Chloe Chambers claimed her third pole position of the 2025 F1 Academy season, edging out her Campos Racing team-mate during qualifying in Canada.
The American will also start Race 1 from pole after the adverse weather conditions in Miami led to the cancellation of Race 2.
She will line up from the front row on Sunday for Race 3 after a commanding performance at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Alisha Palmowski in second and Dorianne Pin in third.
The Red Bull Racing-backed driver topped the timesheets in the sole free practice session of the weekend, leading a Campos Racing 1-2.
Chambers, backed by Red Bull Ford, trailed the Briton by just 0.074s, as Palmowski set a best lap time of 1:38.898s.
It was determined before the race weekend that the Race 1 grid would be set by the cancelled Race 2 in Miami.
Races 2 and 3 would be set by qualifying in Montreal, with the top eight reversed for the second race on Saturday.
The fastest laps from Friday will set the grid for Sunday; the fastest driver is awarded an extra two points for pole position.
Chambers clinches Race 3 pole in Canada
After the first few laps of the 30-minute qualifying session, Chambers shot up into first before Alba Larsen went quicker for MP Motorsport with a 1:40.910s.
Williams-backed Lia Block briefly claimed the top spot before Palmowski carried her practice pace into qualifying, setting the early benchmark with a 1:40.101s.
Ella Lloyd slotted into second for McLaren, just 0.053s off Palmowski’s time after the opening 10 minutes.
But the 16-year-old Larsen found significant time to eclipse Palmowski, who had her lap time deleted and dropped down to seventh, behind championship leader Maya Weug.
She improved once again with a lap time of 1:39.552s, more than six tenths quicker than Lloyd in second, with Block in third place approaching the halfway mark.
After making some adjustments in the pits, Pin finally headed out for Mercedes to set her representative lap time.
She managed to set a lap time good enough for third, but still over half a second off Larsen’s superb lap time.
However, the Tommy Hilfiger-backed driver was soon bumped off the top spot, with Pin coming close to provisional pole before the Campos duo lit up the timing screens.
Palmowski briefly reclaimed P1, only to be immediately bettered by her team-mate.
But the 18-year-old struck back on the next run, edging Chambers by just 0.057s to take pole — at least temporarily.
Chambers responded again as the times continued to tumble, setting a 1:38.696 with the session approaching its climax.
The track conditions continued to improve and the American set a 1:38.125s, over five tenths quicker than her last lap, a staggering gap to the rest of the field.
Pin finally split the Campos pair to go into second as Lloyd held onto fourth but Weug languished down in 15th with three minutes left.
She improved one place with her last attempt but it was disappointing qualifying for the 21-year-old.
Palmowski set her final lap to go second and snatch a front row start behind Chambers, who held on for pole.
Pin settled for third ahead of Lloyd in fourth on the second row.
Tina Hausmann finished the session in fifth, Emma Felbermayr sixth, Nina Gademan seventh and Chloe Chong in eighth to secure reverse-grid pole for Race 2.
READ MORE – F1 Academy Race 2 cancelled in Miami due to heavy rain
