George Russell's title dreams take big hit as Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli grabs pole in Monaco - and Lewis Hamilton sits third with Kim Kardashian watching on
Monaco is a mass of myth and legend. And there remains a chance that, on Sunday, Formula One’s most gifted weaver of fairytales can add another line to the fable.No, qualifying did not deliver for Lewis Hamilton the pole he went to bed dreaming of in his apartment up the escarpment of this tiny principality. That honour was grabbed by the curly-haired teenager Kimi Antonelli, who is riding his Mercedes as if it were a magic carpet.And Max Verstappen, a simply irresistible talent, qualified second best for Red Bull. But Hamilton, watched from a harbourside vantage point by Kim Kardashian in her first grand prix outing as his girlfriend, was third best. It puts him in the fight, even with all the caveats that come stalk these tight streets.The first of those is the race’s infamously processional nature, and, make no mistake, Antonelli is favourite to reach the opening corner, Sainte Devote, in front. If he does, the baton is in his hands and he can conduct the orchestra behind him at his own tempo. However, given his 19 years of age, the hectoring pressure of those behind him gnaw at his nerves intensely.If there was a slight sense of anti-climax in Hamilton’s qualifying result, after his pace-setting practice performance on Friday, he was not too downcast afterwards.He hardly counted himself as the logical likely winner of Sunday's 78-lap show – how could he? – but nor was he ruling out a fourth victory around this storied circuit. George Russell faces a huge battle to get back into title contention after qualifying sixth‘I mean, you know how these races go?,’ he reflected with a slight sigh of reality. ‘It’s very, very difficult. But nothing is impossible.‘I hope we can get a really good start and maybe apply some. I probably need rain.‘It is going to be hard to beat them. They are both great drivers. They’ve been quick all weekend. It is a shame that this race is normally a case of following one another.‘The car is overheating, the brakes are overheating, with the way the track is. But I’ll try to get in there and hassle them as much as I can, and try to force them into not making certain corners.’He smiled. He likes his car in general, and put down the slight decline in performance from practice to qualifying – ‘a surprise’, as he called it – to minor tweaks overnight. ‘A millimetre here, a millimetre there,’ he explained.Nevertheless, his speed rallied between Q1 and his final lap in Q3, having at first complained about a lack of rear-end as he watched others turn the timing screens purple. A few adjustments were made mid-session, and he screwed himself to his task.‘It is all about confidence,’ he reasoned, having beaten team-mate Charles Leclerc, who was driving on the ragged edge, into fourth. ‘I felt capable. I am in a good place with the car, and I am in a good place with the team.‘There is no lack of pace, and I am really grateful for that, especially in regards to all the negative comments that people have made.’ Lewis Hamilton's girlfriend Kim Kardashian (right), with sister Khloe, watches on from the Ferrari garage as he takes third on the gridAh, let’s put our foot on the brake as we examine that last comment. To whom was he possibly referring? Chief suspect is Nico Rosberg. For only a few days his erstwhile friend who beat him to the 2016 title declared that he was, ‘not yet at the level required to win an eighth world championship.’In truth, that may be right. But he is in form and firing well, last season’s travails behind him. And, of course, Monaco is helpful to a Ferrari with traction to die for. Its twists also negate a lack of engine grunt.Hamilton added: ‘I keep putting the work in, keep turning up and I keep delivering.’His best hope to stage an early ambush lies in his car’s brisk starting potential, owing to a small turbo that equips it for this task. As for rain, none is forecast, and that militates against Hamilton because his most outstanding drives in Monaco came in dry-wet conditions.Before placing the laurels around Antonelli’s neck, we should not discount Verstappen, who was 0.043 off the summit on Saturday. If you want a driver to produce a rabbit from his racing suit sleeve it is the Dutchman, every bit as much as Hamilton once conjured them in his salad days.Whatever Sunday brings, all credit to Antonelli. He is full of confidence after four successive wins. Here, he was four-tenths ahead of George Russell, who qualified sixth. Alarm bells are ringing in George’s head.The Briton has not won since the Australian Grand Prix on the opening day of the season and lies 43 points behind his Italian rival. He needs something misfortune to befall Antonelli and a stellar drive himself to relight his self-belief.But the non-negotiable problem for Russell is that Antonellis is lightning fast, the greatest commodity there is. His rawness can be outgrown with experience.He also, it seems, has the wind of his team’s support at his back. Toto Wolff, his boss, leapt to his feet and punched his fists high in the air as his protégé secured pole as if he (Toto) had just scored the last-minute winner in the World Cup final.Would the reaction have been so full-throated had it been tall George prevailing? Discuss.Anyway, Antonelli was owed the plaudits. ‘It was one of those laps, a magic lap,’ said Monaco’s youngest pole-sitter. ‘I was able to put it all together and it was such a close qualifying session with Max.‘This is the most intense qualifying of the year, and it takes a lot of effort to keep trying to get close to the limit. When you are trying to find the last two-tenths, it is not easy because the walls start to come closer.’That final observation reveals how much jeopardy remains in play on Sunday. Who, if anyone, can pounce if circumstance presents itself? That question keeps Hamilton’s chances flickering.
