Kimi Antonelli hails 'magic lap' after titanic Max Verstappen pole battle

Kimi Antonelli hailed his Monaco Grand Prix pole-position lap as a "magic lap" after a titanic battle with Max Verstappen.

After a difficult opening day at the Circuit de Monaco, Antonelli looked strong throughout Saturday at the iconic venue.

He built speed through each qualifying segment but held just a 0.001s advantage over Verstappen after the opening runs in the final part of the session.

The championship leader was left needing to improve as Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton both went quicker than the 19-year-old, who delivered a stunning lap when it mattered most.

Antonelli returned to provisional pole with his final flying lap after setting a sensational 1m 12.051s, edging Verstappen by 0.043s.

With the polesitter often going on to secure victory in Monaco, it could prove to be the greatest pole position of Antonelli's career, with the Italian recognising the brilliance of his lap.

"Yeah, I mean, it was one of those laps that we call a magic lap, you know?" said Antonelli. "I was able to put it all together, and it was such a close qualifying session with Max.

"In the first run of Q3, there was just one thousandth between us, but I knew the last lap was good, and I was just hoping it would be enough. But yeah, it was very close, and I'm very happy with that.

"Massive thanks to the team, because yesterday we struggled a little bit, and today we were able to improve massively."