The 19-year-old secures his first pole for the Monaco Grand Prix in the most important qualifying session of the season. Kimi Antonelli claimed his fourth pole of the season with a time of 1:12.051 around the streets of Monaco Saturday morning, besting Max Verstappen and the Ferraris.
On his final flying lap, it looked like the hometown hero of Charles Leclerc was going to be able to secure his fourth pole at his home track before slapping the wall in the final sector. Leclerc will start fourth next to his teammate Lewis Hamilton. The two Ferrari drivers dominated practice on Friday before being joined at speed by front row starter Max Verstappen.
View Price on AmazonQualifying at Monaco is one of the most important qualifying sessions of the year, with passing at a minimum on the narrow-walled streets of Monaco. Antonelli secured the pole in his second attempt at the track in an F1 car to continue his early-season domination at just 19 years old. Since Lewis Hamilton's rookie year in 2007, the Monaco Grand Prix has been won from pole in 12 of the 18 runnings.
"I mean, I think this is one of the most intensive, if not the most intense, qualifying of the year," Antonelli said on Monaco. "And it takes a massive effort. Also, practices because you just keep trying to get close to the limit. And when it's about finding the last not easy, the wall starts to come closer and it's not easy to gain the confidence, but to be honest, I felt great this morning and I'm happy that we could finish the job today."
Last year, Antonelli qualified 15th and had no luck moving forward in the grand prix, finishing three positions back and three laps behind in his first Monaco Grand Prix.
With a dominant Mercedes under him in 2026 and the confidence of four wins and now four poles, he still gets to come at Monaco with the good side of his inexperience, which is a lack of expectations.
"[I'm] just enjoying the driving, enjoying the car, enjoying the weekend, and that was a big step compared to last year, and it's really nice to be able to do the sessions and looking forward to it tomorrow."
Mercedes Boss Toto Wolff agreed that Antonelli's youth is coming in handy in some of these high-pressure moments. He's been quick to bounce back from disappointments in practices or bad starts in sprints to still secure high points or grand prix wins by the end of the weekend.
"From that perspective, the young age is maybe easier," Wolff told F1TV. "You don't think a lot about it. He has not a lot to lose. He never expected himself to be in this position that he's leading a championship. Like he said, there's nothing, I don't know how it is, so I have nothing to lose. I think it's trusting his instinct, letting it fly, and the tough learnings from last year with the mistakes that happened, the span of nine races without a point, and that all keeps building."
Source: roadandtrack.com
