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F1 pundit Karun Chandhok saw a clear sign that George Russell was suffering from a lack of Kimi Antonelli’s “tremendous confidence” as the young Italian showcased a dominant level of pace during qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix.
As Max Verstappen claimed provisional pole position thanks to a neat tow from Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar in the dying embers of Q3 at Spa, Kimi Antonelli clocked in a barnstorming lap to snatch the top spot away from his rival by over three-tenths of a second.
Antonelli’s clinching of his sixth pole position this season certainly wouldn’t have gone down well with title rival George Russell, and to make matters worse for the Briton, he was unable to get within half a second of his teenage teammate’s benchmark.
Drop your podium prediction for the Belgian Grand Prix 👇
Russell will begin Sunday’s Grand Prix from P3 on the grid, having been bumped up a position due to a grid penalty that Lando Norris must serve after McLaren decided to bring an extra ICE component into the reigning world champion’s pool of components.
During his analysis of Mercedes’ driver duo’s best efforts in Q2, Karun Chandhok spotted where Russell is lacking compared to the young Italian straight away.
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Karun Chandhok hails Kimi Antonelli’s ‘tremendous confidence’ as George Russell struggled again
Speaking via Sky Sports F1’s live coverage of qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix, the former F1 driver pinpointed Antonelli’s superior confidence at corner entry as a clear catalyst for Russell’s deficit over a single lap.
Who was your star of qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix? 🤩
“He just doesn’t seem to have… the body language of the car, he’s just not attacking the corners, the track, with the same confidence that Antonelli seems to be doing,” Chandhok noted.
“[Russell] is waiting a little bit more in terms of just being able to open the week up and roll the speed out. We’ve seen this trend all weekend; he’s been a little bit behind.”
In contrast, Antonelli has been plug-and-play all weekend, as demonstrated through his dominance in FP2 and FP3. “[Antonelli] has just been at one with the car; he’s been able to attack it in a way that we haven’t seen George be able to do,” Chandhok continued.
The F1 pundit sees Antonelli’s “tremendous confidence” as a deciding factor, concluding, “I think Antonelli has just got a better way with this car. For George, the challenge is that Antonelli is just growing so much in confidence.
- READ MORE: Karun Chandhok fears Belgian GP just exposed worrying ‘trend’ with Oscar Piastri and George Russell
“There’s a tentativeness with George, in the way he turns the wheel. [Antonelli’s] just got tremendous confidence to hustle this car around.”
Antonelli will now go toe-to-toe with Verstappen at turn one in Sunday’s Grand Prix, and the Dutchman is no stranger to usurping the lead from the pole-sitter on the very first lap around the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
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