Kimi Antonelli's shock pole
Seventeen-year-old Kimi Antonelli set F1’s youngest-ever pole at the Chinese Grand Prix — Mercedes locked out the front row with George Russell joining him — while Max Verstappen could only qualify eighth and called his Red Bull “undriveable,” nearly a second off pole [] [].
He delivered a 1:32.064 lap in Q3 that secured pole and — at 19 years, six months and 17 days old — made him F1’s youngest-ever polesitter. formula1.com George Russell was briefly stopped on track by a powertrain/gearbox issue that left him with only a last‑gasp single flying lap in Q3. autosport.com He later admitted he feared he might have to start as low as P10 after the problem. racer.com Max Verstappen called the RB “undriveable” and said the team “never had anything this bad,” noting he was about 1.7 seconds off the sprint pole pace in Friday running. espn.com Other outlets carried his line that “every lap is like survival” after a difficult day. sports.yahoo.com Lewis Hamilton qualified third with a 1:32.451 lap for Ferrari, and Antonelli warned graining could be “quite severe,” saying he would focus on a clean getaway and tyre management for Sunday’s race. fia.com
