Kimi Antonelli has now won three consecutive poles for Mercedes, the latest Saturday at Miami International Autodrome, to lead the grid Sunday in the Miami Grand Prix.
Second on grid ... Max Verstappen. Unexpected, even to the Dutch four-time champion, who commented ahead of the weekend that his Red Bull was improved but might not be ready yet to compete against Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren. Now he lurks in Antonelli's side mirror, with Antonelli struggling on starts through the early races.
Charles Leclerc's final qualifying lap was enough set him and his Ferrari at P3 and McLaren's Lando Norris completes the second row in P4, making four different constructors atop the race. That theme continued over the next three spots with George Russell (Mercedes), Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) and Oscar Piastri (McLaren) in order. Alpine leads the midfield constructors, as Franco Colapinto (P8) and Pierre Gasly (P10) made Q3. Verstappen's teammate Isack Hadjar took P9.
My take: Verstappen is renowned for his involvement on the technical side. A couple small tweaks, racing in clean air if he can jump ahead of Antonelli and hold off Leclerc, who's had the best starts this season, could make this an exciting race. Any of the top-four can win and there could be a good midfield race bewteen Alpine, Racing Bulls, Audi and Haas.
THE ASYLUM
Antonelli on Miami pole
Kimi Antonelli has now won three consecutive poles for Mercedes, the latest Saturday at Miami International Autodrome, to lead the grid Sunday in the Miami Grand Prix.
Second on grid ... Max Verstappen. Unexpected, even to the Dutch four-time champion, who commented ahead of the weekend that his Red Bull was improved but might not be ready yet to compete against Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren. Now he lurks in Antonelli's side mirror, with Antonelli struggling on starts through the early races.
Charles Leclerc's final qualifying lap was enough set him and his Ferrari at P3 and McLaren's Lando Norris completes the second row in P4, making four different constructors atop the race. That theme continued over the next three spots with George Russell (Mercedes), Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) and Oscar Piastri (McLaren) in order. Alpine leads the midfield constructors, as Franco Colapinto (P8) and Pierre Gasly (P10) made Q3. Verstappen's teammate Isack Hadjar took P9.
My take: Verstappen is renowned for his involvement on the technical side. A couple small tweaks, racing in clean air if he can jump ahead of Antonelli and hold off Leclerc, who's had the best starts this season, could make this an exciting race. Any of the top-four can win and there could be a good midfield race bewteen Alpine, Racing Bulls, Audi and Haas.
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