Formula 1′s youngest-ever driver, Kimi Antonelli, is aware that teammate George Russell could have taken pole position in Shanghai if not for reliability issues affecting the Briton.
Antonelli looked set to be relegated to another weekend as supporting act to George Russell, clear of rivals, but lacking pace to challenge his teammate.
Although the Italian spent time in Q1 and Q2, Russell always had the edge, until reliability scares befell the championship leader.
This put Antonelli in prime position to take pole position, now under massive pressure to deliver, which he duly did on his final Q3 lap.
Becoming the youngest polesitter in F1 history, he was understandably happy in the post-qualifying press conference.
“It was a good session, a clean one,” he said.
“Of course, George had an issue in Q3, so probably could have been a different story, but I’m happy with the lap I did, to be fair, and really happy to be starting on pole for my first time.”
” I mean, I’m very happy, I’m very happy because at the end, you know, it’s just the beginning, so obviously there’s a lot more to come.
“And yeah, really looking forward to tomorrow and, you know, the car is feeling really good, the car is strong, so yeah, a lot to play for tomorrow, but yeah, just super happy with today.”
Car improvements behind Kimi Antonelli pole position
Antonelli confirmed qualifying in Shanghai marked a turning point for him, as he seeks to improve his pace across a full session.
He then revealed the main factor that could impact the competitive order during the race.
“I mean definitely I got into a nice rhythm,” he said.
“I struggled a little bit with the balance throughout qualifying, but yeah, I mean tomorrow the wind is going to change massively again, so it should be better.
“But yeah, it was nice because for the first time in a qualifying session I was able to find lap time every time I was going on track.
“Well, definitely graining is going to be a big factor. It’s going to be a bit colder tomorrow, so it could be even worse for graining.
“So yeah, just need to stay on top of that, trying to manage that front left. First of all, have a good start because I didn’t have a good one so far, and yeah, then just try to set the pace.
Despite his success in qualifying, Antonelli is still wary of Ferrari’s pace off the start line, and growing risk to Mercedes’ dominance.
“Well, they certainly look very strong, especially also on cold tyres. They look like they’ve got good pace, but of course also the start is a very strong point of theirs.
“So yeah, just going to try to have a clean start and then we’ll see from there.”
Antonelli’s pole position is a double edged sword, as although he beat his teammate, he has yet to do it in a fair fight.
Russell’s reliability issues compromised the Briton, yet he was still only two tenths of a second behind the Italian. Antonelli still has a mountain to climb to match Russell, and his answers in the post qualifying press conference show this.
READ MORE: George Russell reveals ‘a bit of stress’ following scare in F1 Chinese GP Qualifying
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