Another pole position for the Italian from Mercedes who leads the drivers’ championship standings: alongside him on the front row will be Max Verstappen, then Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc
The official tests to determine the starting grid for the Monaco Grand Prix in Monte Carlo overturn the indications of Friday’s free practice and suggest two certainties: Kimi Antonelli is a natural talent who in just over a year is becoming the star of Formula 1. If at nineteen you drive with this authority on the most difficult street circuit in the world it means that you have already reached the maturity of a champion. Because as the drivers say: in Monte Carlo you need to know how to drive and the difference in performance between Kimi and George Russell, his teammate, demonstrates how much the driver has an impact. The other certainty is on the level of ability to intervene on the car demonstrated by the Mercedes teammore on Antonelli’s car than on Russell’s to be honest, but still decisive in overturning the prediction that saw Ferrari as the big favorite for pole position.
Ferrari a step back
Instead, the Maranello cars have to settle for the second row the most disappointed is certainly Charles Leclerc who on his home circuit has long cherished winning pole position, but in the end he finds himself also behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton. But the Monegasque made a mistake in his last attempt and finished fourth. Under the eyes of his very famous girlfriend Kim Kardashianthe Englishman achieved the third fastest time and then underlined: “A beautiful qualifying, it’s a lot of fun when there is very little difference of hundredths between one car and another. At one point I thought I had taken pole position. I’m optimistic about the race even if we have to understand what changed from Friday to Saturday because on the first day we were the fastest.”
Kimi’s happiness
Obviously Kimi Antonelli was very happy with his fourth consecutive pole. The nineteen-year-old from Bologna breaks another record, he is the youngest in history to win pole position in Monte Carlo. “It was a magical ride – admitted the Italian – we were very close and the battle with Max was tough, but it was incredible to be able to get the most out of it”.
