Antonelli beats Russell to Japanese GP pole

Kimi Antonelli beat Mercedes Formula 1 team-mate George Russell to pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix as he topped qualifying for a second race weekend in a row.A fortnight on from his maiden grand prix victory in the Chinese GP, Antonelli appeared the more comfortable of the Mercedes drivers and once the threat of a challenge from the McLaren and Ferrari drivers dissipated he had the legs on Russell, who complained in Q3 of vibrations through the Suzuka circuit’s fast corners – having questioned the rear end of his stability earlier in qualifying as well.As the majority of drivers failed to improve on their final Q3 runs, Antonelli’s first effort of 1m28. …