Formula One: Mercedes’ Russell snatches pole for Canadian grand prix – as it happened
Wow! Russell has done it on the medium tyre! After Piastri went ahead Verstappen reclaim the top spot before Russell beat them all with a final surge.That is back-to-back poles for Russell in Montreal.That is all from me today.Join us tomorrow for live updates from Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the Canadian Grand Prix.Au revoir!George Russell, Mercedes, 1:10.
8992Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:11,0593Oscar Piastri, McLaren, 1:11,1204Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, 1:11,3915Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, 1:11,5266Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, 1:11.
5867Lando Norris, McLaren, 1:11,6258Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 1:11,6829Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls, 1:11,86710Alexander Albon, Williams, 1:11,90711Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull, 1:12.
10212Franco Colapinto, Alpine, 1:12.14213Nico Hulkenberg, Stake, 1:12.18314Oliver Bearman, Haas, 1:12.34015Esteban Ocon, Haas, 1:12.63416Gabriel Bortoleto, Stake, 1:12.
38517Carlos Sainz, Williams, 1:12,39818Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, 1:12,51719Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls, 1:12,52520Pierre Gasly, Alpine, 1:12,667And Russell, who will be on pole tomorrow with a slight dig at Verstappen in his interview:Today was awesome! That last lap was probably one of the most exhilarating laps of my life because on my steering wheel you have the delta and I was seeing every corner I was one tenth quicker.
I got into the last corner and I was six tenths up so I was like ‘this lap is mighty’.Crossing the line and seeing we were P1 was a real surprise but I was so chuffed with it.On facing Verstappen in the front row:We are mates, it’s all good! I’ve got a few more points on my licence to play with.Let’s see.”Verstappen speaks:I felt quite good all weekend.
The car actually was in a good window.You need to quite efficient on the straights, which we are in general, so overall I’m quite happy with qualifying.The car was again working quite well.The tough choice was the tyres, which one to use.But I think we did the right thing.
On if second could be advantageous on the run to the first corner:I would always pick P1 as you always start a bit more forward!But it’s fine, we will see what we can do tomorrow.I’m already very happy with that we achieved today, to be on the front row.Hopefully tomorrow we can have a solid race.Piastri speaks after finishing P3:After how practice went I’m pretty happy with myself.A nice turnaround.
It was always the question, do we want the medium or soft for Q3? We went with the soft because we were having a lot of problems and wanted to keep things consistent,I’m pretty happy with third which is a bit different this year but I will definitely take it,Russell-Verstappen front row tomorrow … These two have history and are not necessarily the closest of friends,Piastri will start in third and Antonelli will be in the fourth spot,Wow! Russell has done it on the medium tyre! After Piastri went ahead Verstappen reclaim the top spot before Russell beat them all with a final surge.
That is back-to-back poles for Russell in Montreal.Piastri takes provisional pole back from Verstappen … will someone spoil the party?Hamilton is up to fourth with Norris down to seventh.Leclerc is all sideways in the sixth and seventh turn and ruins a purple first sector.Norris has another attempt after that error and goes into fifth.The race is so tight with only three tenths between Russell in P3 and Hamilton in P8.
Russell is now in third, 0.268s off Max Verstappen.Antonelli slots into fourth behind his Mercedes teammate.Norris misses the final chicane on the first lap and his time will not count.Verstappen speeds away and is now top with a time of 1:11.
248.Here we go! Piastri and Hamilton on used tyres.Leclerc starts with an 1:11.729 which is the time to beat.Q3 will start momentarily.
