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Here is the transcript of the post 2025 Miami Grand Prix Qualifying parc fermé interviews and press conference with Kimi Antonelli.
PARC FERMÉ INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Martin Brundle)
Q: Kimi, another outstanding performance in your rookie season, top three. You were on pole for the Sprint. I mean you must be so satisfied. So pleased with what you’re achieving this weekend.
Kimi ANTONELLI: Yeah, I mean, this weekend is going well so far. Was a bit disappointing this morning, but it was good to bounce back this way and yeah, I struggled a little bit during the quali. I didn’t have such a clean run like I had yesterday. But yeah, that last lap was quite good. I was a bit too greedy in Turn 1 starting the lap, but the rest of the lap was quite good, so I’m happy with it.
Q: I think it was more than quite good. You split the mighty McLarens to put yourself right in contention.
KA: Yeah, I mean, it’s definitely… the gaps are super tight and definitely, you know, if you can gain just few hundredths, you can make up so many places. So it’s really about putting everything together. And so far this weekend, I’m doing that and yeah, hopefully tomorrow we can have a good race.
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PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Very well done. Thank you for that. Kimi, great to see you in the top three qualifying press conference. You’ve been flying all weekend. Let’s just start by talking about that last run in Q3. How good was it?
Kimi ANTONELLI: It was quite OK. I struggled a little bit during the qualifying. I felt like I didn’t have such a clean run as yesterday’s Sprint Quali. I struggled more today to put the tyre in the right window and to extract the best out of it during the whole lap. I think the last lap was a bit better on that side, still not amazing, but really happy with the result.
Q: Kimi, you’ve been the faster of the two Mercedes drivers all weekend. That must be very encouraging for you. But just from a performance point of view, have you unleashed something in the car that means you’re happier in it now?
KA: Definitely. I mean, every weekend is learning and experience and more confidence with the car as well. So really, really happy with how every weekend I’m more able to play a lot more with the car and trying to explore the limit as well. So far this weekend I felt really good in the car. So that’s definitely a positive. And hopefully tomorrow we can do a good race.
Q: Tell us a little bit more about your goals for tomorrow. The Sprint obviously this morning was disappointing in the end. What is your target for the Miami Grand Prix?
KA: I don’t really want to say because it always goes terribly wrong! So I’m just going try to have a good start and then try to set a good pace and stay with Max and Lando. It’s not going to be easy of course, but we’ll see , first of all, how’s the weather, because there are some thunderstorms probably, so that might not be really nice. But yeah, let’s just see how the weather is going to be and then we’ll try to do our best with what we have. Definitely also in FP1 we did quite a long run, so we were able to collect good data on the dry and hopefully we can have a good pace in the race.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Sahil Kapur – NBC) Kimi, your pace was very strong in both quali sessions. How much of it do you see as track specific? Is this track just clicking for you really well or have you unlocked something in that Mercedes that we should expect to see more of in the tracks that you know better coming up?
KA: Well, I don’t know. I did FP1 and I felt good and I was able to push the car more to the limit. I think that is down a lot to also experience and confidence. I think also having a week break after a triple-header was really helpful as well for myself to gather all the information. So definitely a lot of experience, also understanding how to extract more out of the tyre during the whole lap—something I haven’t been doing well during the season. There’s still room for improvement, but yeah, I feel better and better in the car every weekend. So hopefully after this weekend, we’re going to European tracks, tracks that I know well, and hopefully I can maintain the same pace or even go faster.
Q: (Nate Saunders – ESPN) Next question for Lando and Max. You’ve got Kimi with you today. He was on pole yesterday, third place again today. What do you both make of what he’s been doing, not just across the season, but this weekend and at such a young age?
Max VERSTAPPEN: I’m not surprised. But again, when you just start in Formula 1, there’s so much to learn and to already be at this pace is very impressive. But I’m not surprised at the same time. He’ll only get better, to be honest. It’s as simple as that.
Lando NORRIS: I think I’ve fed his ego enough! I mean, similar thing. He’s in Formula 1 for a reason. Everything else he did in his car racing career has been very strong. He’s got a very good team-mate that beat Lewis over the last couple of years. So if he’s now able to beat that team-mate, being George, then he’s clearly doing a very good job.
KA: Too kind!
Q: (Scott Mitchell-Malm – The Race) Kimi, you’ve learned so much over these first few weekends. How much did you learn from the start of the Sprint race earlier? Do you still feel on review that you were unfairly pushed wide, or when you’ve looked at it, do you think there were things that you could have done differently into Turn 1?
KA: Well, I mean it was very on the limit, to be honest. My second phase on the start was not good. I broke traction, so that allowed Oscar to come alongside. Then obviously I started turning because the corner was there, and probably we were both on the limit on braking and eventually we touched and then I went wide and lost many places. But yeah, definitely tomorrow it’s going to be a bit of a different story because I’m starting second row. Definitely a lot learned from that start.
Source: FIA.com
