The nineteen-year-old from Bologna confirms himself in great form with Mercedes, Mc Laren is growing and is ahead of Ferrari. Kimi: “We hope to be first in turn one”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli he got a taste for it and in the tests Suzuka, on the eve of the Japanese Grand Prixthe nineteen year old from Bologna, driving his Mercedes, conquered a splendid pole position in front of his teammate Russell. The hierarchies within Toto Wolff’s team do not seem as defined as they seemed at the beginning of the season because the Italian’s talent is exploding and he, even if he doesn’t say it, is clearly aiming for the world title. Mercedes confirms itself as the fastest car by conquering the entire front row, but as in free practice, it is there Oscar Piastri’s Mc Laren immediately behind, while Charles Leclerc is the best of Ferrari but he had to settle for fourth place. The Monegasque will start alongside Piastri and will try to surprise everyone like in Shanghai but the “Papayas” seem a step ahead of the Reds compared to the first two races. Even the world champion Lando Norris in fact he achieved a better time than the other Ferrari driver. Norris fifth and Hamilton sixth, it will be a great battle.
Antonelli happy
The nineteen-year-old from Bologna was happy but calm at the end of the tests: “I’m a little calmer but I’ll still have butterflies in my stomach. Tomorrow we hope to be first in Turn 1 and make a good pace. What changed after the victory in China? I definitely learned something about leaving. In China I hadn’t made a decent start up to that point. Today’s pole was better than the one achieved in China because I felt better in the car. There is still room for improvement but we are on the right path.”
Leclerc nervous
The return of the Mc Larens must still worry Ferrari even if in terms of race pace the Maranello cars are probably faster. the nervousness shown by Leclerc is emblematic. The Ferrari driver lost his patience at the end of the third Free Practice session Japanese Grand Prix, due to an unexpected event during the qualifying simulation, reacting both punching the steering wheel or venting over the radio to his race engineer. Leclerc found himself stuck in traffic, forced to lift his foot and abort the attempt. This small unexpected event triggered a negative chain reaction: the battery charging cycle was out of phase and the soft tires left the ideal thermal window, losing grip.
