Toto Wolff concedes ‘surprise’ at Kimi Antonelli United States GP pole
Where did that come from?
AUSTIN – Kimi Antonelli pulled a pole lap out of nowhere that surprised even Mercedes boss Toto Wolff at the United States Grand Prix, as the Italian prepares for his first chance to clinch the F1 title.
Victory on Sunday could see Antonelli crowned champion.
Toto Wolff on Antonelli pole – ‘We didn’t see that lap coming’
Across all three practice sessions at the Circuit of the Americas, Ferrari had led the way, with Charles Leclerc topping both FP1 and FP2 on Friday, before Lewis Hamilton took control in final practice.
But when it came to qualifying, the Scuderia dropped back, with Red Bull and McLaren appearing to make gains.
For the most part, Mercedes had been setting times in the middle of the top 10. But then Antonelli delivered a storming first effort in Q3, timed to perfection as the track appeared to hit a peak.
With few improvements made on the final run, and none by any of the top three, Antonelli took an unexpected seventh pole position of the season, putting the Italian in the strongest possible position to conclude the title race on Sunday.
“It’s still a little bit of a surprise,” Wolff told Sky Sports.
“We had a guest in the garage that asked me, ‘What do you expect from qualifying?’ And I said something between P3 and P5. So the guy, the guy thinks I’m totally competent with my judgement, but we didn’t see that lap coming.”
Mercedes has continued searching for the ultimate performance of its major upgrade package introduced in Malaysia, which saw the championship-leading team slip back a little.
Wolff added: “I think the car is still very much on the edge. That if you manage to land it well and drive it in the right way, you have this kind of performance that’s in there.
That is really encouraging to see that it’s that it can do it.
“But you can see on the other car with George, if you are not hitting that peak completely, that you fall out of it, and then you’re having three to four tenths deficit. So we want to have a car that’s fast but also predictable, which at the moment isn’t.”
Russell will start from fifth place, and, should Antonelli take victory, knows that he must remain within the top eight positions if he is to keep his championship hopes alive heading to Mexico.
An issue that is likely to cause significant stress on the pit walls of every team is track limits, with over 250 violations across the weekend so far – with most of the front-runners falling foul at some point.
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Antonelli came close to a penalty for this in Singapore, and after an incident in FP3 this time around, Wolff once again joked of putting a cushion in his driver’s seat to help him see out of the car.
“It’s a secret gift we have for him,” grinned Wolff.
“No, the truth is he’s pushing the limits so much, and it’s almost like he goes into this autopilot mode of what can I extract from the car, and then he slides over those limits. I’ve been joking with his dad during the races, like how is this even possible? He said he’s beyond comprehension for his father too.
“But I’d rather slow down a racehorse than try to accelerate a donkey because that’s not possible.”
As for the potential of taking the championship this weekend, Wolff maintained: “No, we’re not talking about that. Not talking about it. No, it’s not realistic, and I don’t think we are the quickest in the race. So it’s just about scoring points and then eventually, hopefully, winning.”
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