleration in the early part of the lap telemetry clearly shows that the Australian used a higher throttle percentage managing to stay aggressive without losing grip Piastri’s experience compared to Antonelli’s is invaluable Let’s recall the previous race in Saudi Arabia where Oscar also started from the dirtier side of the grid and managed to pass Max Verstappen before Turn 1 As Piastri had already pulled ahead and had his front axle in front of Antonelli’s mirrors by the apex of Turn 1 It’s also important to note that before the start of this season the FIA updated its racing guidelines – meaning that a driver with the corner advantage is no longer obliged to leave space on the outside and Piastri rightfully took the lead after Turn 1 in the Sprint 👉 Uncovered: The W16 rear wing solution that contributed to Antonelli’s Sprint pole 👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates It would have been interesting to compare telemetry from Lap 1 of the Sprint with their Sprint Quali laps – but given the wet conditions and due to very poor grip on the wet surface he lost positions to both Norris and Verstappen To make an already frustrating Sprint even worse for the Italian An unsafe release of Verstappen into the pit lane prevented Antonelli from entering for his tyre change – causing him to lose even more time the Miami incident differs from the one last race weekend Max gained an advantage by going off track – while in Miami Oscar remained within the racing boundaries Another parallel can be drawn with the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix where Turn 1 contact involved Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc and Verstappen received a five-second penalty which ultimately had no impact What’s certain is that we’re in for a thrilling remainder of the Miami weekend and Kimi definitely has a chance to bounce back from Sprint disappointment The W16 has shown solid pace on this circuit and Mercedes drivers are ones to watch moving forward Read next: Thermal cameras and ‘tire water’ as Red Bull ‘unravel’ McLaren mystery © Planet Sport Limited 2025 • All Rights Reserved Boy, oh, boy, is the Miami Grand Prix weekend off to a hot start because we've got yourself a surprise pole sitter in the Sprint Race Now, it's no secret that Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli is something of a racing prodigy. Mercedes has known this for years and racing fans could see it even last season when he was in Formula 2 SIGN UP for The Daily OutKick. New Look, Same Attitude. This is to say that he's almost bound to qualify on pole and contend for race wins I just didn't think it would happen this soon or in Miami That's because the Miami International Autodrome is one of the tracks on the F1 schedule in which F2 doesn't race That means that Antonelli's first time driving at the circuit was this weekend meaning that there is only one 60-minute practice session for the entire weekend READ: MIAMI GRAND PRIX GETS MONSTER EXTENSION TO STAY ON F1 CALENDAR THROUGH 2041  All of that together is why no one really had Antonelli on the radar to win pole on Friday afternoon but he proved everyone wrong with a stunning performance in SQ3 besting both of the championship-leading McLarens as well as reigning champ Max Verstappen and his own teammate George Russell The SQ3 came to an interesting end as most of the field decided to only go for one lap The first two on track were Russell and Verstappen with Russell's lap giving him the edge The rest of the top 10 opted to go for one lap Verstappen did a cool-down lap and went for another run on used tires while Russell stayed in the pits hoping his time would be fast enough to keep him on pole This proved to be a good call because the track ramped up with Lando Norris starting Saturday's Sprint Race in P3 and Oscar Piastri in P2 But none of them were any match for Antonelli who threw down a blistering time of 1:26.482 to beat Piastri for pole by a tenth of a second this is on a challenging track he had never competed on until Friday This makes 18-year-old Antonelli the youngest polesitter in any race format — Grand Prix or Sprint Race — ever beating the mark previously held by Sebastian Vettel for his pole performance ahead of the 2008 Italian Grand Prix by about two years The only thing is that they don't dish out points in qualifying so it will be up to Antonelli to keep that Silver Arrow of his up front for 19 laps around Hard Rock Stadium You are agreeing to OutKick's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy DISCLAIMER: This site is 100% for entertainment purposes only and does not involve real money betting. 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If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER Sign up to the latest news at Marie Claire By joining, you agree to our Privacy Policy & Terms of Use Andrea Kimi Antonelli is already the future of Formula One – and with a Netflix show about to drop the internet is abuzz with interest in the Mercedes rookie Searches for “Kimi Antonelli girlfriend” have increased just as fast as entries surrounding his race stats proving the young Silver Arrows protege is well and truly a paddock favourite Whether you’ve followed him since his karting days or recently discovered him via The Seat, or even his breakout debut in Drive To Survive you’re not alone in wanting to know more about the F1 star’s life both on Andrea Kimi Antonelli is an Italian motorsport prodigy who’s been making waves on the junior racing circuit for years Antonelli made his karting debut aged just 15 and mental stamina of a future world champion Dominating the karting circuit to claim titles in both the Italian and German Forumla 4 championships (2022) and the Formula Regional Middle East and European categories (2023) Antonelli earned the attention of Mercedes who promoted the teenager to F2 – skipping Formula 3 entirely Mercedes were banking big on the Bologna-native A place on the Prema team – whose track record counted Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly, and current #1 Oscar Piastri as just some of the names it had successfully taken to F1 – confirmed his future was in good hands So much so, that just after Antonelli’s 18th birthday, Mercedes announced that he would be replacing the seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton, to take a seat in the 2025 F1 season – and the rest, is history. While F1 fans are no strangers to seeing drivers walk through the race weekend paddocks with their significant