Antonelli: “A complicated qualifying; Russell and I clarified after the Sprint”

Close to poker Andrea Kimi Antonelli came close to what would have been his fourth consecutive pole position this season. In his last timed attempt on the Montreal circuit, the 19-year-old from Bologna of Mercedes had in fact set the best time, only to be beaten by teammate George Russell by just under a tenth. The comment on the qualifying A fight for pole position which nevertheless ended with an all-Mercedes front row, but Antonelli did not hide a certain disappointment with what was his final performance: “It was a bit of a complicated qualifying – he commented to the microphones of Sky Sport F1 – honestly I started well in Q1, then I lost the pace a bit and we struggled with the tyres, and even in Q3 it is never easy to do the first lap. It was a shame because obviously George made a different programme, which worked, but I have to say that the lap wasn’t great, I did well in the first sector, but then I had a problem with the downshift in turn 6 and I slowed the car down too much, after which I lost the pace a bit.” Clarification between Russell and Antonelli In addition, Antonelli returned to the duel between him and Russell that occurred in the Sprint race, during which the championship leader went into a rage on the radio complaining about the Briton’s defensive maneuvers. Complaints appeased directly by team principal Toto Wolff, who also intervened via radio, inviting him to stay focused on the race and discuss what happened internally: “We certainly had a meeting and we clarified. We don’t want to see what happened in the sprint anymore, so we clarified and this is the most important thing.”

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News , 2026-05-24 08:21:00