Antonelli, who has won the last four races, danced his way around Formula One’s famed streets in the principality to beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to top spot by just 0.043 seconds.

Russell will start a distant sixth – 0.394 sec slower than his Mercedes team-mate – with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc third and fourth respectively for Ferrari.

Verstappen’s team-mate Isack Hadjar lines up from fifth with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris set to start McLaren’s 1,000th race from seventh and eighth.

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Russell is in desperate need of a strong weekend after slipping 43 points behind Antonelli following his retirement from the lead in Canada a fortnight ago.

But the British driver has struggled for pace all weekend at the principality, and now faces losing even further ground to Antonelli at a circuit where overtaking is practically impossible.

“I just don’t feel like I have got any grip,” said Russell. “I don’t really get it.”

Antonelli is on a roll and the 19-year-old will be the overwhelming favourite to land a remarkable fifth straight win on Sunday.

“It was one of those laps, a magic lap,” said Antonelli. “I was able to put it all together and it was such a close qualifying session with Max.

“We were separated by just 0.001 seconds after the first lap in Q3 but I was just hoping it would be enough in the end, and the last lap was very good, and I am very happy with that.

“This one is the most intense qualifying of the year, and it takes a lot of effort to keep trying to get close to the limit. When you are trying to find the last two tenths, it is not easy because the walls start to come closer.”

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Hamilton had been quicker than anyone here on Friday in a car which had been tipped to excel on this unique, slow-speed track.

But the 41-year-old could not live with Antonelli and Verstappen – despite the arrival of Kim Kardashian, in the paddock for the first time to support the seven-time world champion.

Hamilton finished 0.228 sec behind Antonelli with a wild Leclerc, who came close to crashing on two occasions in Q3, three tenths off the pace.

Hamilton bemoaned over the radio that he felt something was wrong with his car.

He later said: “It was tough for us. We were looking so strong in practice, and we barely changed anything, but the car was drastically different once we got to qualifying for some reason, so we have to take a deep dive into that.

“I gave it absolutely everything. I was as close to the barriers as I could be. I thought we almost had it, and then Max put in a good time and then Kimi, too. We lost something going into today, and that’s what we need to try to figure out.”

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Hamilton’s Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur was absent from the track after he was hospitalised, although the Italian team did not provide any details on the nature of his condition.

Q1 was red flagged after Gabriel Bortoleto fell victim to the narrowest track on the calendar.

The Brazilian clipped the barrier as he arrived for the Nouvelle Chicane, breaking his suspension, and thudding into the wall.

Ollie Bearman, who crashed out of final practice, then failed to progress from the opening phase.

Bearman, hindered by the late red flag, will start Sunday’s 78-lap race only 19th. The beleaguered Aston Martin team occupy the final row of the grid – with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll both more than two seconds off the leading pace.