others, Kimi Antonelli had spent much of his debut season coming in solo. That was, until recently, when he was spotted hand-in-hand with his girlfriend, Eliska Babickova at the Saudi Arabian GP. Eliska Babickova and Kimi Antonelli first started dating in late 2023, and celebrated their one year anniversary in October 2024, but up until that race weekend, Babickova and Antonelli had always arrived separately, keeping any dating speculation at bay. Babickova is a karting talent herself, and while she’s not in the F1 spotlight just yet, as the first woman to be crowned Italian champion of the OK karting class, she’s clearly no stranger to competitive racing. The two met through karting circles and, from what little we’ve seen so far, appear to share a strong, supportive bond grounded in their mutual appreciation for the sport – and fans are taking notice. Legendary F1 photographer, Kym Illman recently shared a video of the couple on his own social channels, revealing the sweet display received over 1 million views. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kym Illman F1 (@kymillman) there’s not a huge amount of information out there about their relationship so far – and honestly But fans who caught glimpses of the couple at the Saudi GP couldn’t help but comment on how down-to-earth and sweet they seemed for two teenagers quietly (though maybe not so much now) growing up in the fast lane F1 has always had its fair share of high-profile couples but there’s something especially wholesome about seeing two young drivers quietly supporting each other behind the scenes And while “Kimi Antonelli girlfriend” has fast become a trending search term it’s not just about the gossip – it’s a reflection of how invested fans are in his journey From racing stats to Netflix specials to sweet paddock cameos the world is watching Kimi grow up in real time If you’re hoping for more insight into Kimi’s world – including his rapid rise to F1 and subsequent life as an 18-year-old racing for one of the biggest teams on the grid – then you’re in luck and promises an intimate look at what it takes to jump into one of the most coveted seats in motorsport history fans will get a glimpse into the decision that made him the third-youngest rookie in F1 history – with some added insight into his life outside the grid Subscribe or renew your current subscription and receive $500 worth of value as part of your membership.  Exclusive access to our monthly LUXE newsletter Lewis Hamilton has congratulated Andrea Kimi Antonelli after the 18-year-old secured a historic first pole position during Sprint Qualifying in Miami.  The Italian driver, who replaced Hamilton at Mercedes after the 7-time-champion set his sights on Ferrari delivered a stunning lap time of 1:26.482 at the Hard Rock Stadium to become the youngest pole-sitter in Formula 1 history - albeit for a sprint race Reacting to the moment after sprint qualifying I felt the lap was good and I was happy with it," he explained during the Sky Sports F1 broadcast "There were still a few bits I could have done better but I was super happy with how I put all the sectors together I will enjoy this moment but focus on tomorrow because it would be good to repeat that result "McLaren Ferrari and Red Bull have strong race pace but we are pretty close then set a good pace without degrading [the tyres] too much." "The whole qualifying I felt I was able to make a step lap by lap I'm much more aware of how to do a consistent warm up and extract more out of the tyres but there's a lot to improve "Every weekend I get more confident with the car I can understand more from the set-up and give much better feedback which allows the team to improve the car." Hamilton took to Instagram to share his support for both his replacement and his former team. "Amazing lap @kimi.antonelli so happy for you guys @mercedesamgf1!" the seven-time champion wrote on his Instagram Story Hamilton's message to Antonelli and his former team comes after an illustrious 12-year stint with the Brackley outfit during which he won six of his seven world titles The Miami Sprint Race is set to take place on Saturday Stay up to speed with the latest F1 Miami Grand Prix news, expert analysis, photos and videos. Join us for Sunday's watch along on Race Center Live by signing up here. 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Listen to BBC radio commentary by selecting audio icon above (UK only) Andrew BensonBBC F1 correspondent in Miami Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli became the youngest driver to take a Formula 1 pole position for the sprint event at the Miami Grand Prix The 18-year-old beat McLaren's Oscar Piastri The second McLaren of Lando Norris was third ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen Antonelli's team-mate George Russell was fifth fastest It was an outstanding performance from Antonelli the first time he has beaten Russell in qualifying this season and the first time he has shown a glimpse of the huge potential Mercedes believed they saw in him when they chose him to replace Lewis Hamilton Read the full report here 646Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingSprint race build-up from 16:30 BST on Saturdaypublished at 22:45 British Summer Time 2 May22:45 BST 2 MayImage source will be taking his spot at the front of the grid for tomorrow's 19-lap sprint race - the youngest driver to do so in Formula 1 history Can the Mercedes teenager secure his victory too He'll have to keep the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at bay first We'll be back up and running on Saturday from 16:30 BST to build up to the second sprint event of the season Qualifying for the main grand prix gets under way at 21:00 BST 382Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingFan Q&A: Send us your questionspublished at 22:41 British Summer Time 2 May22:41 BST 2 MayThe Fan Q&A is open for any thoughts or feelings you may have as the Miami weekend unfolds Send your questions through using the link here. 115Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingStruggles for Russellpublished at 22:37 British Summer Time 2 May22:37 BST 2 MayThe gap between Kimi Antonelli and his Mercedes team-mate George Russell was 0.309 seconds Russell is now doing his media duties and first congratulates the Italian on his achievement "He did an amazing job," says Russell "He's been really quick all day." A little bit off the pace and not so comfortable is how Russell has described his sprint qualifying "I wanted