Antonelli takes first pole as Russell fights Q3 issue

Kimi Antonelli became Formula 1’s youngest polesitter after setting the fastest time in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, as George Russell qualified second despite encountering a powertrain issue early in Q3.

While attempting to clinch back-to-back poles, Russell came to a stop on track and, while he was able to get the car going again, he was unable to change gear. The Briton thus had to limp back to the pits, opening the door to a different polesitter this time around.

Antonelli opened his account in Q3 with a 1m32.322s, and later improved to a 1m32.064s to set a difficult benchmark for the other drivers to beat.

Lewis Hamilton initially got closest and set a time 0.315s off, but Russell was able to get back onto the road for one final last-minute lap. Thus, Antonelli faced an agonising wait – one that paid off as Russell went 0.222s slower to lock out the front row for Mercedes.

Hamilton and Charles Leclerc claimed the second row for Ferrari, while the McLarens were both on row three; Oscar Piastri led Norris by 0.06s in the battle for fifth on the grid.

Pierre Gasly interrupted the Noah’s Ark nature of the grid by outqualifying the two Red Bulls, which endured something of a struggle as Max Verstappen was almost a second shy of pole. The Dutchman took eighth, ahead of team-mate Isack Hadjar and Haas’ Oliver Bearman.

Nico Hulkenberg missed out on Q2 by just 0.002s, while Franco Colapinto was another 0.003s behind as the two just missed out on the opportunity to prise Hadjar out of the top 10.

Esteban Ocon was 13th fastest, but his attempts to improve were denied by a late yellow flag; this also affected Racing Bulls pair Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, who fell out in Q2 too. Lindblad had evaded elimination in Q1 after pitting with an issue, but the rookie was given the all-clear to continue.

The culprit for the yellow flag was Gabriel Bortoleto, who looked set to improve from 16th before suffering a lurid spin at the final corner. As the rear locked up, the Audi driver was pitched into a uncontrollable slide towards the barrier – although the gravel trap slowed him down enough to result in only a minor hit with the wall.

Carlos Sainz briefly looked to have made it into Q2 and moved up to 14th after his final lap, but soon began a slide back into the drop zone when Lindblad, Colapinto and Bortoleto all improved on their laps.

Thus, the same six cars were eliminated in both sprint and grand prix qualifying; Alex Albon also dropped out, decrying his session as “terrible” as Williams’ struggles continued.

Fernando Alonso booked 19th on the grid, while Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas outqualified Lance Stroll. Sergio Perez, who has been suffering with reliability issues all weekend, propped up the order.

Chinese Grand Prix – Starting grid

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– The Autosport.com Team