“What on earth did you do!?” The team radio reaction to Kimi’s pole position.  A battle won on a razor’s edge for Kimi Antonelli, who edges out Max Verstappen in Monaco GP qualifying to take pole by just a few thousandths of a second. His engineer, Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington, celebrates with him while Toto Wolff exults with joy.

Pole position on the iconic Monte Carlo circuit launches the 19-year-old from Bologna into the history books: “It was one of those laps where I managed to put everything together. I knew the last one was good and I hoped it would be enough; today we managed to improve. It was a magical lap.” This is how Kimi Antonelli celebrates his first-ever Formula 1 pole position at the Monaco GP—the second ever for an Italian driver after Jarno Trulli in 2004. With four consecutive wins, the championship lead, and the concrete opportunity tomorrow to win a GP that for many drivers would be the crowning achievement of an entire career—all in his second year in F1. It’s not just that lap that is magical; his entire current run is.

In the traditional photo, Kimi stands out between two giants of F1 history: Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Being behind this crystal-clear talent stings just a little bit less for them.