Kimi Antonelli surprised by George Russell gap after tricky Suzuka qualifying
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli
Kimi Antonelli concurred with Mercedes teammate George Russell that the W17 was in a more tricky window come qualifying at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Mercedes locked out the front row at Suzuka, though did not enjoy the kind of pace advantage which many were expecting. With Russell pointing to a setup change being behind his qualifying difficulties, Antonelli admitted to surprise over his three tenths gap to Russell as he secured back-to-back pole positions.
Kimi Antonelli surprised by George Russell gap at Suzuka qualifying
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Fresh off his pole and first grand prix win in China, Antonelli delivered again at Suzuka, as he clinched pole for the Japanese Grand Prix.
Ferrari and McLaren had threatened to feature in the pole position battle, but Antonelli’s 1:28.778 was three and a half tenths better off than what P3 qualifier Oscar Piastri could manage.
“I had a really clean session. Felt good. Had a strong run one, and from there on, I just built the momentum,” said Antonelli after qualifying.
“Obviously it was a bit trickier than FP3, especially at the start of qualifying. I think the wind increased a little bit. It felt a little bit more difficult, the car overall.
“But then we just try to adapt. We made some tweaks with aero balance and found a good compromise.
“Then the lap in Q3 was good. Bit of a shame for the last one, but I think it was, overall, a very strong session.”
Antonelli was asked if he was surprised by the gap to Russell. He held an advantage over his teammate and the championship leader throughout qualifying, and ended up three tenths clear.
“Yeah, I am,” he confirmed. “But with this regulation, it is really easy to gain and lose time.
“It was the same for me in Melbourne.
“But, he’s super quick. He’s been super quick around here, and we’ll see tomorrow in the race, how we’re going to do.”
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Speaking of these regulations, Antonelli was asked how a lap of the high-speed, thrilling Suzuka track feels in the F1 2026 car, with energy harvesting and deployment now so critical to performance.
In a rule change introduced at Suzuka, drivers were capped at 8 MJ of energy recovery, as the sport bids to reduce the need for energy management on a qualifying lap.
“There are parts of the track where you’re a little bit limited, a bit handcuffed on driving because of energy,” Antonelli admitted, “but I think still, the esses are pretty good fun.
“Because at the end of the day, the car on the chassis side, it’s very good fun. The esses in qualifying were getting pretty quick, so it was good fun.
“Of course, there’s still work to do, and to work around, in these big tracks with the energy, how to find a solution that allows us to push even more and drive without thinking too much, especially in certain places.
“But overall, I think it was good fun, the qualifying, because at the end, also you look at the lap times, and they’re not so far off from last year. So I think today has been good fun.”
Another major talking point is how the batteries influence overtaking. Some drivers, like Max Verstappen, have complained about this. Others, like Charles Leclerc, believe that the artificial feel is fading.
Put to him that Suzuka is not known for easy overtaking, Antonelli was asked whether he expects things to be different with these cars.
“Probably,” he said. “We’ve seen how much easier it is to follow, and when you get the overtake mode, how much more battery you can harvest and then deploy in the straight.
“So you never know. It can give good racing.
“I don’t think it’s going to be as easy as China and Melbourne, because the track, first of all, is quite a bit tighter, and you don’t have as many straights where you can overtake, or straights and then big braking where you can make the move. You have a lot of fast entries. So it’s not going to be easy.
“But that’s why it’s crucial to have a good start. And then we’ll see from there how the pace is going to be.
“Long run has been good. Let’s see tomorrow how the weather is going to be, how the wind is going to be, because you never know, it can shift. Let’s see also, with temperatures, how hot it is going to be.
“I’ll try to be ready. Try to cover as many scenarios, in order to be ready for tomorrow.”
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