Here is who is racing:George Russell, MercedesLando Norris, McLarenCharles Leclerc, FerrariMax Verstappen, Red BullOscar Piastri, McLarenFernando Alonso, Aston MartinLewis Hamilton, FerrariAlex Albon, WilliamsKimi Antonelli, MercedesIsack Hadjar, Racing BullsColapinto is on the lengthy list of drivers who will be investigated after the session for exceeding the maximum lap time delta,Tsunoda called for a penalty for Russell after the Briton overtook his Red Bull exiting the pit lane,No word yet if that is being looked at,11 Yuki Tsunoda12 Franco Colapinto13 Nico Hulkenberg14 Oliver Bearman15 Esteban OconRussell soars to the top of the table with the medium tyre with a time of 1:11,570! Norris, on his used softs, finishes 0.
029s behind the Mercedes,Leclerc finishes third for Ferrari, with Verstappen fourth, Piastri fifth and Lewis Hamilton sixth,Albon switches to the medium tyres and slots into seventh,Tsunoda gets up to ninth,Leclerc goes top with a time of 1:11.
626! Pole position is anyone’s to play for.Bearman, Colapinto, Hadjar, Ocon and Hulkenberg are at risk with three minutes to go.Hamilton is now up to fourth.Verstappen, the only one with medium tyres, is still in the lead.Russell arrives and is now up to sixth while Antonelli is up at eighth on their first laps of Q2.
No sight of either Mercedes car yet,Alonso is in sixth, Tsunoda in seventh (with a 10-grid place penalty),Leclerc and Hamilton are in fourth and fifth, both nearly three tenths behind Verstappen,Verstappen races by Norris by 0,036s early on.
Piastri is third, just 0.077s off Verstappen though.Verstappen is the only one on medium tyres.Everyone else has opted for the softs so far.Sainz is shell-shocked on the radio.
He says he “massively impeded” by Hadjar, who finished the session in 9th, before swearing.That could be a three-grid place penalty for Hadjar.16 Gabriel Bortoleto17 Carlos Sainz18 Lance Stroll19 Liam Lawson20 Pierre GaslyAlbon flies up to 6th but Sainz is out of Q1! Wow! He is down on 17th place.Stroll is out in his home grand prix in 18th.The Williams pit crew replace Albon’s engine cover and somehow he is out on the track in time for a final lap.
He is below the cut line in 18th place with team-mate Sainz only just ahead of him.Norris was in 12th minutes ago but with three mins to go he goes quickest on a 1:11.826.The debris has been cleared and we are back under way.Alonso still tops the timing board.
Norris has switched to a new pair of soft tyres but his teammate Piastri is keeping his same set,Albon’s engine cover was just blown away and basically explodes … a lot of questions for Williams as that is surely not meant to happen,So bizarre,Here's the moment Albon's engine cover flew off 👀#F1 #CanadianGP pic,twitter.
com/KCFTnog4JeThe session stops at just under 6 minutes to go after Albon’s engine cover flies off and he nearly loses control into the final lap.There is so much debris on the track that needs clearing.The board is changing seemingly every second.Alonso is in fourth while Leclerc is now up to second behind Piastri with his opening push lap.We also have news that Tsunoda has been handed a 10-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri during the red-flag infringement from the third practice.
Russell was leading the pack but Piastri came in and went top with a time of 1:12.332.Lance Stroll, also on the soft tyres, has gone second.A lot of talk about the tyres this week.We were expected to see some of the medium compound tyres today with the C6 red-walled softs not loved.
But Norris has gone for the soft one.Most drivers are warming up with the heavy hitters – McLaren and Ferrari – are still in the garage.Kimi Antonelli complains about impeding in the pits on his radio.Looks like it was the Red Bull cars.George Russell is leading the pack with Kimi Antonelli and Alex Albon in P2 and P3.
Three knockout segments – Q1, Q2 and Q3 – will determine who will sit in pole position,The fastest 15 in Q1 will progress to Q2 and the slowest five will drop out, filling positions 16-20 on tomorrow’s grid,So who could be in play for pole position? McLaren look strong again, at least Lando Norris does,But Oscar Piastri has proved this season he is never down and out,Max Verstappen has won three races in a row here in Montreal, twice from pole and from P2 last year
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