Kimi Antonelli Secures Second Pole of the Season at Suzuka

Kimi Antonelli claimed his second pole position of the season at Suzuka, edging out team-mate George Russell by 0.298 seconds. The Italian set a 1:28.778 on his opening Q3 lap, the only driver to break into the 1:28s, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished just behind Russell.

Neither Antonelli, Russell, nor Piastri improved on their final Q3 attempts, securing Antonelli the first Mercedes pole at Suzuka since Lewis Hamilton in 2018 and marking the 50th pole for an Italian driver. He is also the first Italian since Jarno Trulli in 2004 to take multiple poles in a single season.

Charles Leclerc finished fourth, followed by Lando Norris and Hamilton in fifth and sixth. Max Verstappen’s streak of four consecutive Suzuka poles came to an end after he failed to advance past Q2, finishing 11th.

Antonelli built a three-tenth advantage on his first Q3 run but locked up at the hairpin on his second attempt. Leclerc looked set to challenge with a strong Sector 1, but oversteer at Spoon corner ended his chance, leaving him just ahead of Norris by 0.004 seconds.

Pierre Gasly took seventh, ahead of Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto, and Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad.

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