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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Giles Richards

Mercedes’ Antonelli outpaces Verstappen to grab F1 Belgian GP pole

Kimi Antonelli is saluted by his Mercedes pit crew after claiming pole.
Kimi Antonelli’s pole was the 19-year-old Italian’s ⁠sixth in 10 ​rounds and ​continues Mercedes’ ​run of being ​quickest ‌in ​every ​qualifying round this season. Photograph: Dom Gibbons/Formula 1/Getty Images

Kimi Antonelli has suffered a run of no little bad luck of late, but the Italian teenager demonstrated it had left him entirely unfazed as he produced a dominant lap to secure pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix.

The 19-year-old’s composure and control at Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday was something to behold as he flew round the circuit in the Ardennes mountains with ease, comfortably beating the Red Bull of Max Verstappen into second place. Notable was the manner in which he did so given Verstappen had benefited from having a tow from his teammate, Isack Hadjar, who willingly sacrificed his laps given he had a 30-place grid penalty to come.

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