The Prague Post - Russell bounces back to beat Antonelli in sprint qualifying

The 28-year-old Briton had been outpaced earlier by the Italian teenager who is seeking a fourth consecutive Grand Prix win on Sunday, but proved he retains the resilience and pace to handle mounting pressure.

Russell topped the times in 1min 12.965sec to beat Antonelli by 0.068sec in a tight session extended by a lengthy red flag stoppage after two-time champion Fernando Alonso crashed in his Aston Martin.

"It feels great after a tough Miami, but I never doubted myself," said Russell.

"I knew what I could do. Miami was a bit unique, but it’s high grip here and it feels like you're driving a proper F1 car around here, which is how it should be.

"The upgrades are definitely feeling great, the team have done such a great job to bring this forward. We saw in Miami that McLaren are close and Ferrari are not too far behind, and on a track like this it's really excelling."

Antonelli said: "My lap was quite bad and the session wasn’t clean for me – I made a mistake and I pushed for lap one when I’d not done enough prep for the tyres and they were cold... We will do better tomorrow."

World champion Lando Norris was third ahead of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri and the Ferraris of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar qualified seventh and eighth for Red Bull with Racing Bulls’ rookie Arvid Lindblad ninth and Carlos Sainz 10th for Williams.

The SQ1 session began with Hamilton leading the way in warmer temperatures of 20 (air) and 42 (track), the seven-time Canada winner clocking 1:15.459, a lap time soon bettered by Leclerc, Norris and Russell.

Verstappen also went top. And then came Antonelli in 1:14.010, almost half a second clear of the Dutchman before Hamilton, watched by his mother Carmen in the Ferrari pits, posted 1:13.922 to pip the young Italian by 0.088.

Hamilton improved, trimming his time to 1:13.889, before a red flag stoppage, when two-time champion Fernando Alonso crashed at Turn Three after locking up in his Aston Martin.

The Briton, who claimed his maiden triumph in Montreal in 2007, was clearly in the mood.

This left a clutch of drivers still in need of a flying lap as the barriers were repaired.

"I locked up the fronts and after that you’re a passenger," said Alonso. "No room to avoid anything here… Too much on the limit."

Only 20 cars took part with Williams’ Alex Albon out after crashing in practice earlier and Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls absent with gearbox problems.

The action resumed after a 20-minute break with only 1min 46sec remaining for drivers to complete a lap before the flag and then clock a flying lap.

Only Carlos Sainz and local hope Lance Stroll made it, but without recording an improved time. This left Segio Perez eliminated along with his Cadillac team-mate Valtteri Bottas, Aston Martin’s Stroll and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

Russell and Antonelli were first out for SQ2, but it was Norris who set the pace until Hamilton displaced him, followed by Russell in 1:13.466 – and Antonelli just behind his Mercedes team-mate by 0.085.

Verstappen was out late and managed only ninth before pitting as Hamilton went top only for Russell to take over again in 1:13.026, four-tenths clear.

Out this time went Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and both Haas drivers along with Alonso.

Hamilton was first out again for SQ3, but aborted his first lap on softs before clocking 1:13.605 beaten only by a revived Russell who found the pace for pole in 1:13.194 which he trimmed to 1:12.965 on a second run.

In a final flurry of laps, the Mercedes’ pair claimed the front row ahead of the two McLarens and both Ferraris and the Red Bulls.

C.Novotny--TPP