What happened
Kimi Antonelli will start the United States Grand Prix from pole position after the fastest lap in qualifying at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The 20-year-old Mercedes driver stopped the clock at 1 minute 34.035 seconds in the final part of qualifying on Saturday, a lap that put him almost two-tenths of a second clear of Max Verstappen.
Verstappen, in the Red Bull, could not improve on the final runs, and Antonelli could not go quicker either. His early Q3 lap stood. Isack Hadjar, also in a Red Bull, qualified third, ahead of the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. Antonelli's Mercedes teammate George Russell was sixth, a full four-tenths off the pole time.
Antonelli called the session very tough in gusty, unpredictable wind. After securing pole he said: "Yes man, it's good to be back." It is his first pole since the Belgian Grand Prix in July and his seventh of the season. It is also the first pole for Mercedes at Austin since Valtteri Bottas took pole there in 2019, a race Bottas went on to win.
Why it matters
This is not just another pole. Antonelli leads the championship by 102 points over Russell, and he has eight wins this season. Win on Sunday and he can become the youngest Formula 1 world champion in the sport's history.
The pole also marks a turnaround for Mercedes. Upgrades introduced in Malaysia made the car harder to drive and did not deliver what the team expected in Malaysia and Singapore. In Austin, the team found a way to make them work, and Antonelli said the car took a big step forward since Singapore. His engineer, Pete Bonnington, said the pole was somewhat unexpected given that work and Red Bull's recent form, with Verstappen taking pole and the win at the last two rounds.
Austin is also a statement about where Formula 1 is headed. The sport keeps adding new stops and new audiences, and [F1 is even returning to Africa](/article/f1-returns-to-africa-rwanda-lands-grand-prix-early-2030s) with a Rwanda race in the early 2030s. A young title contender winning at a flagship American race fits that growth story, and a US crowd will get a front-row view of a championship being decided.
What happens next
The race is on Sunday, October 25. For Antonelli to seal the title in Austin, he must be 125 points clear after the race. That means winning on Sunday while Russell finishes outside the top eight and Hamilton finishes outside the top four. He needs his rivals to falter as well as a win of his own.
If it does not happen in Austin, it probably will not wait long. Verstappen himself has noted it could come at the next round in Mexico, or the one after that. Antonelli, for his part, said he would try to win on Sunday, lead into turn one and set the pace. He knows Verstappen has been very quick and expects a tight race.
