March 14, (THEWILL) — Kimi Antonelli has made Formula 1 history, becoming the youngest driver ever to claim pole position for a grand prix after topping qualifying at the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on Saturday.
The 19-year-old Italian set a fastest lap of 1:32.064, beating Mercedes teammate George Russell by 0.222 seconds. At 19 years, six months and 17 days, he surpassed the record previously held by four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, who was 21 years, two months and 11 days old when he took pole at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix.
Russell had looked set for top spot before a suspected gearbox problem briefly stopped his car on track during Q3. He had also damaged his front wing in Q2, and when he eventually completed his final lap, he reported no battery power and no tyre temperature.
Lewis Hamilton qualified third for Ferrari ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc in fourth, with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris fifth and sixth for McLaren. Max Verstappen managed only eighth for Red Bull.
Antonelli acknowledged Ferrari’s threat ahead of Sunday’s race: “They certainly look very strong, especially also on cold tires. They look like they have good pace. And the start is their very strong point.” The Italian, who endured a difficult stretch mid-way through his 2025 rookie season, said simply of his record: “It’s just the beginning.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
Deprecated: file_exists(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($filename) of type string is deprecated in /home/thewilln/public_html/staging.thewillnews.com/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 1624