George Russell has made it two pole positions in two years at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The Mercedes driver put together a scintillating final lap in Q3, to take pole off Max Verstappen by 0.160s (despite a snap of oversteer coming out of the final corner).
With the medium and soft tyres broadly similar in terms of pace, many drivers ran both compounds in qualifying. Once the track was fully rubbered in by the end of Q3, the mediums were clearly the optimal choice.
Russell, Verstappen and Oscar Piastri were all in contention for pole position. However, it was Russell who found more time than anyone else, while Verstappen outpaced the soft-shod Piastri for second.
Having set the pace in FP3, Lando Norris looked to be an obvious candidate for pole. However, the Brit’s qualifying was not without incident. After overshooting the final chicane early in Q3 (following which he was fed a series of messages by his race engineer Will Joseph, advising him of braking points and optimum lines) Norris failed to improve on his final run. His initial banker lap was only good enough for seventh on the grid.
As a result, Kimi Antonelli was able to underline Mercedes’ one-lap pace with fourth, one place ahead of Lewis Hamilton who equalled his best starting position for a grand prix this season.
Fernando Alonso has proven, beyond all doubt, the progress Aston Martin has made in qualifying with sixth, while Charles Leclerc, the other big name to lose out in qualifying, will start eighth.
After going purple in the first sector on his final run, two major snaps of oversteer at turns five and six forced Leclerc to abandon his lap.
The Monegasque’s frustration was clear for all to see as he attributed his mishap to dirty air caused by the slow-moving Isack Hadjar in front of him.
Alex Albon’s engine cover came apart in Q1, the resulting debris caused the session to be briefly red-flagged. Albon was nevertheless able to progress and secured tenth on the grid for Sunday’s race ahead of Yuki Tsunoda.
Having failed to make it into Q3 once again, Tsunoda has been hit with a ten-place grid penalty for a red flag infringement in FP3. Not the result he needed, given his recent form.
After struggling to find his rhythm in free practice, Franco Colapinto did well to secure what is by far his best qualifying result of the season with 12th.
Nico Hulkenberg qualified 13th one place ahead of Ollie Bearman who, despite an uneven lap at the end of Q1, managed to progress and eventually secure 14th. Esteban Ocon will start one place behind his teammate for Haas’s 200th grand prix.
Gabriel Bortoloeto qualified 16th ahead of Sainz who suffered a second consecutive Q1 exit after being impeded by Isack Hadjar during his last run.
The incident earned Hadjar a three-place grid penalty which will drop him from 9th to 12th on the grid. Liam Lawson could only manage 19th while Pierre Gasly was the last classified runner.
Verstappen comes into this weekend with 11 penalty points on his license (one short of a race ban). As a result, the reigning world champion has been the subject of much pitlane chatter since Thursday. When pressed about what might transpire between himself and Russell tomorrow, Verstappen did little to hide his annoyance, describing the speculation as “childish”.
With Russell keen to get his first win of the season, Verstappen in desperate need of a good result and Piastri intent on extending his championship lead, it's safe to say that tomorrow has the makings of a thoroughly absorbing grand prix.
