Rookie Antonelli, 18, youngest to take F1 pole

Kimi Antonelli passed his driving test earlier this year

Miami Grand Prix

Venue: Miami International Autodrome Dates: 2-4 May Race start: 21:00 BST on Sunday

Coverage: Live commentary of sprint race and qualifying online; race on BBC Radio 5 Live from 20:00 BST and live text updates on BBC Sport website and app

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli became the youngest driver to take a Formula 1 pole position in the sprint event at the Miami Grand Prix.

The 18-year-old beat McLaren's Oscar Piastri, the championship leader, by 0.045 seconds. The second McLaren of Lando Norris was third ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, just 0.055secs behind his team-mate.

Antonelli's team-mate George Russell was fifth fastest, 0.309secs slower than the Italian rookie.

It was an outstanding performance from Antonelli, the first time he has beaten Russell in qualifying this season, and the first time he has shown a glimpse of the huge potential Mercedes believed they saw in him when they chose him to replace Lewis Hamilton for this year.

Antonelli has taken a steady approach to the start of his career before this weekend, keen not to make a big mistake that could hurt his weekend.

But at the Hard Rock Stadium he looked sure-footed and accomplished from the start of practice and carried that form into qualifying.

"I am over the moon," he said. "I did not expect it.

"I was feeling good in the car. I was able to improve lap by lap and find that consistency and that gap came all together. I am super happy with that. We will enjoy this moment but I want to focus on tomorrow because I really want to try to repeat myself."

Antonelli embraced his father Marco in the Mercedes garage as the team celebrated his achievement wildly.

"It was really nice and also to find him in the garage after qualifying," Antonelli added.

"I am super-happy to share this moment with him. It is so important to me, he is like a rock. I can always rely on him. I would like to share it with my mum and sister as well but hopefully next time."

Starting the sprint from pole gives him a big opportunity to convert it into a first win, given the power of clear air in F1.

Antonelli's previous highest grid position this season was fifth.

Piastri, 10 points ahead of Norris in the championship heading into this weekend, said he believed a lock-up at the last corner on his final lap had cost him pole.

Norris, who crashed in qualifying at the last race in Saudi Arabia, said: "Close qualifying. It felt good, happy just to get a good lap in there.

"Today's performance was in a good ballpark, not good enough but shows how close it is and how quick the Mercedes are. Close enough that we can still aim for a pole tomorrow."

Antonelli's impressive 0.309secs margin over Russell came despite the Briton joining Verstappen in being the only driver to use two sets of tyres over two runs in the final session. Everyone else waited in the pits while they went out and did just one lap.

The idea behind the strategy, which is tight in terms of planning because of the fast turnaround needed in the pits after the first lap, is to allow the driver to record a 'banker' lap and then go all out on the second.

But it worked for neither. Russell did not improve on his second lap, and while Verstappen did, he was 0.255secs slower than Antonelli and 0.21secs off Piastri.

Verstappen, who arrived in Miami late following the birth of his first child, said: "What we did in Q3 was good, the tyres are holding on quite well, but from P1 struggling with a lot of understeer in the car and with all the low-speed corners, you lose quite a bit of lap time."

His lack of pace came despite a new floor this weekend as the team seek improved performance.

Verstappen added: "In the first sector we were quite competitive because that's where a few high-speed corners are but as soon as you get to the low speed we lack quite a bit of grip. P4 is all right, you have to be realistic with the limitations we have at the moment and it was still quite close."

Russell said: "Massive congrats to Kimi. He did an amazing job. He has been really quick all day, really impressive.

"I have been struggling a little bit, not that comfortable, and we wanted to go early because I didn't have that confidence. P5 is not great but amazing (result) for Kimi and the team."

Hamilton, who won the first sprint of the season in China from pole position, was seventh fastest, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc. It was an improvement for Hamilton after a dire past three races, but he was still 0.222secs off his team-mate.

Neither Ferrari driver was happy. "It was a better session," Hamilton said, "but we are just lacking speed. Keep working on it."

Williams' Alex Albon, Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso completed the top 10, only the second time the two-time champion's team has made it that high up this season, after team-mate Lance Stroll achieved it in the sprint in China.

Albon's team-mate Carlos Sainz should also have been in the top 10 but he made a mistake on his final lap in the second session and will line up 15th.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was knocked out in the first session and will start the sprint 18th.

The Japanese complained of being held up by a car coming out of the pits on his first lap, and he did not get around his warm-up lap in time to complete a second run.

Fernando Alonso was among those to congratulate Max Verstappen on the birth of his daughter Lily

The youngest driver to take pole position for a full grand prix is Sebastian Vettel, at the 2008 Italian GP at Monza when he was 21 years and two months old