Kimi Antonelli sprung the surprise no one expected in Formula 1 qualifying.

In the end, the checkered flag sealed the deal and the surprise became a reality. Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes Benz took pole position for the Sprint race, and the whole world seemed to be experiencing an unthinkable situation, not only because of the youth of this young man who had joined the German team to accompany George Russell and was already becoming a Formula 1 star. Second place went to Oscar Piastri, who overtook Lando Norris, leaving the two McLarens in second and third place . Fourth place went to Max Verstappen.

Everything pointed to the English team with Piastri as its standard-bearer and waiting for the recovery of Lando Norris, but the Italian Kimi Antonelli appeared to break the mold and become the youngest driver to start at the front of a Formula 1 competition. The peculiarity is that this boy who is about to turn 18 years old is that this Saturday or Sunday he will get on the podium and will not be able to drink champagne since by law the consumption of alcohol is prohibited for those under 18 years of age.

The other Mercedes-Benz, that of George Russell, finished in fifth place . Kimi's time, with the checkered flag flying at the finish line, was 1:26:482, beating Piastri by just 0:045 and leaving Norris third at 0:100. The two Ferraris were unable to improve their performance, and for this classification, Charles Leclerc placed sixth and Lewis Hamilton seventh.

The Williams team felt mixed. Alex Albon made it to the final qualifying session, finishing 8th, while Carlos Sainz struggled in Q2. Sainz's hopes were shattered. Sainz had a good practice session but was unable to sustain this level under the pressure of setting a significant time. Isck Hadjar performed well again, finishing ninth, ahead of Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin, who rounded out the top ten.

The Alpine team's story has several facets to analyze. On the one hand, Pierre Gasly was aiming for a strong qualifying session, but he couldn't achieve that, only making it to Q2 . Just as he was about to set a good time that would allow him to advance to the final stages, he had a slight brush with the wall, which limited his continuity. For Jack Doohan, the story was different. As the final part of Q1 approached, the team couldn't get him out on track at the right time, and when he went out to complete his fast lap, he encountered traffic, which complicated his work.

The Australian didn't have that kind of luck and paid a heavy price, missing out on qualifying in Q1. This is not a bad thing for Jack Doohan, who is in need of a strong performance to ease the pressure on him due to the constant questioning of his performances within the Alpine team. Unfortunately, Jack showed some consistency, and everything suggested he had a chance of making it past Q1, but this time, due to a minor error on his part and a great responsibility on the part of the team, he can only finish 17th to start this Saturday's Sprint.