Antonelli takes US Grand Prix pole on weekend he can clinch title
Kimi Antonelli took pole position for the United States Grand Prix in Austin on the weekend on which he can potentially clinch his first world title. He beat Red Bull's Max Verstappen by 0.179 seconds, with Verstappen's team-mate Isack Hadjar a further 0.036secs adrift in third.
The 20-year-old Italian celebrated his first pole position since the Belgian Grand Prix in July and said: "It feels good to be back." Antonelli will become world champion on Sunday if he wins the race in Austin with Hamilton lower than fourth and Russell lower than eighth. Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth and George Russell will start sixth, ahead of the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
Qualifying produced the following top-10: 1. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 1:34.035; 2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.179; 3. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +0.215; 4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.232; 5. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.276; 6. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.441; 7. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.768; 8. Lando Norris (McLaren) +1.014; 9. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +2.014*; 10. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) no time. *Lindblad has five-place grid penalty.
"I wasn't expecting that," said Antonelli's engineer Peter Bonnington, emphasising that his charge's first lap in final qualifying was good enough for pole. Antonelli added: "We got pole so we will try to win tomorrow but Max has been very quick and Isack did an incredible job so it is not going to be easy. "We try to get a good start and hopefully lead into Turn One and try to set the pace, even though it's going to be very tight." Verstappen said: "Q3 was not good, Q1, Q2 were nice but for whatever reason in run one and two just didn't have a nice balance. No mistakes, just not enough grip. But if it's still a P2, I take it."
Ferrari had topped all three practice sessions, and Leclerc — fastest in second and third practice — was 0.232secs off Antonelli's pace and pipped Hamilton by 0.044secs in qualifying. Verstappen had been fourth quickest in Q2 despite being on used tyres but lacked the requisite grip in Q3. Russell was 0.441secs slower than his team-mate and the quickest McLaren was 0.768secs from pole despite an upgrade for the weekend; Norris's best lap time was deleted for breaching track limits.
The Racing Bulls pair occupied ninth and 10th on the timesheet, but Arvid Lindblad will be demoted five places because of a penalty for using too many engine parts; Liam Lawson recorded no time in Q3. The grid penalties and deleted lap times affected the final starting positions across the field.
The United States Grand Prix is scheduled for 25 October at 20:00 GMT, with live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live from 19:30 and live text updates available on the BBC Sport website and app.
Antonelli can clinch the world championship on Sunday if he wins in Austin with Hamilton finishing lower than fourth and Russell lower than eighth; Hamilton is already below that threshold after qualifying fifth while Russell will start sixth.