Marco Rossi · F1 Correspondent
With a near-perfect lap, the championship leader secured pole position for the United States Grand Prix, while Red Bull put both cars in the first two rows.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli secured pole position in qualifying for the United States Grand Prix in Austin on Saturday. With a 1:34.035, the Mercedes driver was 0.179 seconds faster than Max Verstappen at the Circuit of the Americas and heads into Sunday as championship leader, 102 points ahead of George Russell, with the best possible starting position on a day when he could, on paper, already clinch his first Formula 1 title. To do so, however, he would need to win while Russell finishes no higher than ninth and Lewis Hamilton no higher than fifth.
Antonelli seals pole in the decisive session
It was the lap that mattered at this stage of the season. Antonelli was not thrown by the expectations that come with leading the standings and set the fastest time of the entire weekend in Q3. A 1:34.035 meant not only P1 on the grid but also a psychological marker for his title rivals, all of whom finished less than half a second behind him.
Mercedes showed consistency throughout qualifying, after Antonelli had already set the second-fastest time behind Charles Leclerc in second practice. That George Russell only managed sixth in the same car, 0.441 seconds behind his teammate, also shows how fine the line between a perfect lap and a merely good one was this afternoon.
Red Bull close, Hadjar surprises in third
Behind the pole sitter, Verstappen and Isack Hadjar formed a tight Red Bull pairing separated by just 0.036 seconds. For the team, that is a clear signal to the Mercedes drivers, who had looked dominant so far, even if both cars still ended up around two tenths off pole.
Hadjar's performance in particular deserves a mention. After a turbulent third practice, in which he got angry with Alexander Albon after an aborted attempt at Turn 1 and made his feelings clear on team radio, the Red Bull driver found his rhythm again in qualifying and beat not only Charles Leclerc but also Lewis Hamilton to third on the grid. The stewards found no wrongdoing by Albon, as the Williams driver had moved to the outside according to their decision. Hadjar himself received a warning for swerving toward Albon in response.
Ferrari had to settle for fourth and fifth on the grid. Leclerc, who had topped both Friday practice sessions, could not get back to the front in qualifying and finished 0.232 seconds behind Antonelli, just 0.044 seconds ahead of his teammate Hamilton. After a strong third practice, in which Hamilton himself had set the fastest time, fifth on the grid is a setback for the Briton at the worst possible moment.
McLaren off the pace, grid penalties shake up the field
While three teams fought it out at the front within a tiny margin, McLaren had no answer this afternoon. Oscar Piastri was seventh, 0.768 seconds off the pace, while Lando Norris, more than a second down, even fell behind his teammate, an intra-team gap of 0.246 seconds that bodes poorly for the team's position this season.
The actual starting grid on Sunday is likely to look different from the pure qualifying result anyway. Arvid Lindblad, who qualified ninth, drops five places for a change of power unit components, Franco Colapinto is hit even harder with a ten-place penalty, and Gabriel Bortoleto starts from the very back of the field after a power unit change. For drivers like Liam Lawson, who made it to the fifth row despite not setting a timed lap in Q3, this opens up unexpected positions further up.
What counts on Sunday is therefore not just raw pace, but also how the drivers deal with the reshuffled grid. For Antonelli, pole means above all one thing: the chance to control the title fight from the front instead of having to chase it from behind, a starting position that could hardly be better with a 102-point lead.
