George Russell beat Max Verstappen to pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix when the pair shared a best lap time of one minute and 12.000 seconds. Live updates below!
The Briton took the prime starting spot because he set his lap time earlier in the session.
Meanwhile Aussie pair Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo are eyeing a huge result after qualifying fourth and fifth respectively.
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In a dramatic conclusion to a closely-contested qualifying session, Mercedes’ Russell was unable to improve on 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 of the grid alongside the Briton, who secured his second career pole to give a boost to Mercedes as they emerge from a long period in the doldrums thanks to successive upgrades packages.
“Amazing, amazing!” said a delighted Russell on Mercedes team radio. “Right, now we’ve got a race to win! I’ve missed this feeling.
“So much hard work back at the factory has gone into this.”
Verstappen, who was chasing a third successive Montreal pole, 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 rip in qualis, starts 5th | 01:00
“Congrats to Mr Russell,” said his friend Norris. “I am happy with third. A good job by us so I am 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 11th and teammate Carlos Sainz 12th.
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
7 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes
8 Yuki TSUNODA RB
9 Lance STROLL 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, Alpine*
*Five-place grid penalty carried over from the Monaco Grand Prix.
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Source Agencies
