Kimi Antonelli keeps dreaming: he’s on pole at Suzuka. Leclerc fights back, Hamilton must be content
After the beautiful success in the Chinese GP, Kimi Antonelli shows that he has no intention of stopping and in Suzuka, in the qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, he places his Mercedes ahead of everyone in the qualifying for the race scheduled for Sunday, March 29. The young driver from Bologna thus signs pole number 50 by an Italian driver in Formula 1, his second consecutive pole after the one in Shanghai. Next to him, on the front row, will start his teammate George Russell.
1:28.778 was Antonelli’s Q3 time, which was worth the pole position: Russell, on the other hand, was 278 thousandths slower in the decisive qualifying session. On the second row will be Oscar Piastri in a McLaren (+0.354) and Charles Leclerc in the first of two Ferraris (+0.627). Just four thousandths behind Leclerc is Lando Norris, reigning world champion, in a Ferrari, while Lewis Hamilton confirms that he is slightly less fast than his direct rivals and has to settle for starting in sixth position (+0.789).
Fourth row for Pierre Gasly in Alpine (+0.913) and Isack Hadjar in Red Bull (+1.200), ninth and tenth, respectively, Gabriel Bortoleto at the wheel of Audi (+1.496) and Arvid Lindblad in Racing Bulls (+1.541). The latter, surprisingly, managed to oust Max Verstappen from Q3, who will start from 11th on the grid in a Red Bull with which the Dutchman confirms he is not comfortable. Esteban Ocon’s Haas will close the sixth row.
Seventh row, on the other hand, for Nico Hülkenberg’s other Audi and Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls, while Franco Colapinto’s Alpine and Carlos Sainz’s Williams will start from 15th and 16th respectively. Out at the end of Q1, finally, Alex Albon in the other Williams, Ollie Bearman in the Haas, Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, both at the wheel of Cadillacs, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, both in an Aston Martin still in a lot of trouble: for them there are, in the grids, positions from number 17 to number 22.
