Berlin, 3 May 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Rookie Kimi Antonelli stunned the top favourites on Friday to take pole position for the sprint race at the Formula One Miami Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver clocked the fastest time of 1 minute 26.482 seconds to beat drivers' championship leader Oscar Piastri of McLaren by 0.045s. Lando Norris in the other McLaren was third.

This is Antonelli's biggest achievement so far in his recently-started F1 career and he became the youngest driver to take pole in a sprint race or in a grand prix.

The 18-year-old replaced seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who left Mercedes to join Ferrari this season.

"I felt really good since this morning and I felt good going into qualifying. I put everything together, so really happy to get the first pole," Antonelli said.

"Tomorrow will be nice to start on the front row, will be a bit of a different feeling."

Can McLaren fight back for sprint win?

McLaren have dominated the 2025 season, with Piastri winning three and Norris one of the five races so far this year.

But they are yet to win a sprint race this season, with Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari taking the win in the first event in China.

Four-time defending champion Max Verstappen was fourth. The Red Bull driver announced the birth of his first child, a baby girl named Lily, shortly before the first practice earlier.

George Russell in the other Mercedes was fifth, while Ferarri were sixth and seventh with Charles Leclerc and Hamilton respectively.

Alex Albon of Williams, Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso completed the top 10.

Piastri tops the drivers' championship standings 10 points ahead of Norris, who won the Miami GP last year.

Saturday's schedule includes the sprint race and qualifying for Sunday's showdown.

Photo: epa