George Russell took his third consecutive pole position in Canada during qualifying for the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix, sealing the coveted top spot in the dying seconds.
Following a thrilling Sprint Race that saw the two Mercedes cars engaged in a battle royale for supremacy, the duel resumed again during qualifying for the F1 Canadian GP. McLaren aimed to keep the pressure on the Silver Arrows, while Ferrari was searching for a breakthrough to move up the order.
With a 90% chance of rain in Sunday’s race, enduring a strong track position would prove crucial in securing a result for the F1 Canadian GP. Could George Russell extend his hold over the weekend and cause further anguish for Kimi Antonelli.
Q1
At the green light, a queue had already begun to form in the pit lane, with Alex Albon leading the cars out onto the circuit. Warm-up laps took slightly longer than normal, the cloud cover decreasing the track temperature and available grip. McLaren and Mercedes opted for used soft tyres for their first runs, muddying the picture slightly, with a flurry of cars setting the fastest times, Norris emerging as the early pacesetter.
The two Aston Martins were under the spotlight, Lance Stroll reported to the stewards for being released in an unsafe condition, while Fernando Alonso would be investigated after the session for an unsafe release. Both featured in the elimination zone.
Joining the Aston Martins in the bottom six with ten minutes to go were both Cadillacs, Esteban Ocon’s Haas, Pierre Gasly’s Alpine, and Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, who had his lap time deleted. As the track warmed up, the order constantly fluctuated, resulting in Perez moving to 13th.
As the clock ran down, Gasly moved clear, but Hulkenberg slipped into the danger zone, while teammate Bortoleto moved to just 16th. At the chequered flag, both Audis moved clear, leaving Ocon and Albon to join Aston Martin and Cadillac on the back rows of the grid.
Eliminated: Ocon, Albon, Alonso, Perez, Stroll, Bottas
Q2
With the track ramping up, both Alpines headed the queue at the end of the pit lane, both out long before the green flag. Colapinto led out the 16 remaining cars, all with new soft tyres fitted. Once again, drivers opted for two warm up laps to adequately prepare their tyres, warm up once again proving challenging.
At the end of the first runs, Norris and McLaren proved to be the closest challengers to Mercedes, Antonelli once again demonstrating the speed of the W17, while Russell languished down in eighth, putting him at risk of falling into the elimination zone. Inside the danger zone, were both Alpines, Sainz’s Williams, Bortoleto, Bearman and Lawson. Russell locked up on his next lap, adding further pressure to the Briton, as those around him started to improve. Leclerc in ninth faced a similar scenario.
As the cars started their final runs, Russell hauled himself out of danger, jumping to third. Hadjar, who was also in trouble, then moved to the top spot. Leclerc remained eighth and safe. The bottom six remained the same, minus Colapinto, who progressed to Q3 at the expense of Hulkenberg, joining the others who were eliminated.
Eliminated: Hulkenberg, Lawson, Bortoleto, Gasly, Carlos Sainz, Oliver Bearman
Q3
The shootout for pole position began with Max Verstappen leading the ten cars out onto the circuit. Again, all cars opted for two warm-up laps, costing precious session time. When the laps started coming, it became apparent that McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull were closely matched. The six cars swapped places at the top during the opening minutes. Russell pitted after his first run, Antonelli a distant fourth after his first run, proving somewhat of a surprise.
This left a British one-two at the top ahead of the second runs. Norris led Hamilton, followed by Piastri and Antonelli. Russell was sent back on track out of sequence with the others, with just five minutes to go. With no lap-time on the board, Russell once again would be forced to deliver. His first effort moved him to third with work to do. Antonelli was next, moving into provisional pole.
At the chequered flag, Russell jumped into pole in the dying seconds, sealing a Mercedes front row lockout, his third consecutive pole position in Canada. The two McLarens of Norris and Piastri were third and fourth, with Hamilton in fifth. Verstappen and Hadjar started sixth and seventh, battling straight-line problems. Leclerc was stuck in eighth, Arvid Lindblad sealed ninth with Colapinto completing the top ten.
Top 10: Russell Antonelli, Norris, Piastri, Hamilton, Verstappen, Hadjar, Leclerc, Linblad, Colapinto
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