to go on the early side because I didn't quite have that confidence," he adds 204Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingPostpublished at 22:34 British Summer Time 2 May22:34 BST 2 MayMercedes team principal Toto Wolff is delighted his rookie driver has taken pole - even more so given Kimi Antonelli has never driven the Miami circuit he'll make us lots of fun in the future; lots of happiness," Wolff tells Sky Sports He adds it doesn't matter if it's a sprint pole or a main pole - Antonelli was the quickest 603Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing'Really happy to get first pole' - Antonellipublished at 22:31 British Summer Time 2 May22:31 BST 2 MayImage source who claims his maiden pole position in Formula 1 for Saturday's sprint race: "It was a very intense qualifying I basically put everything together and it was nice that it came very nicely "Tomorrow is going to be nice to start on the front row; it's going to be a bit of a different feeling but I really cannot wait for tomorrow to see how we can do in the sprint and the qualifying as well." 868Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingStar is bornpublished at 22:27 British Summer Time 2 May22:27 BST 2 MayKimi Antonelli is just 18 years old he was only born in August 2006 - five years after Fernando Alonso made his debut - but now the Italian teenager has made history by becoming the youngest Formula 1 driver to secure pole position 1689Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingAnd the restpublished at 22:23 British Summer Time 2 May22:23 BST 2 May11 3012Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingTop 10published at 22:20 British Summer Time 2 May22:20 BST 2 May1 17012Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingAntonelli on Miami sprint polepublished at 22:19 British Summer Time 2 May22:19 BST 2 May"Well done lad!" says race engineer Pete Bonnington George Russell had to watch on as he fell down the order to fifth place Championship leader Oscar Piastri will start on the front row in P2 Lando Norris will line up in third and Max Verstappen is fourth on the grid 19912Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingChequered flagpublished at 22:17 British Summer Time 2 May22:17 BST 2 MayYes he can Kimi Antonelli secures pole position for the Miami Grand Prix sprint race The Italian teenager beats Oscar Piastri by 0.045 seconds 48924Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingAntonelli goes quickestpublished at 22:16 British Summer Time 2 May22:16 BST 2 MayMax Verstappen beats George Russell's time and goes provisional pole but here comes the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli 28030Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingPostpublished at 22:13 British Summer Time 2 May22:13 BST 2 MayGeorge Russell is happy with his flying lap so he heads back to the pits to watch the rest of this sprint pole fight from the Mercedes garage 9237Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingTwo minutes to gopublished at 22:12 British Summer Time 2 May22:12 BST 2 MayAlex Albon is next to come out of the pits and a 1:27.070 from the Red Bull of Max Verstappen 5415Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRussell goes toppublished at 22:10 British Summer Time 2 May22:10 BST 2 MayThere are only two drivers on track so it's George Russell from Max Verstappen for now The Mercedes is 0.279 seconds quicker than the Red Bull and goes onto provisional pole 13645Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingPostpublished at 22:09 British Summer Time 2 May22:09 BST 2 MayWho have we got in SQ3 then Max Verstappen and George Russell are out first.. 6715Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingGo Go!published at 22:07 British Summer Time 2 May22:07 BST 2 MayJack Doohan and Yuki Tsunoda have spoken to the media after their SQ1 knockouts and both are extremely unhappy with how their sessions unfolded 654Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingPostpublished at 22:06 British Summer Time 2 May22:06 BST 2 MayAndrew BensonBBC F1 correspondent in Miami The Aston Martin is the eighth fastest car on average this season and he has stuck it ninth in SQ2 That's an extremely good lap from Fernando Alonso 10111Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingPostpublished at 22:04 British Summer Time 2 May22:04 BST 2 MayTwo rookies are through to SQ3 - Kimi Antonelli in the Mercedes and Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar 1157Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingPostpublished at 22:03 British Summer Time 2 May22:03 BST 2 MayCarlos Sainz was straight on the radio to say sorry to his Williams crew for his late mistake telling Racing Bulls his SQ2 session was terrible Max Verstappen has avoided any further FIA punishment after he and Kimi Antonelli collided in the pit lane at the Miami Grand Prix It was an incident which thankfully nobody was hurt in – Antonelli’s quick reactions playing a key role in that – after Verstappen was released into the Italian’s path during the Miami GP Sprint resulting in a broken wing for Verstappen and a 10-second time penalty Heavy rain ahead of the Miami sprint led to a start behind the Safety Car and brief red flag with visibility poor the sun began breaking through and the track dried rapidly to the point that slick tyres were becoming an enticing option for the final laps but when Red Bull called Verstappen in from P3 the drivers collided as Verstappen was released from the pit box into Antonelli’s path With Antonelli ready to dive into the Mercedes pit box next to Red Bull’s the Italian teenager was able to turn back out as Verstappen hit the rear of his Mercedes Thankfully though, nobody from the assembled Red Bull or Mercedes crews were caught up in the crash Verstappen earlier in the race had escaped punishment over a potential false start but for this dangerous pit-lane collision with Antonelli The sprint finished behind the Safety Car after Fernando Alonso hit the wall in his Aston Martin the FIA stewards issued the following final verdict: ‘The Stewards reviewed video and in-car video evidence ‘Car 1 was released into the path of Car 12 which was arriving in the fast lane The Stewards acknowledge that the driver did everything he could to avoid the incident and therefore no penalty points are issued in this case ‘Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal certain decisions of the Stewards in accordance with Article 15 of the FIA International Sporting Code and Chapter 4 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules ‘Decisions of the Stewards are taken independently of the FIA and are based solely on the relevant regulations 👉 First look: The Alpine front wing hint that suggests a change of course it was put to Verstappen that this is not the first pit-stop issue for Red Bull in F1 2025 the team suffering from issues with their lights back in Bahrain “They’ve all been different incidents You cannot really compare these things,” Verstappen responded The reigning World Champion though is just relieved that everyone is okay after the crash “But I think we all don’t want that to happen so this is something that we need to investigate,” he continued also I’m just happy that no one got injured if you hit someone… It’s not great “But I think it was super clear what happened there so there’s not much more for me to add.” