Kimi Antonelli has admitted his surprise at securing pole position for the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, following an intense battle with teammate George Russell.
Antonelli looked in complete control of his W17 during qualifying, holding an advantage over Russell across the session.
While Russell struggled for pace, unable to corner with poise, the young Italian was smooth and composed, finding lap time on almost every lap.
Taking his second consecutive pole position, momentum is building behind Antonelli ahead of a race where overtaking can prove challenging.
Explaining his lap in the post-qualifying press conference, he revealed how he secured pole position, unable to contain his delight at “a very strong session”.
“I had a really clean session, it felt good,” he said.
“I had a strong Run 1 and then from there on I just built the momentum.
“Obviously, it was a bit trickier than FP3, especially at the start of qualifying. I think the wind increased a little bit and it felt a little bit more difficult, the car, overall.
“But then we just tried to adapt and we made some tweaks with aero balance and found a good compromise. Then the lap in Q3 was good. It was a shame for the last one, but I think it was, overall, a very strong session.
KimI Antonelli surprised and cautious after qualifying
Revealing his surprise at the his teammate’s deficit to him,
“Yeah, I am, but with this regulation it’s very easy to gain or lose three tenths, whatever the gap was. It’s really easy to gain and lose time, so it was the same for me in Melbourne. But, you know, he’s super quick, he’s been super quick around here and we’ll see tomorrow in the race how we’re going to do.
“I mean, I think obviously there are parts of the track where you’re a little bit limited, a bit handcuffed on driving because of energy, but I think still the Esses are pretty good fun because at the end of the day the car on the chassis side is very good fun.
“The Esses in qualifying were getting pretty quick, so it was good fun. Of course, there’s still work to do and work around, on these big tracks with the energy, trying to find a solution that allows us to push even more and drive without thinking too much, especially in certain places. But overall, I think it was good fun, the qualifying, because at the end also you look at the lap times and they’re not so far off from last year, so I think qualifying today has been good fun.
Antonelli confirmed he is remaining cautious on his chances in Sunday’s race, citing multiple factors that could impact his chances of victory.
“Probably” he said of overtaking becoming easier in the race. “I mean, we’ve seen obviously how much easier it is to follow and obviously when you get the overtake mode, how much more battery you can harvest and then deploy on the straights, so you never know, it can give good racing.
“But still, I don’t think it’s going to be as easy as China and Melbourne because obviously the track, first of all, is quite a bit tighter and you don’t have as many straights where you can overtake, or straights and then big braking, where you can make the move. You have a lot of fast entries, so it’s not going to be easy, but that’s why it’s crucial to have a good start and then we’ll see from there how the pace is going to be.
“Yeah, I mean, the long run has been good. Of course, let’s see tomorrow how the weather is going to be, how the wind is going to be, because you never know, it can shift. Let’s see also with temperatures, how hot it’s going to be, and then I’ll try to be ready, try to cover as many scenarios in order to be ready for tomorrow.”
Two consecutive pole positions at two highly contrasting circuits bodes well for Antonelli. Should he convert pole into victory, he will begin to seen as a genuine title contender.
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