Andrea Kimi Antonelli Takes Miami Pole By 0.385 Seconds
andrea kimi antonelli took pole position for the Miami Grand Prix and did it with a 1min 27.798sec lap, edging Max Verstappen into second. The start of Sunday’s race was then moved up from 4pm local time to 1pm local time after forecast thunderstorms threatened the afternoon.
Antonelli Tops Verstappen
Antonelli’s margin over Verstappen was narrow, but the result still handed him his third straight pole and kept him ahead in a front-running fight that had been close all weekend. George Russell, his Mercedes teammate, was fifth and four-10ths back, while Lando Norris qualified fourth and Charles Leclerc third.
The timing matters as much as the lap. Antonelli leads the world championship by seven points from Russell, so the pole extends Mercedes’ edge at the top even though the team has not brought substantial developments to Miami. Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren all arrived with major upgrades, which made Antonelli’s pace harder to ignore.
Miami Schedule Moves Forward
The change to 1pm local time came in a joint statement from the FIA, F1 and the Miami promoter after qualifying. Heavy thunderstorms were forecast for the afternoon, so the race was brought forward by three hours rather than leaving the start at 4pm local time.
That shift changes the day for anyone on site. Teams will have a tighter window to organize their race-day routine, and spectators who were planning around the later start now have a much earlier arrival and departure schedule.
McLaren, Ferrari, Verstappen
McLaren’s sprint win earlier on Saturday added another layer to a tight weekend at the front, with Norris and Oscar Piastri taking a dominant one-two in the sprint before qualifying reset the order. Piastri went seventh in qualifying, Lewis Hamilton took sixth for Ferrari, and Verstappen’s second place showed he had closed the gap after a difficult run.
Verstappen said several things had changed in his car and that it made it more comfortable to drive, adding that he felt a lot more confident and no longer felt like a passenger. Antonelli, meanwhile, said after qualifying, “It’s not really a surprise about other teams catching up, it’s just the first year of this new regulation” and “It’s also going to be a development fight between teams. Whoever is going to be able to bring more upgrades and more potent ones is going to make the difference.”
For Mercedes, the pole is a clean answer on a weekend when the field had started to close in. The race now begins three hours earlier than planned, and Antonelli goes in with the front row to defend after qualifying fastest in a session that had the pack compressed at the top.
