New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\nThis year that unwanted baton was picked up by Andrea Kimi Antoenlli.<\/p>\n
The title leader\u2019s session was less than 10 minutes old when he clobbered the apex barrier at Turn 1.<\/p>\n
His suspension shattered instantly, but it took considerably longer for him to accept that he was done for the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe better park up, mate. We\u2019re not going to be able to fix that,\u201d he was told by engineer Peter Bonnington.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sure?\u201d he replied desperately.<\/p>\n
\u201cAffirm, stop at a safe place.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me try, mate. Let me try\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t fix this, mate.\u201d<\/p>\n
He limped to turn 7 and parked in the run-off zone, where he was forced to watch the rest of the session from behind the fence.<\/p>\n
For an hour he was alone with his thoughts as he watched his teammate obliterate every other driver and exact maximum punishment on the Italian.<\/p>\n
Penny for your thoughts, Kimi.<\/p>\n
Hadjar re-signs ahead of F1 return | 01:22<\/p>\n
WHAT\u2019S BEHIND ANTONELLI\u2019S RARE MISTAKE?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to know what\u2019s more shocking: that Antonelli made a mistake at the lowest-stakes moment of qualifying or that he made a mistake at all.<\/p>\n
You\u2019d have plenty of fingers spare if you were to attempt to count his mistakes for the season to date.<\/p>\n
His massive crash in FP3 in Australia wasn\u2019t the scene-setter it might have looked like at the time. Between then and now perhaps his biggest error was mistaking single yellow flags for double yellows in qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
He hasn\u2019t been flawless by any stretch, but he\u2019s been pretty close.<\/p>\n
What stands Baku apart, though, is how scrappy a build-up he\u2019s had to the weekend.<\/p>\n
He lost all his useful FP1 running to a hydraulics problem and lost half of FP2 to delays changing his engine. FP3 was his only uninterrupted session.<\/p>\n
That sort of interrupted running can be extremely costly at street tracks, where confidence is so important \u2014 and confidence only comes from seat time.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s particularly true given how quickly the circuit was gripping up in qualifying \u2014 and predicting the grip level is part of the work of practice, and Antonelli just didn\u2019t have that background knowledge.<\/p>\n
But all that said, this was to be his first representative flying lap in Q1. This wasn\u2019t the moment to be taking risks \u2014 and this was no small graze of the barriers.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery unnecessary mistake,\u201d Antonelli admitted. \u201cObviously I misjudged with the grip being so different compared to the first lap.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a good way to come back to earth and to remind myself that I need to be on top of it every time, because otherwise I do these mistakes and a very stupid one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Antonelli has developed a reputation for being at the limit at all times. Even with his considerable championship margin, he\u2019s given no indication that he\u2019s going to start counting points.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a strategy that\u2019s worked for him all season, and given the quality of his car and the high probability that he\u2019ll score heavily even from 16th on the grid, there\u2019s a good chance the strategy will still be working for him come Saturday night.<\/p>\n
But as Piastri can tell you, to close out a championship is to walk a fine line, even from a position of strength.<\/p>\n
How he responds to this moment and recalibrates for the final run of races could yet be very important.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to tomorrow,\u201d he said. \u201cHopefully we can recover many places. The car is quick. We\u2019re ready to do our best. Hopefully tomorrow is going to be a good race.\u201d<\/p>\n
F1 stars set to race in Bathurst?! | 03:54<\/p>\n
IS THIS THE BREAKTHROUGH RUSSELL HAS FINALLY BEEN LOOKING FOR?<\/p>\n
Russell\u2019s last few pole positions have been last-lap wonders that appeared to come from nowhere, the Englishman digging deep to find there was more pace on the table.<\/p>\n
This time, though, he clearly knew what he had in hand, and in the words of deputy principal Bradley Lord, he \u201clet it all hang out on that final lap\u201d.<\/p>\n
He topped two of the three practice sessions. Then he topped all three qualifying segments.<\/p>\n
His final lap comprised three purple sectors. He was faster than every other driver at every other part of the circuit.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been feeling in a great spot this whole weekend,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom FP1 I felt confident, I felt hooked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just getting more and more on top of this car and what it requires, and it\u2019s just all feeling more intuitive.\u201d<\/p>\n
But even he couldn\u2019t have expected to destroy everyone so comprehensively.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt very confident we were in the running for pole, but when I crossed the line and I saw the gap, I was shocked.\u201d<\/p>\n
As much as this result is an outlier \u2014 it\u2019s the biggest pole margin of the season and the biggest since Max Verstappen\u2019s pole in the wet in Canada in 2023 \u2014 it\u2019s also part of a trend.<\/p>\n
Russell has been closer to the pace since the mid-season break. He\u2019s outqualified Antonelli 3-1, and though he hasn\u2019t beaten his teammate in any grand prix in that time, he\u2019s generally been a much better match than he was when he, say, finished seventh in Hungary before the break.<\/p>\n
\u201cMe and my team have put so much work in to help me get on top of the limitations, and I think since the summer break it\u2019s been great,\u201d he said. \u201cThe performance has been substantially better than the results have shown \u2014 it\u2019s three front-row starts in the four races since the break. I\u2019m very pleased with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He wouldn\u2019t admit it, but it would surely feel only sweeter that he\u2019s pulled it all together at a weekend his teammate has fumbled his chance.<\/p>\n
But isn\u2019t it too little too late, with 81 points to make up in up to nine grands prix?<\/p>\n
\u201cI still keep on believing and keep on fighting until it isn\u2019t possible anymore, but I don\u2019t feel any pressure,\u201d Russell said. \u201cI feel excitement every time I jump in the car now, purely because I feel more confident in myself.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen that confidence starts to build, it\u2019s just like this upward cycle.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the flip side, when you\u2019re on the back foot, you start losing that confidence and then you start pushing the limits more, and that\u2019s when mistakes happen \u2014 but he\u2019s been flawless this season. It\u2019s the first mistake he\u2019s made in a qualifying or race this whole year. Let\u2019s see tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is that the slightest of hints of a hopefully psychological game?<\/p>\n
