Kimi Antonelli shatters Sebastian Vettel's record to become youngest pole-sitter in F1 history at Chinese GP

Kimi Antonelli became the youngest driver to take pole position in Formula One history on Saturday, the 19-year-old Italian stunning the field at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai to lead a Mercedes front-row lockout, AFP reported.

Antonelli blasted around the Shanghai International Circuit in 1 minute 32.064 seconds on his final qualifying lap, 0.222 seconds ahead of championship leader George Russell, erasing the record previously held by Sebastian Vettel, who was 21 when he took pole at the Italian Grand Prix in 2008.

"It was a pretty clean session," Antonelli said. "No mistakes and looking forward to the race tomorrow."


Russell, who had won the sprint race earlier in the day, was second despite a troubled qualifying session. He got stuck in gear on his opening out lap in Q3 and had to return to the pits, leaving him time for just one flying lap. "In Q2 the front wing broke, and then in Q3 I stopped out on track and then couldn't change gear," Russell said. "On the last lap I had no battery, no tyre temp or anything. The team did a really good job. Just really happy to be standing here. It could've been much worse."

The Ferrari pair of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will fill the second row of the grid for Sunday's race after qualifying third and fourth respectively. The McLarens of Oscar Piastri and world champion Lando Norris will start fifth and sixth, while Max Verstappen could manage only eighth in a clearly struggling Red Bull, continuing what has been a very unhappy weekend for the reigning constructors' champions.

Pierre Gasly was seventh in the Alpine, with Red Bull's Isack Hadjar ninth and Oliver Bearman's Haas rounding out the top ten.

Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, said he would be targeting the two Mercedes ahead of him when Sunday's race gets underway. "I'm sure we'll have some fun, I'm looking forward to it," he said.

The six drivers who failed to make the top-ten shootout were Nico Hulkenberg in an Audi, Franco Colapinto's Alpine, Esteban Ocon in the Haas, Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad of Racing Bulls, and Gabriel Bortoleto in an Audi. Eliminated in Q1 were the Williams pair of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, both Aston Martins driven by Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, and the two Cadillacs of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.

Earlier in the day, Russell won a thrilling sprint race after a back-and-forth battle with Hamilton in the opening laps, with Leclerc finishing second and Hamilton third. The result extended Russell's championship lead to 11 points over teammate Antonelli, with Leclerc a further four points back and Hamilton a further four points behind Leclerc.

Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix will be contested over 56 laps of the 5.451 kilometre Shanghai International Circuit.