Chinese Grand Prix qualifying: Antonelli takes first place after Russell’s problems

Antonelli’s new record – aged 19 years and 212 days – betters the previous mark set by Sebastian Vettel, who was 21 years and 72 days old when he took pole position at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix.

Antonelli said he was “very happy” but accepted that he probably would not have taken pole if Russell had qualified trouble-free.

“George had a problem, so it could have been a different story, but he’s happy to start from pole for the first time,” he said.

Russell described his second place as “damage limitation” after a series of problems during qualifying.

The championship leader said: “It was a crazy session. The front wing broke at the end of Q2. The team wasn’t sure it was broken but I was sure it was. Then they got stranded on track and I just got out in time. It was just a matter of getting one lap done.”

“Second place is better than I expected when I started the lap without battery and tire temperature. Really happy to be here because I could have been as low as 10th.”

In the first session, Leclerc became the first driver to overtake Russell in a competitive session this year with a time of just under 0.1 seconds from the Briton.

Then in the second session, Russell finished third behind Antonelli and Leclerc after suffering a fracture to his front wing.

Heading into the final session with a new wing, Russell’s car stalled on track on his outside lap as the gearbox refused to change gear.

Antonelli passed his teammate with the fastest time on his first flying lap, 0.3 seconds faster than Leclerc.

After frantic work in the garage, Mercedes was able to repair Russell’s car by applying a series of virtual actions such as turning the car off, starting it again and switching the steering wheel.

He just got out in time to set the lap but his hasty preparation meant the car was not in perfect condition while he was on the road for some time.

However, Antonelli had his own problems on his final outing – he suffered the same front wing problem that Russell had suffered in Q2.

Hamilton, who battled with Russell for the lead in the opening laps of the sprint race earlier on Saturday, was 0.351 seconds off pole and said he hoped to challenge Mercedes again in the grand prix.

“Qualifying was really tough,” Hamilton said. “A little harder with the wind. It’s very windy today. It’s very difficult.”

“Really happy and grateful to be here with these guys. The engineers did some great work over the break and were able to get a little closer to these guys.

“It will still be a challenge but I’m sure we’ll have some fun. We’ve learned a lot in the sprint and our goal is to break the gap with these guys one way or another.”

McLaren was just over 0.1 seconds behind Ferrari, and Norris said: “We’re happy to be close to them and it gives us a good chance for tomorrow.”

But Verstappen was frustrated because he was nearly a second behind Red Bull.

“We changed a lot in the car and it didn’t make any difference,” the four-time world champion said.

“We’ve been stuck all weekend. The car is completely undriveable. I can’t even point it out. Every lap is survival.”