George Russell has taken another step towards a perfect weekend with pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix. After not troubling the frontrunners throughout and locking up in Q2, Russell saved his best for last. A searing final run in Q3, which he later claimed ‘came from nowhere’, saw him topple his teammate and take pole by six hundredths of a second.
Kimi Antonelli looked set for pole but lacked deployment down the final straight and had to settle for second. Even so the championship leader is perfectly poised to challenge his teammate on race day.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella described the day as “encouraging” and stated that his car’s strength lay in the corners. Lando Norris qualified third ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri, who admitted that Mercedes had the edge in outright pace. Lewis Hamilton was forced to abandon his final run after an error at turn seven and had to make do with fifth. Hamilton later lamented Ferrari’s lack of straight-line speed relative to Mercedes.
Max Verstappen was another unhappy entrant. The four-time world champion complained of a lack of straight-line speed throughout and could only manage seventh-fastest come sessions’ end. Verstappen was unable to explain the lack of pace and stated that setup changes had been ‘confusing’.
His teammate, Isack Hadjar, briefly shocked the paddock by going fastest in Q2. The Red Bull driver ended the session eighth and expressed his frustration at not being “sharp enough on those final laps in Q3”.
Charles Leclerc struggled for pace throughout and implored his team to let him run in clear air prior to Q3 en route to eighth place. A result he predicted in Q2.
Arvid Lindblad has continued his commendable progress and will line up ninth. He’ll share the fifth row with Franco Colapinto, who has been, by far and away, the standout Alpine driver this weekend.
Nico Hülkenberg qualified eleventh for the sixth time this season, ahead of Liam Lawson. Gabriel Bortoleto will lineup 13th ahead of Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz, Ollie Bearman – who suffered an excursion at the final chicane in Q2 – and Esteban Ocon.
Alexander Albon qualified 18th ahead of Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll and Valtteri Bottas.
Mercedes is undoubtedly the team to beat in Montreal. As a result, George Russell is perfectly poised to get his title challenge back on track, but if Antonelli’s feisty advances in the sprint are anything to go by, the Mercedes driver will have to be on guard when the lights go out tomorrow.
