Kimi Antonelli delivers bold claim after sensational sprint pole

Kimi Antonelli believes he left time on the table across the lap that saw him storm to pole position for the sprint at the Miami Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver topped the grid-setting session for the shortened race in Florida, beating McLaren's Oscar Piastri by less than half-a-tenth of a second.

In doing so, he became the youngest driver in F1 history to claim pole, aged 18 years, eight months and eight days.

However, Sebastian Vettel's grand prix pole record endures, with the German starting a full-distance race from first aged 21 years, two months and 11 days old.

That came at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, which the four-time F1 drivers' champion went on to win.

Reflecting on the stunning result at the Miami International Autodrome, Antonelli could not help being - at least slightly - self-critical, despite saying he was "super happy" with his performance.

"I did not see that coming, to be honest, no." he told Sky Sports F1. "No, I felt the lap was good, and I was happy with it, with how it came together.

"There were still a few bits where I could have done a bit better, but still super happy with how I put all the sectors together.

"Now, I will enjoy this moment a little bit more, but at the same time, I'm gonna try to focus [on the sprint], because it will be good to repeat ourselves."

Chasing a first victory

Antonelli does have designs on a first race win in the Sunshine State, but acknowledged a grand prix victory would be tough to achieve.

When asked whether he would expect to reach the top step of the podium soon, he played it down, having not yet earned a trip to the rostrum at all.

"That's a big, big target," the Italian driver said. "We know the McLarens and Ferrari, also Red Bull... we know their race pace is really strong, but I think we're pretty close all together.

"So, it'll be important to have a good start [in the sprint], and then trying to set a good pace without taking too much [life out the tyres], and then in qualifying trying to do an even better lap."

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