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner kept it short with his summary to Sky F1 Read next – Miami GP: Lando Norris wins chaotic sprint as FIA penalise Max Verstappen Mercedes phenom Kimi Antonelli starts the F1 Sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix in P1 If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement Florida — As dawn breaks over the Miami International Autodrome there is one question on the mind of everyone arriving for Saturday at the Miami Grand Prix Will this be young Kimi Antonelli’s breakout day Friday with a thunderous lap at the end of SQ3 securing his first pole position in any format in Formula 1 The lap made F1 history on two fronts: Not only did it make Antonelli the youngest driver to secure pole position in any F1 format but it was the fastest lap in the history of the Miami Grand Prix the bigger challenge for Antonelli comes today Piastri was on track to take pole for himself in SQ3 until a slight lockup at the end of his last lap opened the door for Antonelli can Antonelli slam the door over the McLaren duo over 19 laps As all the drivers have been saying this week — and as we have seen throughout this season — running in clean air is a huge advantage for the driver at the front of the field Take the only other F1 Sprint race so far this season Lewis Hamilton delivered a surprising pole position of his own and running up front in the clean air enabled him to finish six seconds ahead of Piastri and almost ten seconds ahead of Max Verstappen If Antonelli can manage to keep the lead over the opening lap he will have a good shot at stunning the field yet again here this Saturday in Miami But if the McLarens can work around him on the opening lap Kimi Antonelli is the latest sensation in the Formula 1 paddock He is the youngest pole sitter among the F1 drivers at the age of 18 years old Kimi Antonelli drives for Mercedes AMG Formula 1 team in the 2025 Formula 1 season Antonelli and George Russell are the leading drivers for the Silver Arrows Antonelli is currently the best ranked rookie in the Formula 1 paddock The Italian prodigy has consistently won points in the first five races of Formula 1 2025 season Kimi Antonelli was promoted to Formula 1 after completing the Formula 2 season in 2024 He is serving as the replacement to Lewis Hamilton who left Mercedes at the end of the 2025 season Antonelli is a part of the Mercedes junior team since 2019 He is also a gold medalist from the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games Also Read: Who are Oscar Piastri’s Parents? Meet Chris and Nicole Piastri! He's not under there! 🫣The early stoppage in the #F1Sprint delivered a golden moment between Kimi Antonelli and his father 🤣 pic.twitter.com/03JtOy7PLV Kimi Antonellli’s father has been quite popular in the Formula 1 paddock lately Marco Antonelli was seen hugging his son and congratulating him on his achievement after his pole position at the Miami Grand Prix sprint race Marco Antonelli regularly attends his son’s races in Formula 1 during the 2025 season Antonelli’s father is a former racing driver and team owner of the AKM Motorsport racing team His team competes in the Italian F4 Championship since 2022 He also operated the Antonelli Motorsport team formerly Porsche Supercup and International GT Open His former team won the 2018 Italian GT Championship Kimi Antonelli’s father is an Italian national there is no information available about his mother’s nationality I work as a Writer at The Playoffs specialising in Formula 1 and Motorsports I got into online journalism a couple of years ago I used to be an intern for a website managing their Formula 1 content and then I served an entire year as a contractual writer online journalism was not something I expected I am a Mechanical Engineer aiming to join Formula 1 writer and my university's Literary Club Lead One day the dots connected together and I realised I could use my writing skills to convey my passion for Motorsports The biggest aspects I love about my role are- Scuderia Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel When I am not fawning over them I like to convey my opinions to the public in a manner which helps them gain a new point of view I love helping people explore new ideas about Motorsports and obviously get recognised as a writer all over the world Message to Readers: I promise you one day you'll see me managing operations on track with a Formula 1 team ; ) Get the biggest stories delivered straight to you - for free you consent to our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy nad to receive marketing and account-related emails from The Playoffs The Playoffs has been a go-to source for sports and sports betting enthusiasts Our mission: To help bettors make the best choices with in-depth analysis Our motto: Share our passion for sports and betting our editorial teams work to deliver the most accurate and relevant information so you can place bets with confidence—and most importantly and understand that betting is a form of entertainment—not a way to earn money If gambling stops being enjoyable or starts affecting your life negatively don’t hesitate to seek support or take advantage of self-exclusion tools provided by betting platforms responsible betting is the key to a safe and enjoyable gaming experience DISCLAIMER: This site is 100% for entertainment purposes only and does not involve real money betting COPYRIGHT © 2025 - THE PLAYOFFS - SHARE THE PASSION FOR SPORTS AND BETTING Learning how to find the limi proved pivotal in Kimi Antonelli securing Miami Sprint Pole Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli