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Kimi Antonelli Becomes Youngest F1 Pole Sitter at Chinese Grand Prix

Posted : 14 March 2026

Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli became the youngest driver in Formula 1 history to secure pole position, finishing ahead of team-mate George Russell at the Chinese Grand Prix. Russell finished just 0.222 seconds behind after a frantic session to fix a gearbox problem that nearly left him 10th on the grid.

Mercedes managed to repair Russell’s car in time for a final flying lap, allowing him to edge past Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. McLaren secured the third row, with Oscar Piastri ahead of world champion Lando Norris. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took seventh, just ahead of Red Bulls Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar, while Oliver Bearman rounded out the top 10 for Haas.

At 19 years and 212 days old, Antonelli surpassed Sebastian Vettel’s previous youngest-pole record, set at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix. Antonelli admitted his pole might have been different if Russell had a trouble-free session. “George had an issue, so probably could have been a different story, but happy to be on pole for the first time,” he said.

Russell described his second place as “damage limitation” after enduring a broken front wing, a stranded car, and gearbox issues throughout qualifying. “P2 is better than I was expecting when I started the lap with no battery and tyre temperature,” he said.

The session saw Leclerc briefly outpace Russell in earlier rounds, and both Mercedes drivers faced challenges with front wing damage. Hamilton, 0.351 seconds off pole, acknowledged the gusty conditions and praised his team’s efforts to close the gap. “It is still going to be a challenge, but I am sure we’re going to have some fun,” he said.

Red Bull struggled throughout, with Verstappen nearly a second off the pace. “The whole weekend we’ve been off. The car is completely undriveable. Every lap is like survival,” he said.

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