Kimi Antonelli became the youngest pole-sitter in Formula One history on Saturday at the Chinese Grand Prix, prompting a warm message of congratulations from Lewis Hamilton. The 19-year-old Italian, who replaced Hamilton at Mercedes last season, set the fastest time in qualifying in Shanghai, beating team-mate George Russell by two-tenths of a second.
Hamilton, now at Ferrari, qualified third and praised Antonelli in the post-qualifying press conference. “I have to say a big congratulations to this big lad here, to Kimi,” said the seven-time world champion. “It’s an amazing achievement. He took my seat and he hit it hard from the get-go! It’s really great to see him progressing – he really deserves it.”
Antonelli’s pole eclipsed Sebastian Vettel’s record as the youngest-ever pole-sitter, set at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix when Vettel was 21. Hamilton, who had earlier finished third in the sprint race, said his Ferrari team had made progress. “It was a really tough qualifying, a bit harder with the wind,” he added. “These guys put in some great laps but I’m really happy to be up here.”
Russell, who leads the drivers’ championship after winning the sprint, admitted it was “damage limitation” after an electrical issue hindered his final qualifying run. “In Q2, the front wing broke, I went out in Q3 and the car wasn’t restarting,” he said. “At the start of the last lap, I had no tyre temperature, no battery, so it could have been much worse.” He added that Hamilton would be “pretty dicey” at the start of Sunday’s race.
