‘Annoyed’ Kimi Antonelli sends Lando Norris message straight after losing out on Brazilian GP pole

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McLaren driver Lando Norris denied Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli the first pole position of his F1 career in Brazil during qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

A margin of 0.174 seconds ultimately separated Norris from Antonelli atop the Q3 timesheet at Interlagos this Saturday. Norris took pole for the Sao Paulo GP with a 1:09.511 lap, against the 1:09.685 effort that Antonelli registered to set his best Grand Prix qualifying result so far.

Antonelli became the youngest ever F1 polesitter at the Miami Sprint back in May, when he denied McLaren driver Oscar Piastri by 0.045s in SQ3. The 19-year-old also set his previous-best Grand Prix qualifying result in Florida when the Mercedes rookie started the race in P3.

Kimi Antonelli is ‘annoyed’ to finish second to Lando Norris ‘again’ in qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix

Antonelli has thrived at Interlagos this weekend, but he also had to settle for second best as Norris scored pole for the Sao Paulo Sprint and won the 100km dash by 0.845s. Norris could not shake Antonelli after starting on the soft C4 tyres compared to the Italian’s medium C3s.

READ MORE: Lando Norris wins the F1 Sao Paulo Sprint, as Oscar Piastri crashes in Brazil

So, Antonelli joked that he was “a bit annoyed” about coming second again as Norris scored pole for the Sao Paulo GP by 0.174s. The Mercedes rookie expects Norris will be “very fast” in Sunday’s feature race in Brazil, too, when he will seek the second podium of his F1 career.

Antonelli said in the post-qualifying interview: “To be fair, I’m a bit annoyed [that] I’m again behind him. We were so close this morning in the Sprint, as well. But it was a very tricky session with the wind, very tricky to put the lap together.

“But, you know, still managing the last run to put [in] a decent lap, yeah, [I am] happy with that. Starting P2 tomorrow, of course, you know they’re very fast. So, it’s going to be important to get a good start and try to set a good pace.”

Lando Norris expects Kimi Antonelli to push ‘til the very end’ in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix

Norris initially built up a slight lead over Antonelli in the Sao Paulo Sprint following the early red flag for Piastri and Alpine ace Franco Colapinto crashing at Turn 3 on Lap 6 of 24. Sauber star Nico Hulkenberg also crashed at T4, but the German was able to continue in the Sprint.

But as Norris started to struggle with his soft rear C4 Pirelli tyres on a drying track following overnight rain, Antonelli came back at the McLaren ace. Yet the teen was unable to get past the 25-year-old Briton to achieve what would have been his first race win of any kind in F1.

Antonelli will now chase his first Grand Prix win on Sunday in Brazil, as he also looks for only his second podium so far after his P3 in the Canadian GP in June. And Norris expects to see Antonelli push him until “the very end” following their fight in the 100km dash in Sao Paulo.

Norris added: “I learned that they’re pretty quick, and I learned that Kimi pushes all the way ‘til the very end. So, in some ways [I am] looking forward to it, some ways I’m not.

“I think it’s going to be a big challenge tomorrow. We have to see what the weather is going to do again. But, so far this weekend, it’s been clean. So, I’m hoping they don’t ruin it.”