Wolff Baffled by Antonelli's 'Miracle Lap' as Italian Seizes US GP Pole
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has conceded that he does not fully understand how Kimi Antonelli executed a “miracle lap” in Qualifying for the United States Grand Prix, a performance that handed the Italian pole position at the Circuit of The Americas.
Although Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc topped the times in Q1 and Q2 respectively, Antonelli put together a crucial effort in the final segment to take provisional pole with a time of 1m 34.035s. He was unable to complete a second run after making a small error, but it ultimately did not matter, as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen also failed to find any improvement — securing the Italian’s hold on P1 for the seventh time this season.
Wolff left astounded by the gap to Russell
With George Russell settling for P6 in the second Mercedes — over four-tenths adrift of his team mate — Wolff was left even more astounded by Antonelli’s achievement.
“To be honest, George’s lap is what we expected the car could do,” the Team Principal told F1 TV. “Not quite happy about the set-up and the upgrade we brought. Kimi pulled out such a miracle lap that I struggle to understand where that’s coming from.”
The result marks Antonelli’s first pole since the Belgian Grand Prix, as well as the team’s first Qualifying triumph since they introduced a major upgrade package in Malaysia that they have fought to maximise over recent rounds. While it did not deliver the desired boost at first, it has appeared to work in the Silver Arrows’ favour at the Circuit of The Americas, where the 20-year-old could secure the Drivers’ Championship.
Upgrade package finally delivering
Wolff added: “We brought an upgrade package two races ago which didn’t perform as we expected. We had a guest that asked me what I expected from Qualifying and I said something between P3 and P5.
“Now we have a car on pole position and it looked very strong, so the car has it in it to be fast — we just need to understand why.
“The car is probably not as strong in race performance as the Ferraris and Verstappen, so we shall see how Kimi gets away, whether he’s able to hold onto P1.
“George, we just need to bring forward. We need to score points for the Constructors’ Championship, so both drivers matter very much tomorrow.”
Teammate dynamic adds intrigue
The gulf between the two Mercedes drivers in Austin comes amid a season-long storyline around the intra-team battle. On 2 October 2026, prior coverage reported that Wolff had revealed Russell “found it difficult to cope” with Antonelli’s emergence earlier in the season, as the 20-year-old Italian stunned his more experienced team mate with a run of five straight race victories. That reporting noted Russell’s Baku victory had closed the gap to 66 points ahead of the following race weekend.
Earlier, on 20 September 2026, Wolff had publicly backed Russell to bounce back after a difficult Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, insisting the team must work closely with the British driver to “unleash his potential” despite him falling 81 points behind Antonelli in the title fight at that stage.
With a car on pole and a championship within reach, Wolff’s immediate focus now shifts to the race, where he will hope Antonelli can convert P1 into points and Russell can recover from a disappointing sixth on the grid.