British driver George Russell claimed his first pole position this season, his second in a row at the Canadian Grand Prix in a tight qualifying session on a sunny Saturday afternoon in Montreal.
With a flying lap time of 1:10.899s, George Russell took pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix on the medium compound, a tenth and a half clear of four-time Formula One world champion Max Verstappen at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Saturday.
The Dutchman, who is bidding to take his fourth consecutive victory in Canada on Sunday, is walking on a fine line, competing in the tenth round of the season on the verge of a race ban by just one point after making contact with Russell in Barcelona two weeks ago.
An intriguing battle in the first corner is guaranteed between the two rivals for tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the drivers’ championship leader Oscar Piastri and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli will share the second row, finishing third and fourth, respectively.
Tomorrow’s 70-lap race will also feature former McLaren duo Lewis Hamilton and Spaniard Fernando Alonso in the third row, ahead of Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, Isack Hadjar and Alex Albon, completing the Top 10 in the grid.
Grid update: Following an investigation, the stewards handed Hadjar a three-place grid penalty for impeding Carlos Sainz during qualifying.
“Car 6 [Hadjar] was on an in-lap and was caught by Car 55 [Sainz], on a push lap, at the entry to Turn 6,” states the stewards’ official FIA document.
As a result, the Racing Bulls driver will start the Grand Prix in 12th place.
After qualifying, the Frenchman said: “I got told he aborted [the lap]. I was on a fast in-lap as well, so I didn’t move out of the way.
“It’s something we’re all used to doing, but somehow, he was still on a push lap. It’s a misunderstanding, but honestly, nothing I could have done. I’m sorry for him.”
Canada GP Qualifying
A thrilling qualifying session set off as both Williams drivers took to the track in Q1, opening early action.
Russell set a time of 1.12.574s in his first outing on soft tires, while teammate Antonelli, on the medium compound, was 0.060 slower.
Then, Piastri jumped on top (1.12.332s) using the softs, a lead cut short by Aston Martin’s Alonso, faster than the Australian and last year’s race winner Verstappen.
The track continued to improve fast, impacting the timesheets. With seven minutes to go, Alonso topped the charts (1.12.239s), half a tenth clear of the defending champion.
Piastri clocked the third fastest time ahead of Scuderia Ferrari Hamilton.
With 5:30 minutes left on the clock, the session was red-flagged as Albon Williams’ engine cover suddenly fell off down the straight, leaving plenty of debris on the track.
As the track was clear, action resumed. Making the most of a new set of soft tires, Norris put in the fastest time (1.11.826s), 0.113 clear of teammate Piastri, sticking on the same set of soft tires. Russell went fifth and Hadjar sixth.
Eliminated in Q1: Gabriel Bortoleto, Sainz, Lance Stroll, Liam Lawson, and Pierre Gasly with Alpine.
Red Bull Racing sent Verstappen out early on the mediums to start Q2, recording the quickest time until Leclerc beat him on the red rubber by just 0.012 seconds.
Building upon momentum, Russell jumped to the front on mediums, recording the best time of the weekend (1:11.570s) at that moment.
Out came the chequered flag; Norris second on used soft tires and Leclerc third, separated by 0.056s.
The Ferrari racer, who crashed on Friday during the first free practice session, showed pace at challenging for the pole despite missing FP2.
Yuki Tsunoda, Franco Colapinto, and Nico Hulkenberg as well as Haas drivers Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon, ended in the drop zone.
On a further note: Tsunoda received a 10-place grid penalty for overtaking Piastri in the final free practice session held earlier on Saturday, a red-flag infringement.
All the cars making it through to Q3 sported the new C6 soft compound in its first outing.
Monegasque Leclerc set the mark of 1:11.729s, dropping to third when Verstappen and Piastri moved ahead.
Norris made a mistake, going long and wide into the final chicane, which would cost him.
With less than three minutes on the clock, Verstappen secured a provisional pole, opening a 0.025-second gap from Piastri, who fell to second.
However, looking good all weekend, Russell stormed to the pole with a round lap, a career sixth pole position.
Interviewed by former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, the pole sitter outlined: “To be honest, that last lap was probably one of the most exhilarating laps of my life because on my steering wheel, you’ve got the delta and I just saw every corner I was going one-tenth quicker, one-tenth quicker.
“I got into the last corner, I was six-tenths up, and I was like, this lap is mighty; crossing the line, seeing we were P1 was a real surprise, but I was so chuffed with it.”
Antonelli booked fourth place, and Hamilton, on fresh soft tires, went as far as fifth. Alonso, seizing his performance on mediums, sits in sixth place, Norris seventh, and Leclerc only eighth with everything to play for on Sunday.
