Antonelli checks off an inevitable record as youngest F1 polesitter

Ask those who were closely linked to his development at Mercedes, and Kimi Antonelli’s first pole position for the team was only a matter of time. In fact, the lack of one in his rookie season was as much down to the machinery only sparingly being truly competitive, as he showed his potential on multiple occasions.

The Miami Sprint pole position was a start, but it was Brazil last year that really showed Antonelli would deliver for Mercedes, even at such a tender age. Second place behind Lando Norris was his throughout the weekend, coming so close to winning the Sprint but also then withstanding intense pressure from Max Verstappen at the end of the grand prix itself.

That showed the rate at which Antonelli is maturing, and while he is still far from the finished article, you just had faith he was going to deliver when George Russell’s reliability issues opened the door for him to take pole position on Saturday in Shanghai.

At 19 years and 201 days, Antonelli beat Sebastian Vettel’s previous record by a year and a half, and although he has felt a small step behind his teammate for much of the season so far, the Mercedes driver is still a big step ahead of so many others at the same age.

“I have to say a big congratulations to this big lad here, to Kimi,” Lewis Hamilton said. “It’s an amazing achievement to come into… Well, he took my seat! And he hit it hard from the get-go, so it’s really great to see him progressing and he really deserves it. And a great record. It’s going to take a while for someone to ever get close to that one.

“I don’t think he needs any advice – he’s just qualified on pole. So, there’s really nothing I can pass down to him. He’s got all the wisdom I think he needs, and I think it’s just important to just enjoy it, and just continue to do what you’re doing, keep your head down and keep pushing and just not give up, which clearly is not the way he works. I’m sure he will do great.”

As much as we’re becoming accustomed to drivers getting race seats before they’ve left their teens – Arvid Lindblad became just the third-youngest point-scorer in Melbourne, behind Antonelli and Verstappen – Hamilton is right that it will be tough for one to get into a race seat that is capable of fighting for pole at such an age.

Antonelli got that chance because of both Hamilton’s move to Ferrari and Mercedes’ belief in his abilities, and the Italian knows that means such a record is far from the peak.

“I’m very happy because at the end, it’s just the beginning, so obviously there’s a lot more to come,” Antonelli said. “And I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. The car is feeling really good, the car is strong, so a lot to play for tomorrow, but just super happy with today.”

The most successful drivers are ones that are rarely satisfied, and Antonelli certainly falls into that category. While Russell hit problems in qualifying in China, only a week ago Antonelli was the one who had to pick himself up from a setback, having crashed heavily in FP3.

Such incidents were deemed almost certain to happen in his rookie year and Antonelli is still only starting his 26th race this weekend, but Mercedes will be happy to see how quickly he can brush off such a painful lesson and deliver.

“It’s not easy because definitely Melbourne was a shame, to have that hard hit, and then it put me a bit on the back foot into qualifying and then the race,” he said. “But it’s hard because you know you have such a great opportunity, having such a quick car, and you don’t want to miss the opportunity, so you go for it.

“But in my case, I’m still learning how to improve the risk-reward ratio, especially in sessions that the result doesn’t really count, such as FP3 for example. So, it’s about finding the right balance in order to then be able to keep the momentum going.

“Also it’s about, in every situation, being able to put things together, even in a qualifying session, having a clean run from Q1 all the way to Q3. I’m still trying to find my way to see how I can achieve that because at the moment I still feel like maybe I do a good Q1 and Q2, and then maybe Q3 is not good enough. So, I just need to find some improvements in there.”

Antonelli’s focus on his qualifying performances is understandable given the edge his teammate has held over him so far this season, but pre-season saw the greater share of reliability issues hit the less experienced driver. So when those tables turned, Antonelli took full advantage.

Whether it was on a day that Russell hit trouble or not, it felt inevitable that Antonelli would be breaking the record with a pole position prior to turning 21. And it feels similarly inevitable that he will become a grand prix winner. And that he will continue making mistakes. Either could come tomorrow, but Mercedes always knew the results would follow if it gave Antonelli a chance, and the first big one has just been ticked off.