Young Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli has made Formula 1 history at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Antonelli stormed to pole position during Saturday’s qualifying session for the Chinese Grand Prix, becoming the youngest pole sitter in the history of the sport. The Italian driver, aged 19 years, six months, and 18 days, eclipsed a record set by Sebastian Vettel, when the legendary driver took his maiden pole position at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix.
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He is also the first Italian driver to take an F1 pole position since Giancarlo Fisichella at the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix.
The young driver was left almost without words after the session.
“I don’t know,“ said Antonelli when asked about breaking Vettel’s mark. ”I feel, yeah, I mean, I’m very happy, I’m very happy because at the end, you know, it’s just the beginning, so obviously there’s a lot more to come. And yeah, really looking forward to tomorrow and, you know, the car is feeling really good, the car is strong, so yeah, a lot to play for tomorrow, but yeah, just super happy with today.“
On the other side of the garage George Russell, who took the win in the F1 Sprint race earlier in the day, recovered from a mechanical issue to secure P2, locking out the front row for Mercedes for the third time this season. Russell called the qualifying hour a matter of “damage limitation” for him.
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“Yeah, definitely damage limitation. I mean, in Q2 the front wing broke. We were wrapping our heads around that. Then obviously went out in Q3, stopped on track, car wasn’t restarting, couldn’t change gear. And then, just really happy to be standing here because, you know, starting the last lap I had no battery, no tyre temp, no nothing. So, the team have done a really great job to get us into this position. It could have been much worse, so very glad. And well done to this guy [Antonelli], first pole as well,“ said Russell.
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc locked out the second row for Ferrari, while Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris locked out the third row for McLaren.
Here are the full provisional qualifying results for the Chinese Grand Prix:
Row
Position
Driver
Team
Position
Driver
Team
Row 1
1
Kimi Antonelli
Mercedes
2
George Russell
Mercedes
Row 2
3
Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari
4
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
Row 3
5
Oscar Piastri
McLaren
6
Lando Norris
McLaren
Row 4
7
Pierre Gasly
Alpine
8
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
Row 5
9
Isack Hadjar
Red Bull
10
Oliver Bearman
Haas
Row 6
11
Nico Hülkenberg
Audi
12
Franco Colapinto
Alpine
Row 7
13
Esteban Ocon
Haas
14
Liam Lawson
VCARB
Row 8
15
Arvid Lindblad
VCARB
16
Gabriel Bortoleto
Audi
Row 9
17
Carlos Sainz Jr.
Williams
18
Alexander Albon
Williams
Row 10
19
Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin
20
Valtteri Bottas
Cadillac
Row 11
21
Lance Stroll
Aston Martin
22
Sergio Pérez
Cadillac