MIAMI — Mercedes wonderkid rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli beat the McLaren drivers to pole position for the sprint race in Miami.
Antonelli, 18, beat championship leader Oscar Piastri by 0.045 seconds to top a competitive F1 session for the first time in his young career.
Antonelli replaced seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes this year and has already been tipped for great things.
“Yes mate! Come on! Come on,” Antonelli said over the radio after securing the pole spot.
Antonelli will start ahead of Piastri and Lando Norris.
New father Max Verstappen, who missed the media day on Thursday due to the birth of his first daughter Lily, qualified fourth ahead of Antonelli’s teammate George Russell.
Red Bull will only have one driver fighting at the top end of the field in the sprint, with Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda failing to make it out of the SQ1 session. The Japanese driver will start 18th.
Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will start sixth and seventh.
William driver Alex Albon took eighth, while impressive Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar continued his strong recent run with ninth position.
Aston Martin Fernando Alonso, still without a point this season, took a morale-boosting 10th position for his team.
Source: espn.com