George Russell took a dominant Sprint pole position for the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix, in a session dominated by Mercedes.
SQ1
Albon’s session ended before it had even begun. Williams confirmed the damage to his car from the crash in practice was too extensive to repair for SQ1. Liam Lawson also retired before session started, his car in pieces in the garage.
The rest of the field made its way onto a green track, the track not offering fast lap times for drivers on their opening laps of Sprint Qualifying for the F1 Canadian GP . The top spots in SQ1 were dominated by Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes, with Red Bull providing an unexpected challenge before Kimi Antonelli moved half a second clear of the rest of the field. This did not last for long, with Hamilton clearing the young Italian by just under one tenth of a second.
Drivers in the elimination zone had an opportunity, as with two drivers already out, the prospect of progressing to SQ2 had become easier. But, with less than two minutes left, the red flag was deployed after Fernando Alonso locked up and hit the barriers. This left Perez, Stroll, Gasly, and Bottas hoping for the session to restart, with Bearman on the cusp in 16th. Only three started their laps when the session resumed, with no green sectors set, providing an anticlimax and cementing the bottom six. Alonso ironically progressed thanks to to his crash.
Eliminated: Perez, Stroll, Gasly, Bottas, Lawson, Albon
SQ2
An orderly queue formed at the start of SQ2, with George Russell leading the field out, the circuit still coated in dust. The usual games of drivers slowing the pack down at pit exit elongated the field taking to the circuit, Red Bull waiting until the queue had disappeared, but Verstappen remained in the pits.
All cars opted to do two preparation laps, tyre temperatures again proving critical. Ferrari, and McLaren duelled for the top spots after the first runs, but the two Mercedes moved to first and second to resume the normal service of 2026.
The elimination once again had one driver guaranteed not to progress in the form of Alonso, leaving Franco Colapinto, both Haas’ and Nico Hulkenberg searching for time. Verstappen’s effort was only good enough for ninth, leaving him at risk of being knocked out. However, all were eliminated, along with the second Audi of Gabriel Bortoleto.
Eliminated: Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Colapinto, Ocon, Bearman, Alonso
SQ3
The business end of qualifying got underway with questions over the pace of Mercedes and Ferrari, who looked to be the leaders at the F1 Canadian GP. No queue in the pits this time as drivers opted to get on to the circuit quickly given the precious little time available.
With drivers permitted to use only soft tyres, it seemed no additional warm-up laps were needed initially, but Hamilton abandoned his first effort due to a lack of temperature and grip.
The first runs were set with under five minutes remaining, Hamilton the first to lay down a marker, unbeaten by rivals until Russell moved two tenths of a second clear. The two McLarens were sixth and ninth, Norris having a sideways moment in Turn 1. Hamilton and Verstappen where able to cool their tyres, and began to find more time. Neither could improve.
Norris moved into second, while Russell extended his advantage, and Antonelli was unable to challenge his teammate. Piastri moved into fourth, relegating the Ferrari’s to fifth and sixth. The two Red Bulls could only manage seventh and eighth, with Linblad and Sainz rounding out the top ten.
Top 10: Russell, Antonelli, Norris, Piasri, Hamilton, Leclerc, Verstappen, Hadjar, Lindblad, Sainz
READ MORE:
Discussion about this post