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George Russell won pole for the Canadian Grand Prix after an extremely close qualifying run in Montreal, where his lap time was exactly level with Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, who came second because Russell gave his time first.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were third and fourth for McLaren at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with Daniel Ricciardo fifth for RB. Lewis Hamilton, after looking very quick throughout, could only manage seventh.
However, Ferrari failed to perform at a track where they were optimistic of a strong performance, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz both crashing out in Q2, in 11th and 12th respectively, with the team paying the price for leaving their drivers on used tires for their last laps.
This is Russell’s second pole after taking his first in Hungary in 2022, he also took his first win that year in Brazil. Looking very confident in his car in Canada, he will be hoping to turn first place into his second F1 win.
It’s Mercedes’ first pole since Hungary in 2023, but they haven’t won since Brazil 2022.
They had brought their new front wing to Canada and there was optimism that it could lead to a real step forward, and it proved to be. The car looked better balanced, handled with more confidence than it had all season, and Hamilton and Russell were happy to finally have a decent ride under them. They had real pace in the low-speed corners and especially in the chicanes on the straights, where the ability to attack the curbs can make a lap.
With the track remaining dry but with the threat of rain, Verstappen started in first place as the teams ran on used tires before making a final run on the new tyre. Russell and Hamilton held the lead in their opening laps, within two-tenths of each other, with Russell three-tenths clear of Verstappen, with 1 minute and 12,000 seconds to lap.
In a qualifying session where weather was of the essence after the rain at the weekend as the track was rubberised, gaining traction on every lap and in each of the three sessions, times improved as the clock ticked down with the final laps proving absolutely crucial as Mercedes, for the first time in over a year, looked like the favourites.
With the new tyres, Verstappen began the battle, fastest in the first sector, throwing the car on the lap and equaling Russell’s first time of 1 minute 12,000 seconds to within a thousandth of a second. Russell didn’t improve, but because he had set his time first, he had pole while Hamilton slipped down the order.
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Sergio Perez, who signed a new two-year contract with Red Bull this week, suffered another shock qualifying, finishing 16th in Q1.
Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were sixth and ninth for Aston Martin. Yuki Tsunoda was eighth for RB, with the team announcing they had extended his contract with them for another season shortly before qualifying. Alex Alban was an excellent 10th for Williams.
Logan Sargent was 13th for Williams, Kevin Magnussen 14th for Haas and Pierre Gasly 15th for Alpine.
Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou were 17th and 20th for Sauber, Esteban Ocon 18th for Alpine and Nico Hulkenberg 19th for Haas.
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