George Russell is on pole for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after Kimi Antonelli’s world championship charge was dealt a minor blow.
The British driver produced a stunning lap, finishing over eight tenths quicker than Charles Leclerc in second, while Oscar Piastri qualified in third.
Russell was openly surprised by the pole margin, saying he was pleased with “a very good lap”.
Speaking after qualifying in P1, the Briton said: “It has been a while [since being on pole] so definitely feels good.
“It’s probably the biggest margin of my whole career, even including F2 and F3 days.
“The lap felt really sweet. The car has been feeling great this weekend, and on a track like this, when you can hook it up like that, it feels really amazing.
“It was just the perfect lap at the end.
“I was in a good gap behind to [Isack] Hadjar, which gave me a nice little slipstream probably by another tenth or two down this backstraight, so it was great.”
George Russell is on pole for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
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REUTERS
For championship leader Antonelli, the Italian hit the wall heading into turn one, damaging part of the car that could not be fixed in time for Q2.
The youngster pleaded with his race engineer, Peter Bonnington, who dealt the cruel news to the Italian.
When asked why the car can’t be fixed, Bonnington said: “That looks like we’ve done something to the trackrod or upright, so that’s a fairly big job.”
Antonelli responded: “I’m sorry guys. My god”, with Bonnington quickly reassuring his driver, saying: “No sweat, Kimi.”
Russell starts in P1 with Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri completing the top three
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GETTY
The young Italian will start in P16 for Saturday’s race, which is scheduled to get underway at 12pm.
Elsewhere on the grid, Hadjar qualified in P4 in his first race back since his wrist injury.
Lando Norris will start in fifth after a lock-up on turn three ruined his final lap.
Lewis Hamilton in his Ferrari lines up alongside the world champion in sixth.
Kimi Antonelli’s world championship bid has been dealt a minor blow
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GETTY
Pierre Gasly produced another solid performance in qualifying to start P7 on the grid, while Max Verstappen is in eighth.
Carlos Sainz’s Williams will start in the fifth row, alongside Franco Colapinto, who pipped Oliver Bearman to reach Q3.
Russell will be the hot favourite to win on Saturday and claim his third victory of the season.
