By Alan Baldwin
MIAMI, May 1 (Reuters) – Formula One world champion Lando Norris took pole position for Saturday’s Miami Grand Prix sprint race with Mercedes’ title leader Kimi Antonelli second fastest to deny McLaren a one-two on the starting grid.
Norris lapped the Hard Rock Stadium with a best time of one minute 27.869 seconds, beating last year’s teenage sprint pole sitter by 0.222.
Australian teammate Oscar Piastri will line up third with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc alongside on the second row.
The main grand prix, fourth round of the season, is on Sunday.
“A perfect result for us. A nice way to reward the team,” said Norris, who won last year’s sprint and finished second to Piastri in the Sunday race.
“We have a lot of new upgrades on the car. It’s nice to feel some grip again and to reward the guys and the girls that have put a lot of work into this,” he added.
“I’ve always loved Miami on and off the track. It’s the beginning of the weekend, so still a long way to go but nice to tick things off by doing this.”
McLaren have won the last two Miami Grands Prix, a race now in its fifth edition and that Mercedes — triumphant in the first three rounds of the season — have yet to win.
Norris is the first driver to beat Mercedes to a pole of any sorts this season, and he said it showed the heavily upgraded car had moved in the right direction with more grip.
Sunday’s race, the first of the year in the United States, is also the first since the new engine rules were tweaked to allow more flat out racing in qualifying and to improve safety.
Red Bull’s four-times world champion Max Verstappen qualified fifth fastest for a 100km race that pays out eight points to the winner.
Mercedes’ George Russell, second in the standings but nine points behind Antonelli, was sixth and ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto at a track where overtaking has been easier than most.
“Pretty surprising how big a jump McLaren and Ferrari made. That’s pretty damn impressive,” said Russell, winner of the opener in Australia.
“From my side, I’ve been struggling. Miami is not a track I love, especially in those hotter conditions but it’s only Sprint Qualifying, so let’s see what tomorrow brings.”
Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completed the top 10.
Aston Martin’s dismal season continued with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll bringing up the rear, behind newcomers Cadillac once again.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
