Teen F1 leader Antonelli takes Miami pole as race start time changed

Threat of heavy rainstorm in Miami causes organisers to move up race start time to 17:00 GMT on Sunday.Championship-leading teenager Kimi Antonelli has claimed pole position for the Miami Grand Prix as the race’s start time was brought forward by three hours due to an expected heavy rainstorm.The 19-year-old Italian, the youngest title race leader in Formula One history, resisted a late charge by four-time champion Max Verstappen in a tense qualifying session on Saturday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Bahrain and Saudi F1 races set to be cancelled due to Middle East conflictlist 2 of 3Verstappen calls his Red Bull ‘undriveable’ after more F1 woes at Japan GPlist 3 of 3MotoGP postpones Qatar Grand Prix due to Middle East conflictend of listThe Mercedes driver produced a fastest lap of one minute 27.798 seconds to top the times ahead of Red Bull’s Verstappen with Charles Leclerc third quickest in his Ferrari.World champion Lando Norris, who won the sprint race earlier in the day, will start his McLaren from fourth in Sunday’s grid.It was Antonelli’s third pole and his third in consecutive races, a feat that draws him alongside great former champions Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher in the record books.His Mercedes teammate George Russell was fifth ahead of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Ferrari and Oscar Piastri, who was seventh in the second McLaren.Alpine’s Franco Colapinto was eighth ahead of Isack Hadjar in the second Red Bull and the second Alpine of Pierre Gasly.“It has been an amazing day for me to be on pole again,” Antonelli said.“It was obviously a difficult sprint for me earlier, but I am super happy with this recovery. I got a little too excited in that last lap in Q3, but my first lap was good enough.“I was so stressed because I was waiting for everyone to finish their laps, but it was good enough, and now, hopefully, I will have a magic start tomorrow.”Antonelli celebrates after winning the pole position [Charly Triballeau/AFP]‘Heavier rainstorms’The Miami Grand Prix will start at 1pm (17:00 GMT) rather than the previously scheduled 4pm (20:00 GMT) due to a forecast of extreme weather, including potential thunderstorms, officials announced on the eve of the race.