Kimi Antonelli makes his feelings known about securing his first pole position at the F1 Miami GP sprint

Kimi Antonelli surprised everyone as he pulled off a stunning lap in his final attempt to secure the pole for the 2025 Miami GP Sprint. The Mercedes driver denied championship leader Oscar Piastri and claimed his first ever pole in an F1 event.

Antonelli, who has been impressive so far in Miami, clocked a brilliant 1:26.482 on the timesheet and was 0.045 seconds faster than Piastri. As he secured the pole, he shared a jubilant reaction on the radio after his race engineer, Peter Bonnington, informed him about the achievement.

From Mercedes crew and Bonnington to team principal Toto Wolff, everyone at Mercedes shared a joyous reaction to the 18-year-old's pole. As Antonelli stopped his car and arrived to claim the honor of his pole, he shared his thoughts in the post-qualifying interview.

Motorsports insider Junaid Samodien shared some of his quotes on X(formerly Twitter).

"Was a very intense Qualifying," Antonelli said. "I felt really good since this morning and I felt good going into Qualifying. I put everything together, so really happy to get the first pole.

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"Tomorrow will be nice to start on the front row, will be a bit of a different feeling," Antonelli added.

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Lando Norris and Max Verstappen qualified in the second row, while his teammate, George Russell, and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc qualified in the third row. Lewis Hamilton, Alex Albon, Isack Hadjar, and Fernando Alonso wrapped up the top 10.

Pierre Gasly (P13), Liam Lawson (P14), Carlos Sainz (P15), and Yuki Tsunoda (P18) had underwhelming outings on Friday. The 2025 Miami GP Sprint is set to take place on Saturday, 12 PM ET.

Mercedes boss hails Kimi Antonelli after Miami GP Sprint pole

Mercedes GP Executive Director Toto Wolff applauds in the pitlane as Andrea Kimi Antonelli looks on - Source: Getty

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff shared his reaction to Kimi Antonelli's Miami GP Sprint pole. Sharing his thoughts on the brilliant achievement, Wolff stated Antonelli will bring "a lot of happiness" to the Mercedes brigade in the future.

"A young man that will hopefully bring us a lot of happiness in the future. It's about the trajectory, he's done it - he is quickest," Wolff said.

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Mercedes signed Kimi Antonelli to race alongside George Russell this season as a replacement for Lewis Hamilton after the seven-time world champion decided to move to Ferrari at the end of 2024. Hamilton left Mercedes after 12 long years.

About the author

Sabyasachi Biswas is a passionate motorsport journalist for Sportskeeda, with a Master's degree in Mass Communication and Journalism. He has over eight years of experience in the field and has over 10000 published articles on the internet.

As a dedicated follower of motorsport, Sabyasachi watches events closely, ensuring his reports are thorough and supported by reputable sources. He is inspired by Max Verstappen’s fearless attitude and dreams of attending the Indian GP if it returns to the calendar. An ardent F1 fan over the years, he enjoyed watching Felipe Massa and Sebastian Vettel and is now following Verstappen's dominant journey on the track.

Apart from F1, he is a big-time NASCAR and football (also soccer) fan. Sabyasachi supports Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports and Spanish club, Real Madrid.

He was a sub-junior level footballer and won inter-district quizzes and debate competitions back in school. A travel freak by nature, Sabyasachi likes to try different cuisines and learn about new cultures. When away from his keyboard, he enjoys soccer, geopolitics, and playing with Khushi & Ubbu - his adorable beagles.

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Edited by Riddhiman Sarkar