George Russell denied his pole position lap at Formula 1‘s Canadian Grand Prix – labelled “one of the most exhilarating” of his career – was purely down to a late gamble to fit Medium tyres.
The Briton took top spot with a scintillating 1:10.899s, over one tenth quicker than Max Verstappen, who beat Oscar Piastri in the leading McLaren to the front row.
Russell’s Mercedes team had looked strong throughout free practice, a welcome change after a difficult European triple-header for the German marque, but few would have predicted the W16 would eventually be heading the front row.
The Briton switched to the C5 Medium compound for his final run, and in doing so, found the sweet spot in all areas to blitz the competition.
“I think that was definitely the faster tyre today,” Russell told media including Motorsport Week. “We’ve seen it a few times before. The qualifying was a tricky session.
“It was, the people who were at the front, it was always variable.
“In Q1, I was further down the order. In Q2, I had a good lap and the first running Q3, I was a bit off the pace, three or four tenths off.
“And then we felt like a good lap as well, but the Medium really gave him that bit of extra confidence.
But Russell was quick to stress after qualifying that the tyre choice was purely the crux of his superb effort.
“But I think the gap still to Oscar on the Soft was still almost three tenths,” he said.
“So I’m not saying I’d have been able to do just as good a lap on the Soft, but the Medium’s definitely not three tenths better than the Soft.
“So I think whatever tyre we had on for that lap, it would have been the one.”
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The start of the race is a mouthwatering prospect as Russell and Verstappen start side-by-side, just two weeks after their now-infamous coming-together in Spain.
Russell was understandably elated with his lap, ranking it as one of his very best.
“Today was awesome, in front of this amazing crowd as well,” he said. “To get the pole – to be honest, that last lap was probably one of the most exhilarating laps of my life.
“On my steering wheel you’ve got the delta, and I just saw every corner I was going one-tenth quicker, one-tenth quicker, and I got into the last corner and I was six-tenths up [on his previous lap].
“I was like ‘right, this lap is mighty’ and crossing the line, seeing we were P1, was a real surprise. But I was so, so chuffed with it.”
When asked about the reality of starting right next to Verstappen, Russell quipped: “I’ve got a few more points in my licence to play with, so let’s see”.
READ MORE – George Russell pips Max Verstappen to F1 Canadian GP pole with last-gasp lap
