Russell narrowly beats Antonelli to sprint race pole position ahead of McLarens

George Russell took pole position for the sprint race in Montreal after the early threat from Lewis Hamilton faded and Max Verstappen risked an early elimination.

SQ1

Two drivers were absent from the first round of qualifying. Williams were unable to complete repairs to Alexander Albon’s car after his groundhog-induced crash in first practice. Besides the damage to the left-hand side of his car, the gearbox and power unit also required replacement.

Liam Lawson, who came to a stop early in practice, also did not take to the track. The stewards reported his clutch disengagement system did not work when marshals tried to move his stationary Racing Bulls machine, and as his team were unable to rectify that problem, he was not able to participate.

In the first sprint event at the Montreal circuit, track conditions were improving rapidly in the second F1 session of the weekend. Lewis Hamilton posted a 1’15.459 with his first run and within a few laps was down to a 1’13.889. That put him on top of the times to begin with, a tenth of a second ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli with Max Verstappen just a hundredth behind.

Proceedings came to a halt with less than two minutes remaining as Fernando Alonso locked up at turn three and skidded straight on into the barrier. That brought his session to an end, though as he held 14th place at the time, it provisionally assured him Aston Martin’s first progression to the second phase of qualifying this season, even though he could take no further part in it.

The session was suspended for over a quarter of an hour so the marshals could repair the barrier at turn three. It resumed with one minute and 46 seconds on the clock – theoretically just enough time for a handful of drivers to complete a lap of the circuit and begin a flying lap.

However out of those in the bottom six only Lance Stroll reached the start line in time to begin a lap. He was unable to improve his time and headed to the pits without completing his run. Pierre Gasly, who was an unusually low 19th in his Alpine, overtook four cars as he left the pits, but was still unable to set a time. The final laps therefore made no difference to who reached the second round.

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SQ1 result

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SQ2

Hamilton put his Ferrari back on top early in the second phase of qualifying but Russell always seemed to have a little extra in reserve to peg him back. Then on his final run Russell really turned up the wick, putting four tenths of a second on Hamilton and everyone else to lead the field into the final round.

Their team mates came next but Verstappen was unable to replicate his smooth progression from the first run. His first lap time was deleted for a track limits infringement, leaving him perilously close to elimination. His final effort was only a 1’14.412 – almost four tenths of a second slower than his time from the first round – which left him ninth behind his team mate.

That proved to be good enough as a succession of drivers produced the 10th-fastest time. The Audi pair did so first, then Carlos Sainz Jnr claimed the final place in the top 10 at Nico Hulkenberg’s expense.

Along with the Audi pair and Alonso, the two Haas drivers and Franco Colapinto also went no further.

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SQ2 result

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SQ3

The drivers switched to the soft compound tyres for the final round of qualifying. However Hamilton immediately backed out of his first lap after getting crossed up at the exit of turn two.

Hamilton eventually posted a time just five hundredths of a second quicker than he managed in the second session. Verstappen slotted in less than a tenth of a second behind him to begin with.

Russell couldn’t match his best time with his first run, but encouragingly for him it was still enough to put him at the top of the times, even after Antonelli completed his run.

However the soft tyres proved good enough for a second run and several of the drivers improved their times further. Hamilton and Verstappen were not among them and slipped down the order when Norris, who made a mistake at turn two on his first run, improved to a 1’13.280.

Russell laid down the best time of the session so far, breaking the 73 second barrier with a 1’12.965. Piastri pulled his McLaren into third place behind Norris, leaving just championship leader Antonelli to take a shot at Russell’s time.

He got close – but not close enough. A 1’13.033 cemented another all-Mercedes front row, while the next three rows each belonged to a different team. Norris led the McLarens on row two, Hamilton slipped to fifth ahead of Leclerc, and the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Hadjar took the fourth row.

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SQ3 result

2026 Canadian Grand Prix

• Hamilton sure missing simulator sessions is “the way forward” after Friday qualifying
• Leclerc told Ferrari to complain about rivals’ “illegal” cool-down laps
• Russell narrowly beats Antonelli to sprint race pole position ahead of McLarens
• 2026 Canadian Grand Prix sprint race grid
• Racing Bulls handed suspended £25,900 fine for “serious” problem on Lawson’s car

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