Antonelli clinches pole position for Japanese Grand Prix ahead of Russell and Piastri

Kimi Antonelli is driving in a different stratosphere, and it seems difficult for anyone to catch up with Mercedes driver. Kimi stormed to pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix, the Italian following up on his maiden pole last time out in China to put himself at the front of the grid ahead of Mercedes teammate George Russell.

Just two weeks after becoming the sport’s youngest-ever polesitter, the 19-year-old repeated the feat at the Suzuka Circuit by beating his Mercedes teammate George Russell by nearly three tenths in Q3.

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After looking on the pace throughout Qualifying, Antonelli continued that form by securing provisional pole on his first run in Q3 – and while he failed to improve on his final lap, the youngster had done enough to secure P1 on the grid with his time of 1m 28.778s.

“Super happy with the session,” said Antonelli. “It was a good one, a clean one. I felt very good in the car and every run I was just improving and improving. It was a shame for the last lap because I had a lock-up in Turn 11, but it was a good one as well. Really happy with the session and now we’ll focus on tomorrow,” he added.

Kimi Antonelli took pole position at the Japanese GP ahead of George Russell and Oscar Piastri at the Suzuka Circuit on Saturday

Russell could not match the other Silver Arrows car and had to settle for P2, ending the session 0.298s adrift, while Oscar Piastri proved to be the pair’s closest competitor in third for McLaren. Charles Leclerc had also looked on for a strong lap but suffered a snap of oversteer on his last effort, leaving the Ferrari racer in fourth.

Lando Norris placed in fifth for McLaren, ahead of the other Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton, while Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad completed the top 10.

The big story from Qualifier 2 was the exit of Max Verstappen, the Red Bull driver’s run of consecutive pole positions across the last four years at Suzuka coming to an end as he found himself eliminated in P11, having reported that his car was “completely undriveable”.

From pole to finish, Antonelli reigns supreme as he bags maiden F1 victory in China

Haas’ Esteban Ocon also missed out on the top 10 shootout in 12th, as did Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg (13th), Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson (14th), the Alpine of Franco Colapinto (15th), and Carlos Sainz, who made it past Q1 for the first time this season in the Williams (16th).

There was a surprise in Qualifier 1 when Ollie Bearman dropped out of the session, the Haas driver exiting in P18 behind the Williams of Alex Albon. Also eliminated in the opening segment were the Cadillac cars of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas in 19th and 20th, followed by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll at the rear of the pack.

Antonelli targets second GP win

Antonelli will now be hoping to avoid small errors that have occasionally impacted his performance at times, such as his crash in FP3 at the season opener in Australia as well as a poor start and time penalty in the China Sprint and target his second Grand Prix victory.

George Russell could not match the other Silver Arrows car and had to settle for P2. Pics: formula1.com 

With eight of the last 12 events in Japan having been won from pole position, there is a strong chance that a clean race could see him could leapfrog Russell and take an early lead in the Drivers’ Championship Standings.

Reflecting on how he has hit the ground running this season, with a P2 and win already under his belt, he said: “For sure I was able to build momentum already from the Melbourne race, and then China was continuing to build momentum.

“It’s just trying to keep this momentum and keep on trying to improve and squeeze a bit of performance every time without overdoing it. I think overall I’m getting a good feeling with the car.

“Of course there’s still work to do, especially on maximising the PU but it was good. I’m really happy with that,” he stated.