Under the sun of Miami, the twenty fastest drivers on the planet sent everything out to take the pole for the sprint. In the end, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the young Mercedes driver took his first pole position.

With Miami being announced to stay on the calendar until 2041, the first important session of the weekend began. And it was a surprising one, with Kimi Antonelli maximizing everything and taking the pole position.

SQ1 started with all the drivers in medium. Max Verstappen was the first to make a time on the clock with a 1:27.953. Both of the Ferraris were on full attack during their first flying lap, making them take the second and third place. However, Charles Leclerc made a mistake at Turn 16 and the back of his car slightly touched the wall. Gabriel Bortoleto made the same mistake. Williams had more fuel on their first lap to be in a great position for their second run, which helped them to get both of the cars in SQ2. Verstappen held up Lando Norris on his flying lap, without consequences. Yuki Tsunoda was too late to do his second lap and took the chequered flag, staying in P18. Jack Doohan was also not being put in the best position by Alpine and was really mad about it, which might not help him in his future.

Out : Bearman, Bortoleto, Tsunoda, Doohan and Stroll

Kimi Antonelli was the first time on the clock for that SQ2, before both McLarens came to take it from him, with Oscar Piastri leading the timesheet. Lewis Hamilton did his first lap on his old tyres. On the other hand, seven drivers only did one run to get their best time. Pierre Gasly slightly touched the wall while oversteering. Carlos Sainz blocked his tyres, resulting in him abandoning his lap. Lando Norris took the fastest time at 1:27.109.

Out : Sainz, Lawson, Gasly, Ocon and Hulkenberg

SQ3 was finally time to send everything on soft tyres. Once again, Max Verstappen was the first one on track, followed by George Russell. The fastest time was made by the Brit in 1:26.791, taking the fastest ever time on that track with it. The eight other drivers stayed in the box until three minutes were left on the clock. They only had one lap to take the pole. George Russell, on the other hand, stayed in the pit. Kimi Antonelli was fastest with a 1:26.482 time. Both McLarens didn’t beat the Italian driver, Oscar being 0.045 seconds behind and Lando Norris only 0.100 seconds behind. The eighteen years old Italian driver was really happy about his performance but already had his eyes on the sprint race: “It was a very intense qualifying […] on the last lap I put everything together. Tomorrow it’s gonna be nice to start on the front row.”