‘I was very stressed!’ – Kimi Antonelli ‘super happy’ with Miami pole after getting ‘a bit too excited’ on final Q3 lap

Kimi Antonelli bounced again from the frustration of one other tough begin and a time penalty throughout Saturday’s Sprint in Miami by storming to pole place within the Qualifying session that adopted.

Antonelli dropped from second to fourth in the beginning of the 100-kilometer race and was then demoted to sixth after the checked flag for exceeding the monitor limits on a number of events – permitting mercedes teammate George Russell to shut the hole within the Drivers’ Championship.

However, the Italian teenager got here again combating in Qualifying for the Grand Prix, posting a scintillating Q3 time of 1m 27.798s that no person else may match throughout two runs – and permitting for a mistake on his personal final lap.

Speaking after the session, Antonelli stated: “It’s been an amazing day, to be on pole again. It was obviously a difficult start of the day with the Sprint, where it didn’t go our way, but I’m super happy with the recovery.

“It was a great Qualifying. I received a bit bit too excited on the final lap of Q3, however the first lap was ok, and I’m actually pleased with that.”

Pushed on how he felt after abandoning his second Q3 lap, Antonelli smiled: “I was very stressed! I was just waiting for everyone to finish their laps. At the end, as I said before, it was good enough.”

Antonelli is now targeted on executing a stronger begin in Sunday’s Grand Prix, and rebuilding his benefit over Russell in the standingsafter it was trimmed from 9 factors to seven within the Sprint.

“Hopefully a magic [start] will happen tomorrow,” he commented. “It could be good to not lose any positions. We’ll do our greatest.

“This weekend has obviously been a little bit more difficult for us, but we’re keeping all this together and we’re maximizing the performance.”