revealed how he’s learning how to build up performance through a Formula 1 Grand Prix which no doubt proved pivotal in his historic run to Sprint Pole in Miami Antonelli joined Mercedes at the start of 2025 as one of the most-hotly anticipated rookies in years the Italian teenager has harnessed his raw speed to consistently score points and edge closer to team leader George Russell who is putting together a stellar campaign thus far On Friday at the Miami International Autodrome everything came together for Antonelli as he took pole position in Sprint Qualifying becoming the youngest driver to ever top an F1 qualifying session READ MORE – Kimi Antonelli claims historic pole position for Miami F1 Sprint Antonelli explained how he’s getting up to speed and the mindset he approaches to build up through a GP weekend “Because of the fact that I’m getting more confidence with the car I think it’s going to be a bit easier to get up to speed just because I have more confidence in the car and more confidence in pushing it to the limit,” Antonelli told select media including Motorsport Week on Thursday.  I’m still not where I want to be in terms of driving and pushing to the limit but every weekend I feel like I’m making a step forward.” Antonelli revealed that lessons learned in Suzuka where he had to recover a one-second deficit to Russell from practice into qualifying taught him how to manage reaching the limit over the course of a race meet “You really need to be careful with your mindset because if you tell yourself I’m just going to slowly get into the rhythm,’ it’s not the right mindset,” he explained.  but you want to start already with a good level of pushing because if you start too far off it was not the right one because I started way too easy and then I had to make such a huge step of driving in qualifying.  you don’t want to go out and push lap one straight to the limit and then maybe do a mistake because then that just hurts your confidence you don’t want to start too far off because you have to make a really huge step in driving and most of the time After 70 laps in the sim preparing for his first run in Miami Antonelli utilised his aforementioned learnings to devastating effect to beat the much-fancied McLarens to Sprint Pole Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the session the Mercedes star reiterated how he’s been learning to build performance behind the wheel of the W16 having a break between the opening five rounds and Miami gave Antonelli the chance to take stock of all the lessons he’d learned it’s coming a lot every week and I’m learning massively and I think the last week having a break really helped me to gather all the informations and process them all and also recharging a little bit of the batteries I thought I was able to make a step lap by lap “I’m much more aware of how to do a consistent warm up but of course there’s still a lot to improve Antonelli also added that his confidence with the car is enabling the team to fine-tune his set-up to improve his standing as the sessions tick by “I’m able to play with the car more and explore more the limit but at the same time understand much better the set-up of the car,” he added.  and that’s allowed the team as well to improve the car during the weekend,” he concluded It’s clear to anyone who has been watching Antonelli so far this season and from his words before and after Sprint Qualifying in Miami This is the result of potentially generational talent putting the ‘practice makes perfect’ ideology into stunning results READ MORE – Kimi Antonelli revels in ‘mighty’ lap that secured Miami F1 Sprint pole and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Click here for the full 2025 F1 calendar Click here for full Drivers’ Standings The Miami GP Sprint was starting to look exciting with the starting grid today Max Verstappen was the last driver to break the F1 records as one of the youngest The young collected a new achivement this weekend with the record of being the youngest pole-sitter Miami Grand Prix Sprint was a witness to torrential rainfall on Saturday The grid being wet was now even more difficult to handle with the bumpy track of Miami International Autodrome Kimi Antonelli was given a reality check by Oscar Piastri who immediately took the race lead The Italian fell back to fourth in the grid Max Verstappen started his hunt for maximum points of out the weekend none of the drivers were prepared for what was about to come their way in the race later on Antonelli has been consistent since the first race itself Verstappen is driving the fourth best car on the grid to its utmost limits The two drivers would end up together in the most disappointing way during the sprint race Also Read: Lando Norris Snatches Victory as Pole Sitter Crashes Out! Miami GP Sprint Results The Miami Grand Prix sprint race was in the last stages in with only 6 laps left to go A scurry of drivers flooded into the pitlane to put on their slicks and race hard to the end came into the pits and was ready to hit the track again a miscommunication ensued in Red Bull’s pit box which caused an unsafe release for Verstappen Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen commented on the pit lane collision during the sprint race. pic.twitter.com/C9m3K616fY Red Bull gave Max the green light and even though Kimi swerved his car away to avoid to the Red Bull Verstappen went straight into his rear end causing a nasty damage to his front wing Red Bull further received a penalty for the unsafe release with Max Verstappen Fortunately, none of the mechanics were hurt as rightly pointed out by the drivers. Max Verstappen did not comment on the incident There was no animosity between the two drivers showing an understanding of the situation they were in After Kimi Antonelli secured pole position for the F1 Sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix Florida — Earlier in the day during the FIA Press Conference Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff praised his rookie driver Kimi Antonelli for “building up constantly.” As day turned to night at Hard Rock Stadium Wolff had another reason to praise the team’s young driver as Antonelli delivered a thunderous lap at the end of Q3 to secure his first pole position “Congratulations to Kimi on his first Sprint pole position in F1,” said Wolff in the team’s post-session media report “It was a great lap in a tight session and will be a moment he will never forget “Whilst it is good that we will start