Antonelli on pole once more ahead of stormy Sunday in Miami

[p]Ferrari's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/leclerc-charles/KlCOSRub/"]Charles Leclerc[/a] ​qualified third fastest, with McLaren's ⁠reigning ​world champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/norris-lando/WSVABbVF/"]Lando Norris[/a], winner of the ‌earlier sprint, set to line up fourth on what could be a stormy Sunday.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/antonelli-andrea-kimi/ptGu0mT1/"]Antonelli[/a], 19, is ‌chasing his ​third win in ‌a row after triumphs in China and Japan.[/p][embed guid="947ef80f-6e30-4dcb-aa95-18a6ac944d0c" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2050686768924569634" social-type="twitter" /][p]The pole was an immediate and forceful ‌reply to being demoted to sixth in the ⁠sprint, the first race of the ‌season in any format that Mercedes have not won.[/p][p][b]"It's been an amazing day to ​be on pole again," he said. "It was a difficult start with the Sprint, where it didn't go our way, but super happy ​with the recovery.[/b][/p][p][b]"It was a good quali, got a little bit excited in that last lap in Q3, but the first lap was good enough."[/b][/p][embed guid="669b78a2-3d13-4f73-8c94-ddc70610f778" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2050692053546254585" social-type="twitter" /][p]Antonelli ⁠secured provisional pole with a ​time of one minute 27.798, 0.345 quicker than Leclerc's first effort and 0.383 faster than [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/verstappen-max/UV3mgeXB/"]Verstappen[/a].[/p][p]At the end, the time stayed out of reach of the rest, even if Verstappen cut the gap to 0.166 and Antonelli ran wide ‌at turn one on his final effort.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/russell-george/xxF56RaN/"]George Russell[/a], Antonelli's teammate and closest rival seven points adrift, qualified fifth with Ferrari's seven-times world champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hamilton-lewis/tI5Vpe1h/"]Lewis Hamilton[/a] sixth.[/p][p]McLaren's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/piastri-oscar/MqKAIeUf/"]Oscar Piastri[/a], last year's winner in Miami, will line up seventh on the grid at a circuit where overtaking is unlikely to be a major problem, particularly in the new rules era.[/p][p]Argentine [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/colapinto-franco/GzFqySBA/"]Franco Colapinto[/a] was a strong eighth fastest for Renault-owned Alpine, with Red Bull's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hadjar-isack/8SAk38Ui/"]Isack Hadjar[/a] and Alpine's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gasly-pierre/nqYFMBBf/"]Pierre Gasly[/a] completing the top 10.[/p][p]Antonelli was fastest in the first phase ‌of qualifying, ahead of Leclerc, Verstappen and Norris, with Piastri squeaking through in ​16th place.[/p][p][b]"Oscar, we're safely through," his engineer told him over team ‌radio, drawing the reply: "'Safely' is an ambitious word in that situation, I think."[/b][/p][p]The second phase, in which Verstappen lapped fastest ahead of Antonelli, was slightly delayed after the brakes on [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bortoleto-gabriel/8zwcIVil/"]Gabriel Bortoleto[/a]'s Audi caught fire and he pulled over on the back straight.[/p][p]The Brazilian ended up bottom ⁠of the time sheets, behind [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bottas-valtteri/bRJJqiGb/"]Valtteri ⁠Bottas[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/perez-sergio/foV8RteD/"]Sergio Perez[/a] for ‌newcomers Cadillac on that team's first home race weekend[/p]