Wolff says Antonelli’s qualifying pole exceeded Mercedes’ expectations

Saturday’s qualifying at the Circuit of The Americas gave Kimi Antonelli his first pole since Spa. He set the decisive time on his first Q3 run, 0.179 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen; Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar finished third, 0.036 seconds behind his team-mate. The wind made the second runs difficult, and few drivers improved.

Toto Wolff said Mercedes had expected to fight for a place on the front row but considered P3 or P4 more likely. After qualifying, he told Sky F1 that Antonelli’s lap had caught him by surprise. Wolff described the driver’s search for lap time as almost automatic, saying he could slide beyond the limits while trying to extract performance.

Wolff said Mercedes’ latest updates had narrowed the car’s operating window. Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said the team still struggled to find a consistent balance after introducing them, although the pace was there when the car reached the right setup window. Shovlin praised Antonelli’s handling of the Turns 12 to 15 sequence on his first Q3 run.

Russell said the updates had been positive but described his two Q3 laps as poor. He qualified sixth. Shovlin said a small mistake at Turn 11 on Russell’s final lap raised tyre temperatures and left him without enough grip to recover.

Verstappen said he struggled with grip and rear control as the wind picked up, though he qualified second. Leclerc said the cooling track made it harder to get the tyres up to temperature in Q3; he qualified fourth, with Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton fifth.

For Sunday’s race, Shovlin said Friday’s running suggested the top four teams were closely matched on race pace. Some rivals had also saved new soft tyres.