en.malanginspirasi.com – Kimi Antonelli secured pole position for the United States (US) Grand Prix, putting himself on the brink of capturing his maiden world championship this weekend.
The Mercedes driver outpaced Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by 0.179 seconds. Verstappen’s team-mate, Isack Hadjar, claimed third place on the grid, finishing just ahead of Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
“It feels good to be back,” Antonelli expressed his excitement after securing his first pole since July’s Belgian Grand Prix.
The 20-year-old Italian driver could seal the world title on Sunday if he secures a victory in Austin, provided Hamilton finishes fifth or lower and Russell ends up ninth or below.
With Hamilton qualifying fifth and Russell starting sixth, the initial conditions align with Antonelli’s title path.
Russell shares the third row ahead of the McLaren pair, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
Antonelli’s top spot came as a slight shock following Ferrari’s dominant performance across all three practice sessions and Verstappen’s impressive pace in the middle segment of qualifying.
Verstappen had comfortably taken fourth in Q2 while running on used tyres, but he struggled to extract sufficient grip during the pole shoot-out.
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“We got pole so we will try to win tomorrow but Max has been very quick and Isack did an incredible job so it is not going to be easy,” said Antonelli looking ahead to the race.
Hadjar finished just 0.036 seconds adrift of the four-time champion, whereas Ferrari’s momentum faltered in the final session—a recurring theme for the team this season.
Leclerc, who set the pace in P2 and P3, wound up 0.232 seconds off pole, narrowly beating Hamilton by 0.044 seconds.
Russell ended up 0.441 seconds behind his team-mate.
McLaren’s leading runner was 0.768 seconds off the top time despite introducing a new upgrade package this weekend, as Norris had his fastest Q3 effort deleted for exceeding track limits.
Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad and team-mate Liam Lawson secured ninth and 10th positions.
However, Lindblad faces a five-place grid penalty for exceeding his allocated power unit components.
Aston Martin enjoyed a more competitive showing than in Singapore, with Fernando Alonso classifying 14th and describing their performance as a “pleasant surprise”.
Grid penalties for Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, and Lindblad will promote Alonso to 12th for the start of the race.
