Antonelli becomes the youngest F1 driver to make pole position, beating Sebastian Vettel's record from 2008
Mercedes showed a first hint of 2026 vulnerability in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, but still ended up with a front-row lock-out to underline their superiority over the field at the start of this season.
Both Kimi Antonelli, who broke the record for Formula 1's youngest pole-winner, and championship leader George Russell hit trouble.
But they still had enough pace in hand to beat the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc on the two-by-two grid in Shanghai.
Mercedes' problems reduced Ferrari's gap to pole - Hamilton was just 0.351secs slower than Antonelli, more or less halving the deficit the next fastest car had to pole in both qualifying at the first race of the season in Australia and in the sprint qualifying on Friday in China.
