Sprint qualifs – Antonelli has the McLaren and Verstappen bend!

The Sprint qualifications turned to a confrontation between the Mercedes and McLaren drivers at the Miami GP, with an unexpected outcome: Kimi Antonelli’s best time in front of the favorites of the championship! He will be the youngest driver in history to start a head race on Saturday.

SQ1 – Mercedes in mind, confusion for several pilots

After the only test session of the weekend, during which Oscar Piastri signed the best time, the pilots plunged directly into the qualifying session for the Sprint race in Miami. The sky emerged and the asphalt reached 0 ° C when the session began.

In SQ1, medium tires were compulsory and the first series of fast towers revealed very tight differences, since Kimi Antonelli led with 0 “032 in advance on Lando Norris and 0” 095 on Max Verstapun. Oscar Piastri was fourth in front of the Ferrari pilots, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, the latter having had a slight contact with the wall at turn 16.

Russell took the lead under the checkered flag, while Alex Albon went back to third row. In the ranking, the pilots of five teams eliminated: Lance Stroll, Jack Doohan, Yuki Tsunoda, Gabriel Bortoleto and Oliver Bearman.

A certain confusion reigned for Doohan, Tsunoda and Bearman, all deprived of a last round for a few seconds. Tsunoda was also criticized by Stroll for having been too slow while remaining on the trajectory.

Eliminated in SQ1 : Stroll, doohan, tsunoda, bortoleto, bearman

SQ2 – McLaren takes power

The SQ2 delivered a different hierarchy since McLaren rose in power and first placed Oscar Piastri in mind, in front of Lando Norris. Kimi Antonelli took third place in front of Max Verstappen, George Russell, Charles Leclerc and Alex Albon, who did better than Lewis Hamilton, only eighth and above all less well placed of pilots on track from the start of this part of the session.

Norris took the lead under the checkered flag, while Verstappen went back to the second row … and Piastri gave up a second round but kept third place. Antonelli concluded this SQ2 in fourth position, ahead of Leclerc, Hamilton and Russell.

It is again pilots of five pilots who were eliminated: Nico Hülkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Liam Lawson and Carlos Sainz, passed out of the track after a wheel blocking and a slide on a vibrator.

Eliminated in SQ2: Hülkenberg, Ocon, Gasly, Lawson, Sainz

SQ3 – Antonelli surprises the McLaren!

The pilots switched to the tender tires for this last part of the Sprint qualifications. Max Verstappen and George Russell were the only ones to take the track immediately. This duel was won by English, with 0 “279, while all the other pilots were waiting for the last moment to start.

After a break, this SQ3 in two stages resumed with the other eight pilots, while Verstappen took over the track. Hamilton intercouled between the two leaders but Verstappen immediately signed the best time for 0 “054 … But Antonelli has even better, for 0” 255. Norris failed a tenth of the beginner and Piastri at 0 “045. Leclerc remained far from the Italian.

Antonelli thus achieved an unexpected performance, on a circuit he discovers, in front of the McLaren and Verstappen drivers. Russell was plummeting in fifth place, in front of the Ferrari, Leclerc and Hamilton drivers. The last three places in SQ3 have been taken by Albon, Isack Hadjar and Fernando Alonso.

GP de Miami – Qualifications sprint

SQ1

SQ2

SQ3