Kimi Antonelli is looking to use the cool conditions at Interlagos to his benefit as he pursues the first victory of his F1 career.
The Mercedes driver will line up alongside pole sitter Lando Norris on the front row of the grid for the São Paulo Grand Prix, and will want to go one better than he managed in the one-third distance sprint.
After pushing the British driver in the closing stages, Antonelli ultimately came up short as yellow flags - as a result of Gabriel Bortoleto's terrifying crash - robbed him of his final opportunity to overtake the McLaren.
The young Italian's rich vein of form continued in qualifying, again outperforming George Russell in the other W16, to once more clinch second in a Brazilian grid-setting session, becoming the third youngest driver in F1 history to start on the front row.
Looking back at the result, Antonelli highlighted the difficult conditions, with heavy gusts disrupting the flow of the drivers at Interlagos.
"It was a very tricky session," the 19-year-old told the media, including RacingNews365. "To be honest, the wind was not the best. It was a bit more of a pain in the ass around the lap, to be fair.
"But still, the last lap in Q3 was quite decent. I locked up a little at the rear in the last corner, but despite that little mistake, I don’t think it would have been [good enough for pole]. Lando would have still been fastest.
"So just not the perfect lap, but still good for P2, and we have a good opportunity."
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A decisive factor?
With 71 laps of Interlagos separating Antonelli and potentially a first grand prix victory, the teenager will be hoping to emulate his team-mate, who took his maiden win in Brazil in 2022.
Mercedes often performs well in cooler conditions, which Antonelli is hoping to capitalise on in his fight against the McLarens and Charles Leclerc.
"The pace in the sprint was really strong," he pointed out. "It was also quite cold, and the race should be kind of the same. So maybe that can help us a little bit more.
"But running in dirty air is never easy. Hopefully, we can have a strong pace and put pressure on them, and hopefully we can fight for the win."
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