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Giles Richards
As inescapable as it is inexorable, everyone at Cadillac is aware the clock is ticking as they edge closer towards a moment of truth more than three years in the making. The expectation and anticipation for when the team, backed by General Motors, hits the grid as Formula One’s 11th entry for the first race of 2026 is ratcheting up with every passing second.
“Kimi Antonelli sprung the surprise of the season by taking pole position for Saturday’s sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix, the youngest F1 driver to do so. The Italian teenager, six rounds into his rookie campaign as a replacement for Lewis Hamilton, was born five years after the double world champion Fernando Alonso became the youngest F1 driver to take a pole position.”
Preamble
Pleasingly, there is an element of unpredictability in Formula One this season. Oscar Piastri unexpectedly leads the drivers’ championship for McLaren, having won three races out of five, while Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes snaffled pole position for the earlier sprint race in Miami.
The 18-year-old Italian said he was “over the moon” and “super, super happy” to secure that surprise pole, so that bit was predictable, at least. Here is Giles Richards’ report the race, that was won by Lando Norris:
The superior pace of the McLarens, driven by Norris and Piastri, may come to the fore again in qualifying as the grid is settled for tomorrow’s big race.
Qualifying starts at 9pm UK time
