Antonelli jokes about "biggest achievement" after unexpected US Grand Prix pole position
Kieran is a freelance Formula 1 journalist for GPblog, covering breaking news, live race blogs and feature content across the F1 calendar. An NQJ-qualified journalist with more than a decade of experience, he has previously written for publications including MailOnline, the Manchester Evening News and the Eastern Daily Press.
Kimi Antonelli joked that avoiding breaching track limits was his biggest achievement in qualifying after securing pole position for the United States Grand Prix.
The Italian, who could become the youngest F1 drivers' champion in history tomorrow, took a surprising pole position, after it was expected that the two Ferraris would battle Max Verstappen for top spot. Instead, it was the teenager who took pole by 0.179 seconds to Verstappen.
Speaking after the race, Antonelli said: “It was surprising, but also one of the biggest achievements for me today is I didn't have track limits, so that was awesome,” Antonelli said.
“It made our lives a little bit easier, and I didn't put myself in a difficult situation. We were just able to progress through the session and build from there.”
Antonelli added that he and the team knew the fight for pole would be close, but had not expected to come away with the top spot. “Definitely was unexpected. We knew it would be close, but it was a good surprise,” he said.
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How can Antonelli win the F1 title at the US GP?
Simply put, Antonelli needs to convert pole position into victory at the United States Grand Prix and hope that George Russell finishes ninth or lower, and Lewis Hamilton finishes ninth or lower. Russell only qualified P6, while Hamilton is in P5.
Looking ahead to the race, Antonelli highlighted the pace of Verstappen this weekend and expects a "tight" race at the front.
He said: "We got pole, so we'll try to win tomorrow. Max has been very quick, and did an incredible job in qualifying so it's not going to be easy.
"We will try to get a good start and hopefully we lead into Turn 1, then set the pace, even though it will be very tight. Very happy with qualifying today, Q3 was very tough with the wind, gusty, unpredictable, but happy to stick it on pole."
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