Kimi Antonelli did not see record-breaking F1 pole coming

Kimi Antonelli says he did not expect his stunning F1 pole position for the sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix.

The 18-year-old Italian rookie, who was signed as seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton's replacement at Mercedes, became the youngest driver to take an F1 pole position in Miami.

Antonelli produced an outstanding lap to outpace the McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris by a narrow margin and secure his place at the very front of the grid for Saturday’s shorter sprint race.

"I did not see that coming. I felt the lap was good and I was happy with it,” Antonelli told Sky Sports F1.

"There were still a few bits I could have done better but I was super happy with how I put all the sectors together. I will enjoy this moment but focus on tomorrow because it would be good to repeat that result.

"McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull have strong race pace but we are pretty close. It will be important to have a good start, then set a good pace without degrading [the tyres] too much."

It marked the first time this season that Antonelli has beaten Mercedes teammate George Russell in qualifying.

Russell ended up fifth, 0.309s behind Antonelli after completing his sole SQ3 lap earlier than his rivals.

"Every weekend I learn massively,” Antonelli added. “Last week, having a break really helped me to gather information and process it all and recharging the batteries, it was really good.

"The whole qualifying I felt I was able to make a step lap by lap. I'm much more aware of how to do a consistent warm up and extract more out of the tyres but there's a lot to improve.

"Every weekend I get more confident with the car, can play with it more and explore the limits. At the same time, I can understand more from the set-up and give much better feedback which allows the team to improve the car.”

Antonelli’s emotional celebration with father

Antonelli was seen embracing his father Marco as Mercedes wildly celebrated his milestone achievement.

"My dad has been coming since the start of the season,” Antonelli said of his celebrations with his father.

“He’s like a rock for me because I can always rely on him and it's nice to share this moment with him.”

In a separate interview, Marco told Sky Sports F1: "At the moment it's difficult to say what I feel. After five races, it's unbelievable that he's on pole.

"Yes it's a Sprint race but we have had a good start!

"We are one family that tries to transmit that in life you have to work hard, don't complain before you understand if you did a good job or not, focus on the future.

"We are a normal family. We work every day and I think we are nothing special other than a family trying to give their children the best for life.

"Kimi understood this and this is the result."