F1’s Youngest Ever Polesitter: 18-Year-Old Antonelli Breaks Vettel’s Record with Historic Miami Sprint Qualifying Performance

MIAMI, May 3 — Mercedes' Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli made history today by becoming Formula One’s youngest-ever polesitter in any format after a stunning final lap in sprint qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix.

The 18-year-old, competing in just his sixth F1 weekend, clocked a best time of 1:26.482 to edge out McLaren’s championship leader Oscar Piastri by 0.045 seconds.

McLaren’s Lando Norris secured third on the grid, while Red Bull’s four-time world champion Max Verstappen — who also announced the birth of his first child — completed the second row.

“I wasn’t expecting that at all. I knew the lap was good and I was happy with it,” said a visibly surprised Antonelli, who replaced seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes this season. “There were still areas I could have improved, but I’m really happy with how I pulled all the sectors together.”

Antonelli broke the previous record set by Sebastian Vettel, who took pole at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix for Toro Rosso at 21 years and 73 days old — before sprint races existed.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff praised Antonelli’s achievement, saying, “It doesn’t matter whether it’s a sprint pole or not — he’s the fastest, and that’s what counts.”

Hamilton, now driving for Ferrari, qualified seventh, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc in sixth, with Mercedes’ George Russell starting fifth.

Only the top eight finishers in today’s 100km sprint will score points.

Williams' Alex Albon will start eighth, Racing Bulls’ rookie Isack Hadjar ninth, and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso rounds out the top 10.

Piastri, who leads the championship by 10 points over Norris, said he remained optimistic: “We can still fight from there in the sprint. Overall, I’m quite happy. There’s more pace to unlock, so I’m feeling confident.”

Norris, who claimed his first grand prix victory in Miami last year, was also satisfied with his session.

Russell and Antonelli topped the timing sheets in the opening qualifying phase at the Hard Rock Stadium circuit, while Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda was the major casualty after a lock-up in Turn 17 left him 18th.

Alpine’s Jack Doohan was another early exit, angrily blaming a pit lane blunder involving teammate Pierre Gasly, who scraped the wall in Q2 and ended up 13th. “That’s not acceptable,” fumed Doohan. “You guys cost me Q1. This is a joke.”

Norris led Q2, followed by Verstappen and Piastri.

In Q3, most drivers delayed their runs until the final two minutes, with only Russell and Verstappen setting early lap times.

Antonelli ultimately emerged fastest, becoming the first Italian to take any form of pole position since Giancarlo Fisichella’s 2009 Belgian GP pole with Force India.

“Well done, lad,” said his race engineer, Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington. “I think we’re getting somewhere.” — Reuters