Kimi Antonelli has clinched his debut pole position after delivering a stunning lap during Sprint Qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix

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. Russell, meanwhile, will start from fifth, 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, with the Haas of Esteban Ocon, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson also eliminated in SQ2.

Carlos Sainz, meanwhile, ended up in 15th place, 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.

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.

Tsunoda, meanwhile, 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.

At the other end of the timesheets, the five drivers at risk after everybody had put a lap on the board were Doohan, Tsunoda, Bortoleto, Bearman and Hadjar, the latter having had his time deleted.

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?

Tsunoda’s fate was soon decided, 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.

Another rookie, Doohan, did not escape the elimination zone, 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, Doohan, Tsunoda, Bortoleto and Bearman.