United States Grand Prix:<\/b> Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli said he will face a challenge from Red Bull at the United States Grand Prix on Sunday after taking a surprise pole in qualifying here in Austin.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Antonelli beat Red Bull's Max Verstappen by 0.179 seconds to top the Q3 timesheets, posting 1m.34.035s for his seventh pole of the season at the Circuit of the Americas. He has a chance to script history in Austin by becoming the youngest-ever F1 champion, and he not only needs a win of his own but also a few results to go his way.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
With Red Bull and Ferrari posing a challenge in Austin, even a race win for Antonelli is not straightforward, as Verstappen and his teammate Isack Hadjar start behind the title leader.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Antonelli was pleased with the qualifying but rather knew that it won't be easy to win the race. \u201cI\u2019m very happy. It was a good qualifying. Having a clean run helped to build momentum. We didn\u2019t make mistakes, and I\u2019m very happy with that.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI felt good in the car, especially in Q3. It was tricky with the wind because the balance was changing quite a lot from corner to corner, but that last lap was looking good.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI pushed a little bit more and just lost it, which was a shame, but still very happy with the result and looking forward to tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The 20-year-old Italian admitted the challenge he is set to face from the two Red Bulls behind at the start. \u201cWe\u2019ll try to win,\u201d he explained. \u201cHopefully we\u2019ll get off the line well, and then hopefully we can set the pace and win the race, but it\u2019s not going to be easy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cRed Bull and Max have been very strong, and also Isack has been up there in Qualifying. It\u2019s not going to be easy out there, but we\u2019re ready to do our best.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Antonelli has a first chance to win his maiden F1 title in Austin and break Sebastian Vettel's record for being the youngest F1 champion. For that, he not only needs a win of his own but also would hope that teammate George Russell finishes ninth or lower and Lewis Hamilton ends up outside the top four.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cRed Bull and Max have been very strong, and also Isack has been up there in Qualifying. It\u2019s not going to be easy out there, but we\u2019re ready to do our best.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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