AUSTIN, Oct 25 — Runaway world championship leader Kimi Antonelli showed no nerves as he stormed to pole position with a perfectly measured fastest lap in qualifying on Saturday for the United States Grand Prix.

The 20-year-old Italian will wrap up the drivers’ championship if he wins in Austin on Sunday, his Mercedes teammate George Russell finishes outside the top eight and Lewis Hamilton finishes outside the top four.

Antonelli secured his seventh pole of the season and his first in eight races with a fastest lap in 1min 34.035sec to outpace Max Verstappen, his nearest challenger, by 0.179sec with Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar a career-best third.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth ahead of Russell, in the second Mercedes, and seven-time champion Hamilton in the second Ferrari.