Second pole for the Italian
An indisputable pole position with a clear margin on one of the most selective circuits: Andrea Kimi Antonelli seems to be in a state of grace, and the first to pay the price is his Mercedes teammate George Russell, 298 thousandths behind, an eternity.
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If in China Russell could cling to the problems he had in Q3 to explain the defeat, this time there are no doubts: Antonelli was faster, distributing the margin equally between the second and third sectors, a pole that was therefore not ‘episodic’, but built corner after corner.
The Italian driver commented on a weekend that has been promising to say the least: “The secret behind the pole and my effectiveness in the third sector? Having completed three clean free practice sessions with constant growth – he told Sky – the weekend in China gave me more awareness, especially regarding the start because I finally got a good start in the GP. Tomorrow I will definitely have many butterflies in my stomach, but obviously I am happy because I am in the best possible position. I will try to make a good start without overdoing it, the goal is to be first in Turn-1 and then have a good pace“.
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