Antonelli buoyed by reaction to Miami F1 sprint disappointment

Andrea Kimi Antonelli bounced back from a disappointing performance in the Miami Grand Prix sprint race earlier today to secure third in qualifying for Sunday’s Formula 1 grand prix. 

The Mercedes rookie qualified on pole for the sprint in Miami, but a first-lap tussle with the McLaren of Oscar Piastri saw him tumble down the order. After a raft of post-race penalties finalised the rankings, Antonelli had to settle for seventh and just two points. 

The Italian followed his disappointing sprint result with a stellar run in qualifying for Sunday's Miami Grand Prix, putting his car third and splitting the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Piastri, who qualified in second and fourth respectively. 

“This weekend is going well so far. It was a bit disappointing this morning, but it was good to bounce back this way,” Antonelli said. 

"I struggled a little bit during the quali, I didn’t have such a clean run like I had yesterday. But that last lap was quite good. I was a bit too greedy in Turn 1, but the rest of the lap was quite good, so I’m happy with it.” 

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: James Sutton / Motorsport Images

Antonelli’s best lap in Q3 was a 1m26.271s, which put him just two thousandths of a second behind Norris. Both were outclassed by the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, who clinched a thrilling pole position with a lap time of 1m26.204s. 

"The gaps are super tight, and definitely, if you can gain just a few hundredths, you can make up so many places,” Antonelli added.

“It’s really about putting everything together, and so far this weekend I’m doing that. Hopefully tomorrow we can have a good race."

The Mercedes rookie outqualified his team-mate George Russell in a grand prix for the first time this season, with the British driver in fifth. 

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