Mercedes showed strong pace in Sprint Qualifying at the F1 São Paulo GP, with Kimi Antonelli qualifying P2 and George Russell qualifying P4. In a traffic-filled session, Mercedes capitalized amidst the chaos.
Lando Norris took pole position with a strong lap. Shockingly, Antonelli secured a front-row start ahead of Oscar Piastri and Russell. The Italian rookie will start ahead of his teammate for the fourth time this season.
Antonelli scores front row start in Brazil
Antonelli became the star of Sprint Qualifying at the F1 São Paulo GP, managing to put his Mercedes on the front row. The young Italian starts on the front row for the first time since taking Sprint pole in Miami. He has yet to score a front row start in the Grand Prix Qualifying format.
When speaking about his Sprint Qualifying result, Antonelli exclaimed, “Yeah, it was a good session overall. I think Q1 was a bit scrappy, a bit difficult with traffic. But then we got into our rhythm. And yeah, the soft lap was a bit of a shame there in the second to last sector. But still a decent lap. P2 for tomorrow, so a lot to fight for.”
Antonelli expressed worries about the weather conditions ahead of the F1 São Paulo GP Sprint, claiming the windy conditions could make it difficult for the Mercedes.
“Well, we’re going to have to take care of the wind. It’s going to rotate quite a lot. So tomorrow we’re going to expect quite different conditions compared to today. Also, the weather is going to be a bit uncertain. But we’ll try to be ready for anything. And hopefully we can do a good race.”
Russell praises Antonelli’s Sprint Qualifying performance: “He did a good job”
Russell appeared to have strong pace, but a slight error in the middle cost him the chance to beat his rookie teammate. The Brit has maintained his edge over Antonelli across the season, having scored two pole positions and two wins.
Russell praised Antonelli’s Sprint Qualifying performance at the F1 São Paulo GP.
“I feel okay. To be honest, we were there about the whole session. Q3 was a funny one. I think everyone went a bit slower except Kimi [Antonelli]. So he did a good job to widen for him. But for us, P2, P4 is a good place to start.”
Similar to his teammate, Russell mentioned the weather ahead of tomorrow’s sprint race. He emphasized the importance for the team to focus on securing P2 in the World Constructors’ Championship. Mercedes currently sit P3, one point behind Ferrari. Red Bull Racing have also caught up to the fight, nine points behind the Brackley-based team.
“Well, I think there’s a bit of rain forecast for tonight. So it might be a wet race tomorrow. But, we just need to keep getting these points now and keep taking our fight to Red Bull and Ferrari.”
