Antonelli’s new record.
He is 19 years and 212 days old—beating the previous record held by Sebastian Vettel, who was 21 years and 72 days old when he won pole at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix.
Antonelli said he was “very happy” but admitted that Russell might not have won pole if he had qualified without any problems.
He said, “George had an issue so maybe a different story but happy to be on pole for the first time.”
Russell described his second place as “damage limitation” after several problems through qualifying.
The championship leader said, “It was a crazy session. The front wing broke at the end of Q2. The team weren’t sure it was broken, but I was sure it was broken. Then got stuck on the track and got back on time. It was just a case of completing a lap.
“P2 is better than I expected when I started the lap with no battery and no tyre temperature. I am truly delighted to be in this position, as I could have fallen to 10th place.
In the first session, Leclerc became the first driver to defeat Russell in a competitive session this year, taking just 0.1 seconds less than the Briton.
Then in the second session, Russell finished third fastest behind Antonelli and Leclerc after a front wing flap broke.
Heading out for the final session with a new wing, Russell’s car stalled on the track on his out lap as the gearbox refused to change gears.
Antonelli set the fastest time on his first flying lap, finishing 0.3 seconds faster than Leclerc, overtaking his teammate.
After frantic work in the garage, Mercedes managed to fix Russell’s car by applying a series of default procedures, such as repeatedly shutting the car off and replacing the steering wheel.
He got out just in time to go for a spin but his hasty preparations meant the car was not in its optimum condition, as he had been gone for some time.
However, Antonelli had his own problems in the final race – he suffered the same front wing problem that Russell suffered in Q2.
Hamilton, who battled with Russell for the lead on the opening lap of Saturday’s sprint race, was 0.351 seconds off pole and said he expected to challenge Mercedes again in the grand prix.
“It was really tough qualifying,” said Hamilton. “A little windy. Blustery today. Very challenging.”
“Pleased and grateful to be here with these guys. The engineers did some outstanding work during the break and managed to get a little closer to these guys.
“It will still be a challenge but I’m sure we’ll have some fun. We gained valuable insights from the sprint races, and our goal is to bridge the gap with these competitors.
The McLarens were only 0.1 seconds behind the Ferraris and Norris said, “We’re happy to be close to them; it gives us a good chance for tomorrow.”
But Verstappen fell almost a second off the Red Bull pace.
“We change a lot in the car and it doesn’t matter,” said the four-time world champion.
“We were on holiday the whole weekend. The car is completely undriveable. I can’t even put the slightest bit of context into it. Every lap is survival.”
