Mercedes’ George Russell has seized pole position at Formula 1’s Canadian Grand Prix during a thrilling climax that saw him and Max Verstappen set identical times.
Russell and Verstappen could not be separated at all at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, but the Mercedes man’s earlier effort ensured that he edged out his Red Bull rival.
Lando Norris was just two-hundredths further back in third for McLaren, as both Ferrari drivers were eliminated in the second segment and Sergio Perez exited in Q1.
Mercedes entered the crunch session that sets the grid for the race having topped the final practice session with Lewis Hamilton, while Ferrari was on the back foot.
However, rain had arrived since then and cleansed the rubber that the cars had laid down, with an 80 per cent chance that showers would rear their head once again.
But Q1 began with the precipitation not disrupting proceedings and it was Russell who headed the times following the opening runs to lead with a 1:14.012s.
Perez stated there was minimal grip and that was apparent as the times continued to drop as Verstappen was six-tenths quicker to lower the benchmark.
Russell returned to the top with a tenth in hand over Verstappen, while Mercedes team-mate Hamilton escaped the drop zone as he climbed the order up to third spot.
Meanwhile, Perez was also situated in that bottom five with five minutes remaining and the Mexican abandoned his latest lap to detour back into the Red Bull garage.
Perez’s last effort would elevate him up to 12th position, but improvements back down the order relegated the Red Bull driver to a second consecutive Q1 elimination.
Sauber’s miserable season continued as Valtteri Bottas was also knocked out, while Guanyu Zhou, who had crashed twice during practice, recorded the slowest time.
Along with that trio, Nico Hulkenberg’s notorious one-lap pace deserted him on this occasion as he qualified on the last row, with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in 18th place.
Heading into a Q2 session which featured both Williams drivers, the lingering threat that dark clouds presented meant the remaining 15 drivers filtered onto the track.
Oscar Piastri placed his earlier scare in Q1 to bed as he commenced the second stage with the fastest initial time, but Russell usurped that to go even 0.139s quicker.
Verstappen had needed to use two sets of the Soft compound to progress through the first segment and that meant that he conducted his initial Q2 run on used tyres.
The Dutchman was sitting as low as 14th place as he went onto his final timed lap, but he did enough to ensure his passage to the pole position shootout was secure.
However, Carlos Sainz couldn’t replicate that as he wound up 11th and Ferrari’s session went from bad to worse as more improvements saw Charles Leclerc also slip.
Ferrari’s struggles and Perez’s earlier exit opened the door for the RB drivers to progress through into Q3, along with Alex Albon’s Williams for the second straight race.
Logan Sargeant couldn’t make the cut in the other Williams and was 13th, with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly also unable to make the top 10 spots.
Back at the top, Mercedes had continued to showcase positive speed as Russell and Hamilton locked out the top two places in Q2, with Norris up in third for McLaren.
Verstappen was quickest from the opening eight times in Q3, but the Mercedes pair were on a later run plan and demoted him to third as Russell took provisional pole.
While Hamilton had been neck and neck with his team-mate through the first two sectors, Russell aced the hairpin and the last chicane to move 0.280s clear at the top.
But Hamilton’s potential position on the front row would not be secure as Piastri propelled his McLaren into second and then Norris did likewise, 0.021s behind Russell.
However, Verstappen can never be discounted and produced a blinding opening sector to bring his Red Bull into contention as he approached the final sector of the lap.
But the reigning F1 champion would also cross the line with a 1:12.000s lap time to ensure that Russell would not be beaten as he posted his time earlier than his rival.
Norris came up short in third, 0.021s back, with McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri alongside him in fourth. Daniel Ricciardo excelled to place his RB inside the top five.
Fernando Alonso was the lead Aston Martin car in sixth place, with Hamilton unable to replicate his earlier practice pace and ending up down in seventh, 0.280s down.
Yuki Tsunoda obtained another Q3 appearance but a minor moment at Turn 2 prevented him from bettering eighth place, though RB still had both cars feature in Q3.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll reached Q3 at his home grand prix for the first time ever but could not better ninth place, as Albon completed the top 10 spots for Williams.
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