by F1 correspondent Michael Butterworth
SHANGHAI, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli became the youngest polesitter in Formula 1 history after setting the fastest time in qualifying for the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, while teammate George Russell was hindered by a battery issue.
Having won the Sprint earlier on Saturday, Russell entered qualifying as the favorite, but his afternoon nearly unraveled when he stopped on track shortly after the start of Q3 with an apparent battery problem.
Although the Briton made it back to the garage and had enough time to complete one flying lap, his best effort was only good enough for second, 0.222 seconds slower than Antonelli.
"It was a pretty clean session, so really happy. George had an issue in Q3 and it would have been cool to see him with two sets [of tyres]," said Antonelli, who became the first teenager to take pole position for an F1 grand prix, breaking an 18-year-old record set by Sebastian Vettel at Monza in 2008.
"I saw he had the issue and tried to keep my focus, stay calm and deliver a good lap."
Behind the two Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton qualified third, with Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc alongside him on the second row. Ferrari showed in both the Sprint and last week in Melbourne that its starts are among the best on the grid, raising the prospect that the Scuderia could challenge Mercedes off the line in Sunday's race.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri and reigning world champion Lando Norris qualified fifth and sixth respectively.
Pierre Gasly produced an excellent effort to take seventh for Alpine, ahead of both Red Bulls in a disappointing showing for the Milton Keynes-based team. Max Verstappen was eighth and Isack Hadjar ninth after neither Red Bull scored points in the Sprint.
Fresh from taking eighth in the Sprint, Ollie Bearman continued his strong form by qualifying 10th for Haas.
Audi's Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine's Franco Colapinto narrowly missed out on places in the top 10 and are set to line up 11th and 12th respectively.
The second qualifying segment ended under yellow flags after Hulkenberg's teammate Gabriel Bortoleto spun at the final corner and made light contact with the barrier. The Brazilian was unable to progress and is set to start 16th.
Esteban Ocon was 13th in the second Haas, while Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson narrowly outqualified rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad, with the pair set to start 14th and 15th.
The back of the grid mirrored Sprint qualifying, with the six slowest drivers from that session again eliminated in Q1.
Carlos Sainz edged Williams teammate Alex Albon for 17th, with Albon voicing his frustration over team radio and describing the session as "terrible."
Aston Martin's struggles also continued, with Fernando Alonso only 19th and Lance Stroll 21st and outqualified by Valtteri Bottas in a modest boost for newcomer Cadillac.
Bottas' teammate Sergio Perez will start Sunday's grand prix from the back after qualifying 22nd and last. ■