tomorrow’s Sprint from P1 the most important thing is the progress we are seeing from Kimi He continues to learn and get better every weekend It is another important milestone in his development and we will continue to support him to maintain this trajectory,” added Wolff The Mercedes boss was not the only team member heaping praise on Antonelli “It’s great to see Kimi take a well deserved Sprint pole He has looked strong from the first lap of FP1 but clearly saved the best until last,” said Shovlin Shovlin also paid tribute to a bit of history “To become the youngest driver to take a pole position in any format in F1 is a special moment and one he deserves to savor right now,” continued Shovlin “Our attention will swiftly turn to tomorrow though with the Sprint and then Qualifying for the Grand Prix later in the afternoon.” That was not the only history Antonelli made on Friday His final lap in qualifying set a new record for the Miami International Autodrome now in its fourth year on the Formula 1 schedule Rounding out the praise from the team was none other than George Russell who qualified fifth for tomorrow’s F1 Sprint race I’m really pleased to see him take his first pole position,” said Russell “He’s been really quick right from the first lap in FP1 and that is really impressive It is great for him and the whole team; hopefully he can convert that into a strong result in tomorrow’s Sprint.” Antonelli conceded that he did not expect such a result Antonelli will get that chance to repeat himself tomorrow when the lights go out for the 19-lap F1 Sprint race as he’ll have the fast McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris starting behind him in P2 and P3 the young driver has already made some history here in Miami SAKHIR, Bahrain — In the 75-year history of Formula One only three drivers have scored a top-six finish in each of their first three races Jackie Stewart was the first to achieve the feat when he debuted in 1965 before becoming a three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton then matched that feat in 2007 — he’s now the statistical all-time great with over 100 race wins and seven world titles That exclusive club has now been joined by Andrea Kimi Antonelli who has made a successful start to life in F1 with Mercedes this year He finished fourth in the Australia season opener and sixth in both China and Japan — the following two races He made F1 history in Japan by becoming the youngest driver ever to lead a race and to set a fastest lap taking both records from Red Bull driver Max Verstappen All of this has quickly justified his team’s decision to put its faith in him as Hamilton’s replacement Antonelli’s impressive adjustment to life in the F1 spotlight is taking place at the same time he goes through another major life experience: finishing his school exams It’s not a pressure that any other driver on the F1 grid has to handle given Antonelli’s status as the youngest driver on the grid and the youngest to race in F1 since Verstappen debuted at 17 in 2015 But Antonelli’s commitment to finishing his studies also sets him apart from many of his peers who dropped out of school entirely to focus on racing The exams Antonelli is currently working towards are Italy’s “maturità” diploma which is the main qualification at the end of secondary qualification or high school equivalent to A Levels in the UK and similar to SATs or ACTs in the United States He has completed his studies online through ITCS Gaetano Salvemini school which has accommodated his sporting career Antonelli recently opened up about his studies in an interview with “The Fast and the Curious” podcast ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix recognizing the importance of completing his final exams it would be a shame just to quit in the last year,” Antonelli said So I will do it for her as well.” Antonelli said his favorite subjects were English and PE and then you get to see just letters in math Although Antonelli’s main focus has been on F1 with the completion of his exams being more of a formality this year Mercedes has adjusted its travel logistics to account for exam sittings that have to happen in person This includes working out the scheduling around the European triple-header in late May when Antonelli will fly back and forth between the race locations the team’s factory in the UK and his home in Bologna to get the exams done Reflecting on his first three F1 races during a news conference on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix Antonelli said he thought they had “gone pretty well.” “The thing I was the happiest about is the consistency throughout the three races and (to) keep trying to improve weekend by weekend,” he said Antonelli’s impressive start to life in F1 hasn’t come as any shock to those close to him Mercedes has been invested in his career since he was in go-karting and always hoped for him to join George Russell (another Mercedes junior driver) in its race team one day Despite being just 17 when Hamilton announced last February he would be leaving to join Ferrari for 2025 Mercedes did not waver from its plan to put Antonelli in the car including close to 10,000km of private testing He also spent a lot of last year getting to know his future engineers ensuring that when it came to the first race weekends of 2025 everything would feel as seamless as possible and less of a shock compared to the more basic race team setups in Formula Two But Mercedes wouldn’t know for certain just how Antonelli would fare until he was put in a real F1 race weekend situation The fashion in which he has responded to setbacks has deeply impressed the team he was knocked out in Q1 but still managed to finish fourth after nailing the timing to switch tires in tricky conditions of the wet race While every other rookie slipped up significantly Antonelli held his nerve to grab a great debut result Even more encouraging was his recovery in Japan where after initially feeling “lost” with the car around the high-speed Suzuka track in the opening practice sessions Antonelli found his groove to qualify and finish sixth securing his first lap-lead in F1 thanks to a stint that also set him up to record the fastest lap in the second half of the race and it’s not really been a surprise to me,” Russell said of Antonelli’s start “It’s been great to see some really strong races so far For us to have two cars that have been up there every single race is good for the championship Helping one another to get more out of each