The China Mail - Smiling Antonelli proves all-round quality with pole at British GP

The 19-year-old McLaren driver produced a dazzling late lap on his final run to claim pole for Sunday's British Grand Prix, beating both in-form Ferraris and his Mercedes team-mate George Russell who was fourth, three-tenths adrift.

After winning the earlier sprint race ahead of Ferrari's seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, Antonelli was 43 points clear of Russell in the title race and could move 50 clear if he can turn pole into a sixth win of the year on Sunday.

Having won already in China, Japan, Miami, Canada and Monaco, he has shown he can rise to the challenge of a wide range of circuits, conditions and challenges without missing a beat.

"He just embraces it all and does it with a smile," said team boss Toto Wolff.

"He is a pleasure to watch. He just gets faster and faster and he makes no mistakes.

"He is really performing at a very high level considering it is only his second year.

Wolff, however, warned it was too soon to talk of championships.

"Of course, he hasn’t won a world championship yet and we must think of the big picture, but he can be one of the great ones. We have to see."

Antonelli's success ahead of Charles Leclerc and Hamilton means a dilemma for Italian sports fans who may feel torn between supporting the precocious speedster from Bologna or the scarlet Scuderia.

- 'Tricky start' -

His pole, depriving Ferrari of a breakthrough, meant Mercedes remain unbeaten in nine qualifying sessions this season.

"It wasn't straightforward today and the start was tricky. For sure, it’s not going to be easy," said a rapidly-maturing and humble Antonelli.

"I have two Ferraris behind me and for sure they will work together. Their pace is good, but ours was stronger in the sprint so hopefully we can do a good race."

Leclerc said he was "pleased" to be second.

"It's been a few tough races," added. "The feeling has been not quite right and I've struggled to put everything together, so it's a good feeling to be back."

Hamilton who was on pole for the sprint before finishing second admitted that he was disappointed.

"Am I satisfied? Of course not! I'm P3. But I am happy to be up here with these guys who both did a great job. We just didn't have the pace today against the Mercedes.

"Hopefully we can play with our strategy and work as a team to try and topple them. We will do our best for sure."

Antonelli's Mercedes team-mate Russell, winner of last Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix, was fourth after an early crash in Q1.

Red Bull's junior driver Isack Hadjar was fifth, outperforming his disgruntled senior partner Max Verstappen. The four-time world champion had to settle for seventh, one place behind the 2025 champion Lando Norris in his McLaren.

Oscar Piastri was eighth in the second McLaren with the two Racing Bulls of rookie Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson rounding out the top 10.

G.Fung--ThChM