MONTREAL :George Russell put Mercedes on pole position in Canada for the second year in a row on Saturday with Formula One champion Max Verstappen alongside for Red Bull two weeks after they clashed in Spain.
McLaren’s Formula One championship leader Oscar Piastri qualified third with Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli in fourth place.
Lando Norris, Piastri’s British teammate and closest title rival only 10 points behind the Australian after nine of 24 rounds, qualified seventh at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after an error-filled session.
The clash between Russell and Verstappen in Spain remained a talking point going into the weekend, with the Red Bull driver on the brink of a ban as he chases an unprecedented fourth successive Canadian victory.
Verstappen, 0.160 slower than the pole time of one minute 10.899 seconds, is only a penalty point away from suspension and Russell will try to turn that to his advantage on the short run down to turn one from the start.
“Today was awesome. That last lap was probably one of the most exhilarating laps of my life,” said the Briton, whose late pole effort came after first Piastri and then Verstappen had gone top.
The first pole by a team other than McLaren or Red Bull this year, and the sixth of Russell’s F1 career, ended a run of three for McLaren.
The Briton added a cheeky comment on Verstappen’s situation when asked about the race.
“I’ve got a few more points on my licence to play with. Let’s see,” Russell said.
“I am not sitting here thinking he will give me more room but possibly the opposite to prove a point, so I will keep an eye on that. We are here to win and we will not do something which jeopardises the race.”
Verstappen had no complaints.
“I’m already very happy with what we achieved today, to be on the front row,” he said. “Hopefully, tomorrow we can have a solid race.”
HAMILTON FIFTH
Ferrari’s seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth, at the circuit where he took his first win in 2007 with McLaren. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was sixth and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc eighth after a late mistake.
“We did the best we could with set-up,” said Hamilton.
“We have been working flat out all weekend trying to get it to go quicker but I just don’t think the car’s going to go that much faster.
“I definitely don’t think we can compete with the guys at the front and we just have to accept that that’s the way it is.”
Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar qualified ninth but was handed a three-place drop for what Williams’ Carlos Sainz described as “massive impeding” in the first phase.
That promoted Williams’ Alex Albon to ninth on the grid instead, with Argentine Franco Colapinto moving up to 10th for Renault-owned Alpine and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg 11th.
Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda had been 11th but will drop to last, alongside Colapinto’s teammate Pierre Gasly, after collecting a 10-place penalty for a red flag breach in final practice.
The first phase was also briefly halted when Albon’s car shed its engine cover and left debris on the track.
Canada’s only active F1 driver Lance Stroll, who missed the previous race in Spain due to hand and wrist pain, also failed to get over the first hurdle at his home grand prix and will start 17th for Aston Martin.