other has been great as well Russell outqualified Antonelli by an average of 0.390 seconds for the first three races — a big gap for drivers using the same cars — but Mercedes knew there would be an initial gap especially with Russell arguably in the form of his F1 career so far But both drivers have contributed to Mercedes’ best — and most consistent — start to a season since 2021 with the team seemingly finally on top of its struggles with this generation of cars Unlike previous vaunted F1 rookies who have been touted as future superstars only to struggle to match the hype or continue their impressive junior records Antonelli has ticked every box so far in 2025 But Mercedes is encouraged that when those tougher moments do arrive Antonelli has already displayed the maturity and head-strength to handle anything thrown his way And if Antonelli can get through his upcoming finals Kimi Antonelli claimed a surprise pole position for the Miami GP Sprint race Andrea Kimi Antonelli pipped the McLaren duo to take a shock pole position for the Miami Grand Prix Sprint race, becoming the youngest driver in Formula 1 to do so Oscar Piastri went into proceedings having topped the sole practice hour though a late stoppage denied McLaren team-mate Lando Norris the chance to eclipse him The inaugural laps in the opening segment saw Norris hold a slender 0.063-second advantage over Max Verstappen’s Red Bull Antonelli then toppled them all as he propped up 0.032s quicker than the lead McLaren while Mercedes team-mate George Russell trailed three-tenths back Isack Hadjar was located in the drop zone without a time to his name but he elevated his Racing Bulls up into 12th place to condemn Lance Stroll to a premature exit Alongside Stroll in the second Aston Martin Gabriel Bortoleto’s Sauber and Haas’ Oliver Bearman were eliminated The times at the sharp end had appeared destined to remain unchanged until Russell delivered a five-tenth improvement to lead a Mercedes 1-2 over Antonelli in SQ1 Verstappen posted the initial benchmark that the rest would be aiming to beat as he pumped in a 1:27.729s in the last remaining Red Bull still competing Antonelli managed that as he responded with a time that was a meagre 0.002s quicker than Verstappen’s attempt though Norris and then Piastri took over at the top Ferrari’s pre-weekend concern that it wouldn’t hold the pace to rival the opposition was being realised on the Medium compound as it lagged down in sixth and eighth Lewis Hamilton was demoted into the bottom five as others improved around him but the seven-time F1 champion booked his passage into Q3 on his final timed run But the Briton’s predecessor at Ferrari wasn’t able to repeat that as Carlos Sainz got caught on the kerb on the run to Turn 11 and ran wide Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson completing the quintet that wouldn’t advance into the top 10 Norris headed into the all-important pole position shootout with the quickest time in SQ2 The nascent stages of SQ3 witnessed Verstappen and Russell be the sole drivers to venture out on track as the rest awaited the last minutes to conduct their one run Russell produced the goods to emerge over two-tenths quicker than Verstappen but the Dutchman managed to improve on his second timed run to dethrone Russell But Verstappen’s time wouldn’t stand long as Antonelli managed a 1:26.482s to end up with a time that would land him pole position Piastri and Norris had attempted to deny the Italian both secured positions inside the top three to relegate Verstappen Russell’s gamble on going earlier than his rivals saw him drop to fifth while Charles Leclerc headed Hamilton in sixth and seventh Williams’ Alex Albon led the remaining trio outside the leading sides as he edged out Hadjar’s Racing Bulls and Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin to complete the order READ MORE – F1 2025 Miami Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying Results Mersin Web Tasarım / Sell Script And Theme Lewis Hamilton took a moment to celebrate a rising star—his Mercedes successor The 18-year-old Italian stunned the paddock by clinching pole position for the Miami Grand Prix Sprint becoming the youngest driver in F1 history to achieve pole in any format Antonelli’s lap of 1:26.482 edged out McLaren’s Oscar Piastri by just 0.045 seconds Hamilton, now racing for Ferrari, shared his excitement on Instagram, posting so happy for you guys[Mercedes]!" It was a classy nod to the teenager who moved into his former seat at Mercedes this season Antonelli’s pole is not only a personal milestone but also a significant moment for Mercedes as they have been struggling to perform The achievement is even more impressive considering the young Italian’s limited experience in F1 Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff praised the young driver’s progress emphasizing the significance of the achievement regardless of it being a sprint pole Kimi Antonelli after winning the pole during Miami Sprint Qualifying Wolff elaborated on the team’s decision to integrate Antonelli directly into Mercedes bypassing a preparatory year at another team, as many had suggested “We were willing to take that risk even if it meant mistakes And now we’re being rewarded for our courage But he’s kept developing steadily and hasn’t made those errors But the mileage he’s put in is now paying off and that’s what’s allowing him to perform at this level.” Reflecting on Antonelli’s rapid ascent “This young guy – just a few years ago the speed he’s showing is incredible It may only be a ‘mini pole’ but you’ve got to take it when it comes.” As the F1 world turns its attention to the Sprint race all eyes will be on Antonelli to see if he can convert his historic pole into a strong finish the moment serves as a passing of the torch celebrating the next generation of talent poised to make their mark on the sport.  Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli stuns the field by taking pole position in the F1 Sprint at the Miami Grand Prix Florida — It is true what they say about Miami That is the case driving in the greater Miami area — as this author can attest to after three days here on the ground for the Miami Grand Prix — and it was true on the track Friday afternoon for qualifying for the F1 Sprint race and Oliver Bearman) were unable to set a second lap time in Q1 due to the traffic missing out on the second segment of qualifying who stole pole position with a thunderous final lap in Q3 Starting alongside him on the front row will be Oscar Piastri with McLaren teammate Lando Norris set to start third who just arrived in Miami after he and his partner celebrated the birth of their daughter Antonelli’s lap was the fastest lap in the history of the Miami Grand Prix “It was a very intense qualifying,” said Antonelli trackside after qualifying Antonelli is now the youngest driver to start on pole in an F1 race Speaking with the media, including SB Nation on Thursday Antonelli outlined how his confidence was increasing with each race weekend Here are the provisional qualifying results for the F1 Sprint race here at the Miami Grand Prix Netflix documentary on Andrea Kimi Antonelli The trailer for an upcoming documentary on Formula 1 hotshot Andrea Kimi Antonelli has been released ahead of its premiere next week Netflix will publish ‘The Seat’ on Monday 5 May and it will be a 45-minute documentary charting the previous year of the Italian’s life as he geared up for his promotion to F1 In August of last year, Mercedes announced Antonelli as its Lewis Hamilton replacement for 2025 with the 18-year-old contesting his rookie F2 season at the time.  “It is a dream come true to be an F1 driver with the Mercedes F1 Team,” said Antonelli who is now five grands prix into his rookie campaign and is sixth in the standings the team and I were in constant communication ‘The Seat’ shows this process from start to finish I can’t wait for the world to join us on this journey streaming the documentary on Netflix.” The trailer was actually released by Mercedes team partner WhatsApp and offers glimpses of the F1 feature that promises exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from the internal selection process to his Mercedes practice debut at Monza “Selecting Kimi as our race driver for 2025 was a big decision,” said Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff who was captured in the trailer informing Antonelli of the choice to promote him “WhatsApp played an instrumental role in this It was the engine that kept everything moving smoothly and privately allowing our team to focus on Kimi’s development discuss progress and ultimately communicate our choice “We’re excited to give F1 fans around the world a unique insight into the process showing how we arrived at this pivotal moment in the team’s history.” The documentary even captures the moment Antonelli made his grand prix debut in Melbourne this year with Netflix dubbing the process as “the biggest driver change in F1 history”.  Kimi Antonelli stormed to sprint pole at the Miami International Circuit - and made a ominous statement soon after Kimi Antonelli believes he left time on the table across the lap that saw him storm to pole position for the sprint at the Miami Grand Prix The Mercedes driver topped the grid-setting session for the shortened race in Florida beating McLaren's Oscar Piastri by less than half-a-tenth of a second he became the youngest driver in F1 history to claim pole Sebastian Vettel's grand prix pole record endures with the German starting a full-distance race from first aged 21 years which the four-time F1 drivers' champion went on to win Reflecting on the stunning result at the Miami International Autodrome Antonelli could not help being - at least slightly - self-critical despite saying he was "super happy" with his performance "There were still a few bits where I could have done a bit better but still super happy with how I put all the sectors together I will enjoy this moment a little bit more because it will be good to repeat ourselves." Antonelli does have designs on a first race win in the Sunshine State but acknowledged a grand prix victory would be tough to achieve When asked whether he would expect to reach the top step of the podium soon having not yet earned a trip to the rostrum at all but I think we're pretty close all together it'll be important to have a good start [in the sprint] and then trying to set a good pace without taking too much [life out the tyres] and then in qualifying trying to do an even better lap." Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli is getting more and more confident each time he is in the car Florida — Despite starting in pole position the Sprint race did not go Kimi Antonelli’s way at the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix But the young Mercedes phenom just put himself in a position to deliver even bigger points tomorrow While Antonelli lost the lead in the F1 Sprint race to Oscar Piastri in Turn 1 ultimately settling for a seventh-place finish the Mercedes rookie delivered his best Grand Prix qualifying result of his F1 career later in the day qualifying third behind only pole-sitter Max Verstappen Antonelli said on Friday he was over the moon with his pole position Speaking Saturday after qualifying he told the media just how “happy” he was to bounce back after a “disappointing” start to the day but it was good to bounce back this way and yeah I struggled a little bit during the quali,” said Antonelli in the FIA Press Conference “I didn’t have such a clean run like I had yesterday I was a bit too greedy in Turn 1 starting the lap Antonelli set forth that he was growing happier with the W16 “Definitely,” began Antonelli when asked if he was happier in the car every weekend is learning and experience and more confidence with the car as well really happy with how every weekend I’m more able to play a lot more with the car and trying to explore the limit as well,” continued the young driver “So far this weekend I felt really good in the car And hopefully tomorrow we can do a good race.” Pressed on a “target” for the Grand Prix Antonelli demurred but made it clear he just wants to have a “good pace in the race” on Sunday “I don’t really want to say because it always goes terribly wrong So I’m just going try to have a good start and then try to set a good pace and stay with Max and Lando,” said Antonelli because there are some thunderstorms probably so that might not be really nice,” continued the driver let’s just see how the weather is going to be and then we’ll try to do our best with what we have Definitely also in FP1 we did quite a long run so we were able to collect good data on the dry and hopefully we can have a good pace in the race.” What might be a scary thought for the rest of the grid is that this is just Antonelli’s sixth F1 race and his first time at the Miami Grand Prix I feel better and better in the car every weekend,” added Antonelli and hopefully I can maintain the same pace or even go faster.”