Kimi Antonelli claims pole position for United States Grand Prix

Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli has taken pole position for the upcoming United States Grand Prix, on a weekend where the 20-year-old could claim his maiden world drivers championship title. 

Feature image credit: By Courtesy of Pirelli

The US Grand Prix stands as a weekend where Antonelli could claim his maiden world championship title at the Circuit of the Americas, and the young Italian has put himself in the best position to make it a reality. 

Italy’s Antonelli claimed his seventh career pole position, his first since the Belgium Grand Prix, earlier this year, pipping both Red Bulls to the post. 

Mercedes’ championship contender put in a lap time of 1m 34.035 seconds, beating Verstappen by 0.179 seconds as the Dutchman went second fastest overall, bringing an end to his slight streak of pole positions (2), with Isack Hadjar finishing third overall.

So, how did Qualifying unfold?

Q1

Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas set the immediate pace, but he was quickly toppled by his teammate Sergio Perez, with the rest of the field slowly jumping up the order. Of the front runners, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was the first to set the competitive benchmark, a 1m 35.2s lap. 

Hamilton could not match it, nor could Verstappen, with the two jumping up to third and second, respectively, before Hadjar jumped to third. But, it was narrow margins early on, with Verstappen and Hadjar sitting within a tenth of Leclerc’s best time. 

The two Mercedes and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri were the only drivers to gamble on the medium compound tyres, with Kimi Antonelli leading George Russell and Piastri, from eighth to 10th, respectively. 

McLaren; however, opted to split their strategy with Lando Norris going out on track with the soft tyres. 

As most of the pack returned to the pits for the usual mid-third lull, the Medium runners remained out with Antonelli setting purple sectors but only besting fifth, 0.190s off Leclerc’s pace. Russell and Piastri could only improve to eighth and ninth. 

With two minutes remaining, the top five; Leclerc, Verstappen, Hadjar, Hamilton and Antonelli remained in their garages, with Lawson and Russell remaining in the pits believing themselves to be safe from the elimination zone. 

On the final lap of Q1, Norris jumped to the top of the timing boards with a 1m 35.029s, pipping Leclerc and Verstappen to the top of the timing boards. 

Q1 Elimination

22 – Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac +2.494s

21 – Sergio Perez, Cadillac +2.404s

20 – Alexander Albon, Williams +1.938s

19 – Carlos Sainz, Williams +1.741s

18 – Lance Stroll, Aston Martin +1.648s

17 – Esteban Ocon, Haas +1.502s

Pacesetter: Lando Norris, McLaren – 1m 35.029s

Hamilton sets pace in final practice of US Grand Prix

Q2

When the pit exit light turned green, it took a couple of minutes before anyone ventured out onto the track. But, when cars finally peeled out of the pit lane, Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto was the first to head out, followed by the two Ferrari’s and his teammate, Nico Hulkenberg. 

For the tyre selections, all of the medium tyre runners of Q1; Antonelli, Russell and Piastri, ventured back out onto the circuit with the red-walled soft tyres, meaning everyone was on the softest available compound. 

Of the banker laps, Verstappen set the pace with a 1m 34.471s time around COTA, which was 0.068 seconds faster than Norris and 0.285s quicker than third-placed Antonelli. 

With just less than five minutes left on the clock, the Audi duo were the first drivers to head out onto the track for their second runs of Q2, out of sync with the rest of the field. Bortoleto, who is set to start the race from the back of the field, tried his best to get Hulkenberg through to Q3 with a slip stream down the back straight. 

However, the Audi plan did not work out as planned as both of the German manufacturer’s cars found their time in qualifying brought to a premature end, finishing in 12th and 13th, with Hulkenberg and Bortoleto, respectively. The latter was promoted after Haas’ Oliver Bearman had his best lap deleted, dropping to 16th overall. 

Q2 Elimination:

16 – Oliver Bearman, Haas +1.833s

15 – Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin +1.620s

14 – Franco Colapinto, Alpine +1.524s

13 – Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi +1.493s

12 – Nico Hulkenberg, Audi +0.960s

11 – Pierre Gasly, Alpine +0.882s

Pacesetter: Charles Leclerc, Ferrari – 1m 34.198s

Hards to play ‘limited role’ at F1 United States Grand Prix with one-stop likely

Q3

At the start of the final third of qualifying, the Mercedes pair – led by Russell – pulled out onto the track first with the Red Bull pair following them out, ahead of the rest of the remaining 10 drivers. 

Additionally, Racing Bull’s Liam Lawson was seen climbing out of their car just as Q3 began. The Kiwi driver was suspected to have retired from qualifying and will start, at best, ninth, after his teammate, Arvid Lindbld takes his five place grid penalty. 

The New Zealander finished qualifying in 10th, without a time set against his name. 

With the banker laps in, Antonelli set the pace, going faster than both Red Bulls by 0.179, standing in as the gap between Mercedes’ young Italian and Red Bull’s current four-time world champion. 

Similarly as to how the final third started, Mercedes were leading the group back out onto the track for the final time – bar Lawson and Lindblad, who remained in their respective garages. 

By the chequered flag, in a potential title-winning weekend, Antonelli checked out of his final lap after a moment of oversteer in the final sector of the lap. But no one was able to topple the young Italian to claim pole position ahead of the two Red Bull’s of Verstappen and Hadjar, who took second and third. 

Top 10

10 – Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls – No Time Set

9 – Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls +2.014s

8 – Lando Norris, McLaren +1.014s

7 – Oscar Piastri, McLaren +0.768s

6 – George Russell, Mercedes +0.441s

5 – Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari +0.276s

4 – Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +0.232s

3 – Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing +0.215s

2 – Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing +0.179s

1 – Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes – 1m 34.035s

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