Mercedes F1 driver Kimi Antonelli made history during qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix after becoming the youngest ever Formula 1 pole sitter.
The 19-year-old prodigy snatched the record away from none other than Sebastian Vettel.
It was supposed to be George Russell’s day as the championship leader arrived in China looking like the man to beat, but his Q3 session went south fast with Russell complaining about his front wing acting up.
Then his Silver Arrow decided to take an unscheduled nap on track right as the session heated up. Mercedes’ mechanics performed a minor miracle to get him back out for one final flyer, but he couldn’t quite overhaul his teenage teammate. Russell ended up P2, a tenth and a half (0.222s to be exact) shy of the kid on the other side of the garage.
Lewis Hamilton proved there’s still plenty of life in the seven-time champ, snagging P3 for Ferrari. He managed to outpace his teammate Charles Leclerc, though both Prancing Horses were over three-tenths back from Antonelli’s blistering pace.
George Russell, Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton at the Chinese Grand Prix
Further down the order, Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto narrowly missed out on the top-ten shootout by thousandths of a second, while Gabriel Bortoleto’s late-session spin hampered several drivers’ final attempts.
At the back of the field, Williams continued to struggle with Alex Albon labeling his car “terrible,” and while Cadillac celebrated out-qualifying a rival for the first time via Valtteri Bottas, the American team also saw Sergio Perez finish deepest in the standings, nearly four seconds off the ultimate pace.
Russell took P1 earlier in the first sprint race of the season beating out the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton was full of praise for Antonelli who took over from the seven-time world champion at Mercedes.
“Firstly, I have to say a big congratulations to Kimi,” Hamilton said.
“It’s an amazing achievement.
“He took my seat and he hit it hard from the get-go. So it’s really great to see him progressing and he really deserves it and a great record. It’s going to take a while for someone to ever get close to that one.”
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