George Russell beat Max Verstappen to pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix as the pair shared a best lap time of one minute and 12,000 seconds. Live updates below!
The Briton took first place on the grid because he set his lap time earlier in the session.
Meanwhile, Australian duo Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo are eyeing a huge result after qualifying fourth and fifth respectively.
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In a dramatic end to a closely contested qualifying session, Mercedes’ Russell could not improve his Q2 time, while Red Bull’s series leader and three-time world champion shaved more than a second off his lap.
It was enough to lift the Dutchman to the front row alongside the Briton, who secured his second career pole and gave Mercedes a boost as they emerge from a long period of trouble thanks to successive upgrade packages.
“Fantastic fantastic!” said a delighted Russell on the Mercedes team radio. “Right, now we have a race to win! I missed this feeling.
“So much hard work went into it at the factory.”
Verstappen, who was chasing a third consecutive pole in Montreal, was philosophical.
“It is what it is,” he said. “Going into qualifying I would have taken that.”
Lando Norris was third just 0.021 seconds off their pace, ahead of McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Mercedes.
Ricciardo lets go in qualifying, starts 5th | 01:00 am
“Congratulations to Mr. Russell,” said his friend Norris. “I’m happy with third place. A good job from us, so I’m happy and excited.”
Yuki Tsunoda was eighth in the second RB, ahead of Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin and Williams Alex Albon, with the two Ferraris failing to make the top ten shootout.
Charles Leclerc, an emotional home winner of the Monaco Grand Prix two weeks earlier, qualified eleventh and teammate Carlos Sainz twelfth.
It was the first time since the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix that Ferrari had both cars eliminated without reaching Q3.
STARTING GRID FOR F1 CANADIAN GRAND PRIX
1 George RUSSELL Mercedes
2 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull
3 Lando NORRIS McLaren
4 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren
5 Daniel RICCIARDO RB
6 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin
7Lewis HAMILTONMercedes
8 Yuki TSUNODA RB
9 Lance WALK Aston Martin
10 Alexander ALBON Williams
11 Charles LECLERC, Ferrari
12 Carlos SAINZ, Ferrari
13 Logan SARGEANT, Williams
14 Kevin MAGNUSSEN, Haas
15 Pierre GASLY, Alpine
16 Sergio PEREZ, Red Bull
17 Valtteri BOTTAS, Kick Sauber
18 Nico HULKENBERG, Haas
19 ZHOU Guanyu, Kick Sauber
20 Esteban OCON, Alps*
*5-place grid penalty taken from the Monaco Grand Prix.
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