Despite taking a stunning pole position for the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, Andrea Kimi Antonelli still held concerns about what might thwart a potential win.
With overtaking so difficult around the tight-walled Monaco circuit, track position and race starts are incredibly important.
Antonelli managed the first part, putting in an amazing lap to take pole. However, he has concerns regarding the trip into Turn 1.
“I mean, starting in Montreal, for the first time I didn’t lose, well, I still lost a place on Sunday, but for the first time I didn’t lose like six or seven places. So, it was a step forward.
“It’s a pretty short run into Turn 1 in Monaco, so just need to get a clean start, don’t try to do the magic start, and then we’ll see from there.”
Mercedes lagging behind
Mercedes have been off the pace around Monte-Carlo, with Ferrari and Red Bull looking stronger in the early practice sessions.
Despite that, the young Italian managed to thread his way through the precarious roads, avoiding the walls and shooting to pole position in the final seconds of qualifying.
Antonelli praised the team for fixing the major issues in the setup and allowing him to compete for pole at the front of the field.
“To be fair, I have to be honest, the team did an incredible, big turnaround compared to yesterday in terms of set-up.
“Yesterday, I’m not going to lie, we were struggling. So, the team did a great job with overnight correlation, to do big changes on set-up and the car just felt much more alive this morning.”
Around Monaco, every small change can make a significant difference. Even down to how the tyres wear over the course of the lap. The Italian touched on this when speaking about the performance jump from Friday to Saturday.
“It was also more forgiving, much more to kerb cutting, bumps. So, the team did a great job with the setup, and that was what made us gain so much in terms of performance between yesterday and today and allowed us to fight for pole.”
It wasn’t just down to setup for Antonelli; George Russell only qualified sixth, making it a significant jump for the teammates. Antonelli has had the edge on Russell since the second round of the 2026 season, and it seems his championship lead will continue on uncontended for the time being.
READ MORE: George Russell issues damning assessment of his own driving after F1 qualifying woe
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