Where Kimi Antonelli felt “lost” before smashing rivals to F1 latest pole

Kimi Antonelli revealed that he felt "lost" in the opening stages of qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix before turning in a dominant display to take pole position.

Antonelli was the driver to beat on Saturday at Spa-Francorchamps, as he laid a marker in final practice before denying Max Verstappen a position at the head of the pack with a last-gasp effort. 

"It was a weird qualifying because in Q1 I felt a bit lost, because the wind picked up a little bit and the balance was a bit more on the edge," explained the Italian. 

"But then, obviously, the session came to us, and Q3 was good because we did a decent first lap and then, on the second lap, found a lot of time. But, yeah, I feel like the track was cooling down and it was helping us a little bit. It was a good lap, and now we’ll focus on tomorrow."

Antonelli is looking to bounce back from a series of difficult results, with reliability costing him potential wins in Barcelona and Silverstone - both occasions where he was chasing down a Ferrari driver.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff stated ahead of the weekend that the team must focus on turning pace into results, given the increased threat in the championship battles, and Antonelli is hopeful that any battles will take place far behind him. He is, however, cautious of the opening lap threat in slipstream along the lengthy Kemmel Straight. 

"We’ll see tomorrow," he said. "We’ll see what the weather is going to be like. 

"For sure, it’s a long run into Turn 5, and of course we’ll try to get a good start. But also, the degradation is going to be fairly big, so we’re just going to try to manage those tyres in the best way possible."