Antonelli beats teammate Russell to pole in Japan

Kimi Antonelli took his second pole position in a row as he beat Mercedes team-mate George Russell in qualifying at the Japanese Grand Prix. Antonelli was fastest throughout the session and beat Russell by 0.298 seconds, despite not improving on his final run at Suzuka. Russell also did not improve but still had enough to beat McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who will be joined on the second row by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. McLaren’s Lando Norris was fifth after a troubled weekend so far, ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari, while Max Verstappen was knocked out in the second session and will start 11th.

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Antonelli becomes youngest ever pole setter ahead of Chinese Grand Prix

Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli became the youngest driver to set pole position in Formula 1 history by leading team-mate George Russell at the Chinese Grand Prix. Russell ended up 0.222 seconds adrift of the Italian after a race against time to solve a gearbox problem with his car that threatened to leave him 10th on the grid. Mercedes managed to repair Russell’s car just in time to get him out for a final lap and he managed to sneak ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

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Russell fends off Ferrari duo to win Sprint race in China

Mercedes’ George Russell won the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix after a frantic scrap in the early laps with Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari. Russell and Hamilton swapped places five times in the first five laps before the winner of the first race of the season eased away to a comfortable victory. Hamilton lost out to team-mate Charles Leclerc three laps after Russell finally passed him for the lead as the Ferraris took second and third.

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Russell eases to pole ahead of Shanghai Sprint

George Russell led team-mate Kimi Antonelli as Mercedes dominated qualifying for the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix. Russell was 0.289 seconds clear of the Italian and a massive 0.621secs ahead of the first non-Mercedes, world champion Lando Norris in the McLaren. Lewis Hamilton was fourth for Ferrari, just 0.02secs slower than Norris, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took fifth ahead of the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

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Russell storms to pole as Mercedes lock-out front row in Melbourne

George Russell took an imposing pole position as Mercedes dominated the first qualifying session of a new era of Formula 1 at the Australian Grand Prix. The Briton led team-mate Kimi Antonelli by 0.363 seconds and was 0.785secs clear of Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar in third place. Max Verstappen crashed on his first lap to leave a degree of doubt as to the extent of Mercedes’ superiority, but it was an impressive start to a new period of regulations by the former champions. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth fastest, with the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris separating him from his team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

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