Antonelli admits he was 'pretty stressed' after final Q3 run risked Miami pole

Kimi Antonelli admits he was worried either Max Verstappen or Charles Leclerc would beat him to pole position after an error on his final lap in Q3 at the Miami Grand Prix.

Mercedes has come under far greater pressure in Miami than in any of the previous race weekends so far this season, but Antonelli put in a strong qualifying performance to sit on provisional pole prior to the final runs. An error in the first sector meant he couldn’t improve, but Verstappen and Leclerc fell short in their attempts to usurp him as Antonelli secured a third pole position in a row.

“I broke way too late, and I knew I wasn't going to make the corner the moment I broke,” Antonelli said. “But luckily it was good enough, because of course you never know. Especially with Max and Charles, because they're very good in qualifying, so I was pretty stressed on the way in, but happy that we were still able to keep the pole.

“It's hard to say [if I would have improved], because I didn't do the lap, so it's difficult, but you never know. This track today was difficult with the wind, pretty gusty, and it's not an easy track to put everything together, so I don't know.

“It feels great to get a pole. It's good to pick up from where we left off, to get another pole and start in the front row. But of course, first of all I need to get off the line decently, because it hasn't been good so far. But for sure it feels good, I'm happy with the performance, and we'll try to finish the job tomorrow.”

Antonelli was beaten by Lando Norris in Sprint qualifying on Friday but it was Verstappen who was his nearest challenger on Saturday afternoon, something he says is the more unexpected aspect of the weekend so far.

“It's not really a surprise about other teams catching up. It's just the first year of this new regulation, and it's going to be also a development fight between teams. Whoever is going to be able to bring more upgrades and more potent ones is going to make the difference. And definitely it was not a surprise.

"But definitely to see Max here, we did not expect it as a team. But I think they brought big upgrades, and also Max has been extracting the maximum out of the car, if not more. So definitely to see him here is a surprise.

“On our side, I think we've been struggling a little bit more this weekend than usual. We've been struggling to find the balance to put the car in the right place. But I think with the team, we did a great job ahead of qualifying with the changes we made. And now we'll focus on tomorrow.”