Kimi Antonelli’s Senna moment during "magic lap" for Monaco pole

Kimi Antonelli experienced a moment similar to that of legendary Formula 1 champion Ayrton Senna on his way to a dramatic pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix.

In 1988, Senna set quite possibly the most famous pole lap in F1 history, as he wrestled his McLaren to the front of the grid around the Monaco streets, with the Brazilian describing the lap as an “out-of-body experience”.

Nigh on 40 years later, Antonelli – who has already been compared to Senna on multiple occasions – enjoyed a similar feeling, as he fought off stiff competition to snatch pole position with a last gasp effort, besting Max Verstappen by 0.043s.

“It was one of those laps that we call the magic lap,” said the Mercedes driver.

“I was able to put it all together and it was such a close qualifying with Max. I think the first run of Q3, there was just 0.001s between us, but I knew that the last lap was good and I was just hoping that it would be enough.

“But it was very close and I am very happy with that. Massive thanks to the team, because yesterday we struggled a little bit and today, we were able to improve massively.”

Asked if he had experienced a similar out-of-body experience to Senna, Antonelli added: “Yeah, I think this was one of the most intense, if not the most intense, qualifying sessions of the year, and it takes a massive effort. Also, practices, because you just keep trying to get close to the limit.

“When it’s about finding the last two tenths, it’s not easy because the walls start to come closer, and it’s not easy to gain the confidence.

“But I have to be honest, I felt great this morning and I’m happy that we could finish this off today.”

Antonelli hails “big changes” made to unlock Mercedes’ Monaco F1 pace

Mercedes had struggled on Friday and appeared to be comfortably behind Ferrari and Max Verstappen, with the Scuderia having secured one-two outcomes in both sessions.

But in the hands of Antonelli, the Mercedes came alive on Saturday, with the teenager a constant threat throughout the three phases of qualifying.

“The team did an incredible big turnaround compared to yesterday on the setup,” Antonelli explained.

“Yesterday, I’m not going to lie, we were struggling, so the team did a great job with overnight correlation to do big changes on setup, and the car just felt much more alive this morning.

“It was also much more forgiving to kerb-cutting, bumps…so the team did a great job and that is what made us gain so much in terms of performance between yesterday and today, and allowed us to fight for pole.”