Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli rebounded from a difficult sprint race to claim pole position for the Miami Grand Prix, his third pole in four races this season. The 19-year-old Italian edged out a resurgent Max Verstappen by 0.166 seconds, while teammate and title rival George Russell could only manage fifth, 0.399 seconds off the pace.
Verstappen's second-place finish marked a major turnaround for Red Bull, who introduced a significant upgrade package this weekend. The reigning champion, who has recently been contemplating his future in Formula 1, described the improvement as "light at the end of the tunnel."
"To be on the front row after being over a second behind is really incredible," Verstappen said. "Before, nothing really worked—I felt like a total passenger. The car could understeer or snap on me. Now it feels a lot more together, and I can finally drive the way I want to."
Lando Norris, who dominated Saturday's sprint race, was fourth behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. Lewis Hamilton qualified sixth for Ferrari, ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri.
Due to the threat of thunderstorms, Sunday's race has been moved forward by three hours to 18:00 BST (13:00 local time). Formula 1 and the FIA cited forecasts predicting heavier rainstorms later in the afternoon near the original race start time.
Antonelli secured pole on his first run in Q3, but a mistake on his final lap left him anxiously waiting to see if anyone could beat his time. Only Verstappen improved on his second attempt in the 33°C Miami heat.
"It has been an amazing day to be on pole again," Antonelli said. "It was a difficult start to the day with the sprint, but I'm super-happy with the recovery. I got a little bit excited on the final lap of Q3, but the first lap was good enough. I was very stressed just waiting for everyone to finish their laps."
The young driver had been demoted from fourth to sixth in the sprint after a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits.