During qualifying in Miami
Like Senna and Schumacher: Antonelli is making history
May 3, 2026 – 1:31 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
With his third pole position in a row, Kimi Antonelli joins a list that so far only knows two names. Now the 19-year-old has to overcome a well-known problem at the start.
With first place on the grid at the Miami Grand Prix, 19-year-old Kimi Antonelli became the first driver since Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna to take his first three pole positions on three consecutive Grand Prix weekends. Schumacher achieved this feat in 1994, Senna in 1985.
For World Championship leader Antonelli, a good start to the race is now the big challenge. It is a constant throughout the Mercedes driver’s career that he loses positions in the first few meters. In the sprint, the Italian quickly fell from second to fifth place. However, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff then spoke of a mistake by the racing team, which had to calibrate the clutch correctly.
“Hopefully it will magically work out. It would be nice if we didn’t lose any positions, but we will do our best,” said Antonelli. However, Mercedes is not having an easy race weekend. The competition has brought large upgrade packages to the USA. Antonelli’s racing team is only planning to make significant improvements to the car in Canada in three weeks.
Wolff now said of his driver’s qualifying performance: “The first lap was really something special. He was three or more tenths ahead of the next-placed driver.” The Austrian described it as “spectacular”. “That meant he secured pole”. On the next fast lap it was “typical Kimi” – he wanted too much and messed up the lap.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen raced into second place on the grid – his best qualifying result of the season. The Red Bull driver explained: “Certainly the car hasn’t been particularly good in the last few races, but I’ve never felt comfortable with the car’s set-up either. In the last few weeks, the team has done everything they can to make upgrades to the car and make me feel better in many areas.”
All of this is really paying off, says Verstappen: “I have better control of the car again and can therefore accelerate a little more. So the upgrades are working.” According to his own statement, he finally sees “light at the end of the tunnel”. After a difficult start to the season, we’re just starting to get going.
