Kimi Antonelli made history in Formula 1 by taking pole position for the Chinese GP, becoming the youngest driver to achieve the feat. The Italian revealed that the key to the decisive lap was staying calm even in the face of the situation involving his teammate, George Russell.
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The Mercedes driver secured the first position on the starting grid with a time of 1min32s064 in Shanghai. The mark ended up being enough to ensure pole after Russell, the last to complete his lap in Q3, finished 0s222 behind the time set by the young Italian.
With the result, Antonelli broke a record that had belonged to Sebastian Vettel since 2008. The Italian took pole at 19 years, 6 months and 18 days, surpassing the mark set by the German at that year’s Italian GP, when he was 21 years, 2 months and 11 days old.
In addition to becoming the youngest pole sitter in Formula 1 history, Antonelli also put an Italian driver back in the top spot of the grid after many years. The last time an Italian had taken pole in a World Championship Grand Prix was in 2009, when Giancarlo Fisichella achieved the feat at the Belgian GP.
The pole achieved in Shanghai also represents the 49th in history for Italian drivers in Formula 1. For Antonelli, the result was the consequence of a very clean session without errors.
“It was a very clean session, so I’m very happy,” the Mercedes driver stated after qualifying. According to him, the consistent performance throughout the session was decisive for the final result.
The Italian also commented on the situation involving Russell during the decisive phase of qualifying. The Briton had a problem in the early laps of Q3 and ended up with only one attempt to set a time.
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Antonelli believes it would have been interesting to see his teammate with one more fast lap available. Even so, he stayed focused on his own performance.
“George had a problem, so it would have been nice to see him with two attempts, but it was still a very good session,” he said.
The young driver highlighted that emotional control was fundamental to seizing the opportunity and securing the historic pole. Upon noticing the setback faced by Russell, Antonelli chose to maintain concentration on his own lap.
“I saw that George had a problem, but I just tried to stay focused, stay calm and deliver a good lap,” he explained.
With the qualifying result, Antonelli starts in first position at the Chinese GP and heads into the race with high expectations. The Italian stated that the error-free session gives him confidence for the contest that will define the winner of the Shanghai round.
Read more F1: Antonelli secures historic pole position at the Chinese GP