2027 Aussie Grand Prix gets sprint race | 01:29<\/p>\n
PIASTRI BOUNCES BACK DESPITE NORRIS ASTERISK<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not quite the front-row start of 2024, but given where McLaren started the weekend \u2014 \u201cMiles off,\u201d Lando Norris said on Thursday \u2014 Oscar Piastri will certainly take third place.<\/p>\n
Though he was an ice age behind Russell, he was only 0.001s slower than Charles Leclerc, who will start on the front row.<\/p>\n
Considering the lack of pace during practice \u2014 not to mention the breaking parts that kept both McLaren drivers garaged for parts of Thursday \u2014 it\u2019s quite the turnaround.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve not been particularly quick,\u201d Piastri said. \u201cWe\u2019re also running cable ties on our car through Friday, which is never a great sign, so it\u2019s been a little bit of a tricky one for us.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s not the first time this year, I feel like, that we get to qualifying, we take all the fuel out and the car just comes alive more.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy with how we\u2019ve tried to evolve this weekend. It\u2019s certainly not been easy to get the most out of this car around here with how much you have to push and, obviously, the consequences, so to end up P3 is a really good result.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also of course the comparison to Norris to consider.<\/p>\n
The trend at McLaren has been decisively against Piastri and towards his title-winning teammate in recent months. While Norris has felt immediately at home in the upgraded McLaren, which has allowed him to fight for poles and wins again, Piastri\u2019s difficulties adjusting to this year\u2019s rules have instead been exposed.<\/p>\n
McLaren boss Andrea Stella has said the team has been attempting to help him adjust, in much the same way it assisted Norris last year, and speaking to reporters on Friday night, the team principal said the signs were good.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe certainly has made some adaptations from a technical point of view,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut above all I think Oscar is also just adapting to his mindset. Oscar, when he\u2019s fast, his data is very clean \u2014 it\u2019s like he finds a way of driving the car that is fast but in a way is also nice.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks like you can\u2019t be too nice with the cars, or at least with the McLaren, with the current regulations.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully we will keep developing the car and make it just faster and a little bit more driver-friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Norris, however, insists there\u2019s an asterisk on his qualifying result, which left him starting fifth on the grid after running off the road at turn 3.<\/p>\n
\u201cOscar\u2019s P3. I think P2 was possible,\u201d he told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just we\u2019re a long, long way off, especially my car \u2014 it\u2019s just a long way off on the straights.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s limiting because there\u2019s a lot of straight here. It\u2019s painful, but there\u2019s nothing I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
A look at the telemetry does show Norris shipping time whenever he\u2019s on full throttle in Q3 \u2014 he arrives at the first turn already 0.025s down, for example, and then loses 0.115s between turns 2 and 3, as just a couple of examples.<\/p>\n
Stella acknowledged this was likely due to a fuel injection problem, and he suggested it could be fixed for the race.<\/p>\n
But just as McLaren will take an unexpectedly good result after practice, Piastri will take his well-executed qualifying performance and try to build on that in the race \u2014 and in the coming rounds.<\/p>\n
CARNAGE as Max takes on 100 drivers | 02:04<\/p>\n
DID VERSTAPPEN MISS A SHOT AT THE FRONT ROW?<\/p>\n
Norris wasn\u2019t the only driver who felt he should\u2019ve been on the front row.<\/p>\n
Max Verstappen stunned in final practice by pipping Russell to top spot, immediately tearing up the expectations set the day before, when Mercedes looked in total control.<\/p>\n
Verstappen\u2019s pace also didn\u2019t evaporate during qualifying, the Dutchman lapping second to Russell in both Q1 and Q2.<\/p>\n
But underneath the car, there were problems bubbling that meant he was never going to make himself a genuine pole contender.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlready from Q1 my engine is just half a second down on the straights compared to my teammate and you can\u2019t understand why,\u201d he said. \u201cSo you\u2019re just on the back foot.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen in Q3 in my middle lap, exiting the final corner, my battery just didn\u2019t charge to 100 per cent, so I had to abort the lap, which means you lose tyre temp, and around here that\u2019s killing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried to put as much temp in it, tried to push on the final lap, of course being down on top speed.\u201d<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll never know how competitive that final lap could have been, however, because Norris ran off the road at turn 3 and caused a yellow flag.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole weekend we are running really well, the car was feeling well, and then we run into so much trouble in qualifying,\u201d Verstappen lamented.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking at George\u2019s lap I don\u2019t think we would have fought for pole but there was a big gap behind and we should have slotted into that easily.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when you have that many issues, you also don\u2019t deserve to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The string of issues left Verstappen eighth on the grid, his second equal worst qualifying result \u2014 and it was just the third time this season he\u2019s been outqualified by teammate Isack Hadjar.<\/p>\n
Red Bull Racing is contemplating swapping a previously used engine into Verstappen\u2019s car to solve the problem and restore some pace for the race.<\/p>\n
It would be bold to think he could beat Russell, but the Red Bull Racing car looked genuinely competitive in FP3, when it appeared to have a trimmed-out rear wing to boost straight-line speed.<\/p>\n
That at least should help Verstappen with overtaking \u2014 and he\u2019ll need to do quite a bit of that tonight to recovery from his Friday disaster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It all feels a bit familiar, doesn\u2019t it. A title leader seemingly in cruise control turning up to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":905439,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":["post-905438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=905438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905438\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/905439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=905438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=905438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=905438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790373012_609_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n