03/05/2025 10:10
George Russell has explained why he was off the front-running pace
of Kimi Antonelli during sprint qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix.
The British driver will start the shortened race in Florida in
fifth, whilst his Mercedes team-mate will lead the pack away after
storming to a sensational pole. In doing so, the 18-year-old became
the youngest driver in F1 history to claim a pole position of any
description, beating Sebastian Vettel's long-standing record by
two-and-a half years. Antonelli has generally found himself
two-to-four tenths of a second slower than Russell in qualifying so
far this season, and it is the first time the Italian rookie has
finished ahead of the three-time grand prix winner in any
grid-setting session all year, going three tenths quicker at the
Miami International Circuit. Reflecting on his day, Russell
contextualised the gap, which amounted to a considerable swing in
performance between the pair. "Firstly, massive congrats to Kimi,"
he said of his team-mate. "Really pleased to see. He did an amazing
job. He's been really quick all day, really impressive. "I've been
struggling a little bit, little bit off the pace, not been so
comfortable, and we just wanted to go on the early side, because
ultimately I didn't quite have that confidence. "And we thought
maybe if there's a yellow or red at the end of a session, it will
come our way. "But yeah, P5, not great, more to improve, but
amazing for Kimi and the team." Conflicted emotions In addition to
setting his lap time early, on a circuit that was evolving quickly,
the 27-year-old highlighted how he had not been in the "groove" so
far this weekend, despite there been evident pace in the W16.
"These sprint race weekends are challenging, and if you get in the
groove early, you can just build from there, and all day, I just
haven't quite felt it in the car, especially the tyres sliding
around a bit," he stated. "But as I said, it's a sprint race.
Obviously disappointed not to be further up the grid, but really
happy for Kimi." The Mercedes driver still had enough to
out-qualify the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton,
and will start the sprint just behind Max Verstappen, who also set
his lap early. How soon do you think Kimi Antonelli will win his
first grand prix in F1? Let us know by voting below in the latest
poll by RacingNews365 .
