Antonelli claims pole in Austin, with the title on the line on Sunday
Kimi Antonelli will start the United States Grand Prix from pole position, and a win on Sunday could make the 20-year-old Formula 1 world champion. The Mercedes driver set a lap of 1:34.035 at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, BBC Sport and it was 0.179 seconds quicker than Max Verstappen's effort.
Pole is the front spot on the starting grid, the best place to begin a race. It was Antonelli's first pole since the Belgian Grand Prix in July. He had already made history earlier this year, when he became the youngest driver to take a pole position in the sport's history.
Behind the front two, Isack Hadjar qualified third, 0.215 seconds off pole. Charles Leclerc was fourth, 0.232 back, and Lewis Hamilton fifth, 0.276 off the top time. George Russell, Antonelli's Mercedes teammate, was sixth, 0.441 seconds behind him. Oscar Piastri took seventh and Lando Norris eighth.
Norris lost a lap time for breaching track limits, the white lines marking the edge of the circuit. That leaves him further down the timesheets than his own pace suggested. BBC Sport Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson qualified ninth and tenth. Lindblad will start further back than that, because he has a five-place grid penalty for using too many engine parts.
The race matters for the championship as well as the grid. Antonelli leads his teammate Russell by 102 points, and Hamilton is third in the standings. Reuters Once Austin is done, 125 points will still be available across the remaining races. Reuters
The arithmetic for Sunday is simple. According to the BBC, Antonelli becomes champion if he wins in Austin while Hamilton finishes outside the top four and Russell finishes outside the top eight. BBC Sport Any other result keeps the title fight going.
Verstappen will start alongside Antonelli on the front row, and Hadjar, Leclerc and Hamilton are close enough behind to make the first corner a real test. Lights out is at the start of the race, when five red lights go out and the field goes at once. Sunday's race is scheduled for 25 October.
