A record-breaking pole
A Saturday of glory for Italian motorsport in Shanghai: the pole position for the Chinese GP which starts tomorrow was indeed grabbed by Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who with this result becomes the youngest poleman ever in the history of Formula 1. The Bolognese driver from Mercedes has indeed shattered the previous record that had stood since the Monza 2008 weekend and belonged to Sebastian Vettel.
The German with Toro Rosso obtained his first pole at 21 years, two months and 11 days; Antonelli succeeded at 19 years, six months and 18 days. The Italian beat teammate George Russell by 222 thousandths, who was penalized by some technical problems in the first phase of Q3 that prevented him from making his first attempt. Behind the two Mercedes, the two Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
Italy returns to the front
Antonelli also brought Italy back to pole position in Formula 1 for the first time since the 2009 Belgian GP, when Giancarlo Fisichella obtained pole at Spa with Force India. A historic result that the young Bolognese will try to replicate tomorrow in the race: a victory in the Circus has been missing for our country for exactly 20 years. The last one was also won by Fisichella in 2006 – exactly on March 19 – in Malaysia at the wheel of the Renault.
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