Teenager Kimi Antonelli rasted a pole position for the sprint race in Miami. The 18-year-old Mercedes newcomer grabbed the best starting position for the short race over 100 kilometers on Saturday (6:00 p.m. CEST in the F.A.Z.-LiveTicker for Formula 1 and at Sky). The Italian in his first pole even grabbed the Oscar Piatri in the McLaren by 0.045 seconds. Third was in the second McLaren Lando Norris, which was only 0.1 seconds on Antonelli. No driver has secured the pole for the sprint so young. The youngest driver in one place in a Grand Prix is on Sebastian Vettel, who was 21 years old in 2008. “I did everything right and I am really happy to get the first pole.” Max Verstappen had to be satisfied with fourth place in the Red Bull. Record world champion Lewis Hamilton, who won the first sprint race of the year at the end of March in China, became seventh. For the only German driver in the field, Nico Hülkenberg, it was enough in the kick clean to position eleven. “Fortunately, I was able to spend a few days with you after birth. It was great,” reported Verstappen, who has a close relationship with Piquet’s oldest daughter Penelope and has already described himself as a “bonus dad”. After the Sprint-qualification, however, Antonelli, who amazed the competition, had more of the widest grin on the face. “This is a announcement,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff about the performance of the youngster, who became the successor to Hamilton for this season. Formula 1 introduced the sprint 2021 to give the Grand Prix weekend additional voltage. The winner gets eight points, the eighth a counter.
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