Antonelli’s previous highest grid position this season was fifth.
Piastri, 10 points ahead of Norris in the championship heading into this weekend, said he believed a lock-up at the last corner on his final lap had cost him pole.
Norris, who crashed in qualifying at the last race in Saudi Arabia, said: “Close qualifying. It felt good, happy just to get a good lap in there.
“Today’s performance was in a good ballpark, not good enough but shows how close it is and how quick the Mercedes are. Close enough that we can still aim for a pole tomorrow.”
Antonelli’s impressive 0.309secs margin over Russell came despite the Briton joining Verstappen in being the only driver to use two sets of tyres over two runs in the final session. Everyone else waited in the pits while they went out and did just one lap.
The idea behind the strategy, which is tight in terms of planning because of the fast turnaround needed in the pits after the first lap, is to allow the driver to record a ‘banker’ lap and then go all out on the second.
But it worked for neither. Russell did not improve on his second lap, and while Verstappen did, he was 0.255secs slower than Antonelli and 0.21secs off Piastri.
Verstappen, who arrived in Miami late following the birth of his first child, said: “What we did in Q3 was good, the tyres are holding on quite well, but from P1 struggling with a lot of understeer in the car and with all the low-speed corners, you lose quite a bit of lap time.”
His lack of pace came despite a new floor this weekend as the team seek improved performance.
-Verstappen added: “In the first sector we were quite competitive because that’s where a few high-speed corners are but as soon as you get to the low speed we lack quite a bit of grip. P4 is all right, you have to be realistic with the limitations we have at the moment and it was still quite close.”
Russell said: “Massive congrats to Kimi. He did an amazing job. He has been really quick all day, really impressive.
“I have been struggling a little bit, not that comfortable, and we wanted to go early because I didn’t have that confidence. P5 is not great but amazing (result) for Kimi and the team.”
Hamilton, who won the first sprint of the season in China from pole position, was seventh fastest, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc. It was an improvement for Hamilton after a dire past three races, but he was still 0.222secs off his team-mate.
Neither Ferrari driver was happy. “It was a better session,” Hamilton said, “but we are just lacking speed. Keep working on it.”
Williams’ Alex Albon, Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso completed the top 10, only the second time the two-time champion’s team has made it that high up this season, after team-mate Lance Stroll achieved it in the sprint in China.
Albon’s team-mate Carlos Sainz should also have been in the top 10 but he made a mistake on his final lap in the second session and will line up 15th.
Verstappen’s team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was knocked out in the first session and will start the sprint 18th.
The Japanese complained of being held up by a car coming out of the pits on his first lap, and he did not get around his warm-up lap in time to complete a second run.
