Qualifying report

F1 Canadian GP: Russell snatches last gasp pole from Verstappen, Norris seventh

The Mercedes driver stole pole position from Verstappen right at the death in a disappointing session for McLaren

George Russell stormed to pole position at the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix and will start on the front row alongside his Barcelona rival Max Verstappen.

Verstappen received a 10s penalty and three penalty points after colliding with Russell’s Mercedes during the Spanish Grand Prix and now the duo will start alongside one another in Montreal.

Russell has looked strong all weekend and took his first pole since the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, a race he went on to win, with a time of 1m10.899s.

Verstappen had topped the timesheets until Russell’s final run usurped the Dutchman, while championship leader Oscar Piastri will start in third for McLaren.

Piastri’s title rival and team-mate Lando Norris endured a tough afternoon and is down in seventh, starting on the fourth row alongside the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli starts fourth in the second Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton fifth and Fernando Alonso taking a standout sixth for Aston Martin, while Isack Hadjar and Alex Albon rounded out the top 10.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Yuki Tsunoda received a 10-place grid drop and two penalty points during the session after the stewards ruled on a red flag infringement during FP3, and he will start from the back of the field having been 11th fastest in Q2.

Franco Colapinto improved on his weekends so far and will start in the 11th spot vacated by Tsunoda, with Nico Hulkenberg and the Haas pair of Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon directly behind.

There were some surprising names out in Q1, with Pierre Gasly the slowest and Liam Lawson also knocked out in 19th, while home favourite Lance Stroll struggled on his return from injury and is down in 18th.

There was a delay during Q1 with a red flag needed after Albon’s Williams shed a large part of bodywork down the back straight.

His team-mate Carlos Sainz was then left fuming with Hadjar, who impeded the Williams driver as he narrowly missed the cut, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto also eliminated.

F1 Canadian GP results - qualifying

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	G. Russell Mercedes	63	Mercedes	Mercedes	6	1'10.899		M	221.436
2	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1	Red Bull	Red Bull	6	+0.160 1'11.059	0.160	M	220.937
3	O. Piastri McLaren	81	McLaren	Mercedes	8	+0.221 1'11.120	0.061	S	220.748
4	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12	Mercedes	Mercedes	6	+0.492 1'11.391	0.271	M	219.910
5	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44	Ferrari	Ferrari	8	+0.627 1'11.526	0.135	S	219.495
6	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14	Aston Martin	Mercedes	8	+0.687 1'11.586	0.060	M	219.311
7	L. Norris McLaren	4	McLaren	Mercedes	8	+0.726 1'11.625	0.039	S	219.191
8	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	Ferrari	Ferrari	7	+0.783 1'11.682	0.057	S	219.017
9	I. Hadjar RB	6	RB	Honda	6	+0.968 1'11.867	0.185	S	218.453
10	A. Albon Williams	23	Williams	Mercedes	8	+1.008 1'11.907	0.040	M	218.332
View full results