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Lewis Hamilton was quick to send a message to Kimi Antonelli after the young Italian stormed to pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix.
On Saturday afternoon, the likes of Hamilton, Antonelli, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen were all in with a chance of securing pole position for Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix as Q3 reached the closing stages.
Leclerc had put his Ferrari on provisional pole before Verstappen produced a brilliant lap to snatch P1 off the home town hero.
However, Antonelli had other ideas as he delivered a stunning lap to clinch his maiden Monaco Grand Prix pole ahead of the four-time world champion.
Starting behind Antonelli will be Verstappen, with Ferrari’s Hamilton in P3 after his last effort was better than Leclerc’s.
Kimi Antonelli’s last-gasp stunner seals Monaco GP pole 💥 Who will be leading out of Turn 1?
Lewis Hamilton sends Kimi Antonelli ‘special’ message after stunning Monaco GP pole
Speaking to Jenson Button after the session, Hamilton was quick to congratulate Antonelli.
The seven-time world champion said: “Congrats to Kimi, mega, mega job. Having your first pole here is so so special.”
Hamilton went on to add that it was a ‘tough’ day for Ferrari, he said: “It was tough for us. We were looking so strong in practice, and we barely changed anything.
“But the car was drastically different once we got to qualifying for some reason, so we have to take a deep dive into that.
“I gave it absolutely everything. I was as close to the barriers as I could be, and what a privilege it is to be here, to be one of the 22 drivers in F1 getting to do this still. I love every second of it.
“I think it is definitely very close between us all. I thought we almost maybe nearly had it, and then Max put in a good time and then Kimi.
“I think it’s great to see how close all the cars are. I think we lost something going into today, and that’s what we need to try to figure out.”
Can Kimi Antonelli extend his record run with a fifth consecutive win to open his Grand Prix victory account in Monaco?
READ MORE: Toto Wolff has set George Russell a clear target to prevent Mercedes from targeting Max Verstappen
Peter Bonnington didn’t think Kimi Antonelli’s pole position ‘was on’
After sharing a brilliant team radio exchange with Antonelli, Mercedes race engineer Peter Bonnington made an honest admission when speaking to Sky Sports F1.
He admitted that he didn’t think Antonelli was going to be able to snatch pole away from Verstappen.
Bonnington said: “I didn’t think it was on. Just looking at the time delta, I thought ‘it’s going to be close but it’s not going to happen’.
“But then the last couple of corners, yeah, came good.”
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