Kimi Antonelli's 'magic lap' beats Max Verstappen to pole at Monaco Grand Prix

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MONACO (AP) — Kimi Antonelli mastered one of Formula 1's most intense challenges to take pole position for Formula 1's Monaco Grand Prix and bolster his credentials as the title favorite on Saturday.

Maximizing pace on the narrow streets without clipping the ever-present barriers means the 19-year-old Italian goes into Sunday's race with a chance to extend his and Mercedes' winning streaks and stretch his already-impressive 43-point standings lead.

Antonelli saved his best for last to beat Max Verstappen of Red Bull by just 0.043 of a second and extend Mercedes' streak of qualifying on pole for every grand prix this season. Lewis Hamilton was third for Ferrari.

“It was one of those laps that we call a magic lap. I was able to put it all together,” Antonelli said.

Antonelli's teammate and title rival George Russell was only sixth and told broadcaster Sky Sports he was “bamboozled” why the Mercedes car suited Antonelli's style better than his.

Qualifying is typically more important in Monaco than any other track in F1 because it is almost impossible to overtake on the narrow, twisty street circuit. “I just need to get a clean start, don't try to do the magic start,” Antonelli said.

Verstappen said he was surprised to be starting second and Hamilton suggested his chances of winning might rest on the remote chance of rain.

Antonelli will now be favorite for a fifth grand prix win in a row on Sunday. That’s a feat that only Verstappen and Hamilton have achieved among current drivers. Mercedes is aiming to continue its run of winning every grand prix so far this season, though Lando Norris won one sprint race in Miami for McLaren.

Antonelli leads by 43 points from Russell after a tense wheel-to-wheel battle between them at the last race in Canada ended abruptly with an engine failure for Russell. If he can keep it up, he'd be the youngest F1 world champion in history.

Antonelli praised Mercedes for improving the car's setup after Ferrari led both Friday practice sessions.

“The team did a incredibly big turnaround compared to yesterday in terms of setup. Yesterday, I’m not going to lie, we were struggling,” he said.

Ferrari’s pace in Friday practice raised hopes of a first win since October 2024 for the Italian team, but it ended up with neither car on the front row of the grid as Hamilton said he didn't understand why the car felt “drastically different.” Ferrari was without team principal Fred Vasseur, who missed qualifying for medical reasons.

“It’s very, very difficult” to challenge Antonelli and Verstappen, Hamilton said. “I don’t think there’s overtaking. I hope that we can get a really good start and maybe apply some pressure to the two and need rain, probably.”

Charles Leclerc starts his home race fourth and gave Ferrari work to do before the race to fix damage after he clipped a barrier on his final attempt.

McLaren is off the pace of the top three teams with Oscar Piastri seventh and defending champion Lando Norris eighth.

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