Russell pips Antonelli for third consecutive Canadian Grand Prix pole position

George Russell will head another all-Mercedes front row on the grid after narrowly beating Andrea Kimi Antonelli in qualifying.

Lewis Hamilton was on course to start the race from the front row until he made a mistake on his final run. That opened the door for the McLaren drivers to claim the second row of the grid again.

Q1

Antonelli led the field through the first phase of qualifying, seeing off team mate Russell emphatically on their first times. After Russell put up a 1’13.953, Antonelli took over half a second off it when he crossed the line moments later.

Despite winning the sprint race earlier on, Russell told the team his car hadn’t felt good all day. “The ride has felt quite a bit worse today than yesterday.”

Six cars separated the two Mercedes by the end of the session. The McLaren pair got within two tenths of a second of Antonelli while Isack Hadjar put his Red Bull in a strong fourth place.

The Ferrari pair were next, though Charles Leclerc took a bumpy trip across the final chicane and his team urged him to hurry into the pits at the end of the session so they could check his car. Lewis Hamilton fell under the stewards’ gaze for getting in Pierre Gasly’s way.

Arvid Lindblad impressed in seventh place, while Max Verstappen was only ninth after the first round. Carlos Sainz Jnr completed the top 10.

The Aston Martins and Cadillacs dropped out in the first round as usual. Fernando Alonso encountered Sergio Perez dawdling on the racing line approaching the hairpin as he concluded one lap, an incident the stewards chose to investigate, along with Aston Martin’s actions in releasing their driver from his garage into the path of Franco Colapinto.

Both Audi drivers appeared to struggle with their brakes at times but both made it through with later improvements. Gabriel Bortoleto made it through at the expense of Esteban Ocon, whose team mate Oliver Bearman reached the next round despite visible damage to a left-hand strake on his car. Alexander Albon’s difficult weekend continued with another first round exit.

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Q1 result

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Q2

An extremely close second phase of qualifying was not headed by either of the Mercedes, McLarens or Ferraris, but a Red Bull. Even more surprisingly, it wasn’t four-times champion Verstappen who headed the times, but Hadjar.

It was exceptionally close behind him, however. A tenth of a second covered him, Hamilton, Norris and the Mercedes pair. Piastri, Verstappen and Leclerc went through as usual.

Leclerc strayed too close to elimination for comfort, his cause not aided by an untimely trip to the weighbridge before his final run. “I’m completely off the pace,” Leclerc told his team as he headed back, repeating his request from yesterday for a traffic-free run.

Lindblad continued his strong weekend by making it through. Colapinto also continued his recent upswing in form by claiming a place in the top 10, while team mate Gasly could only manage 14th.

The Audi pair also went no further, Nico Hulkenberg in his increasingly customary 11th place, and separated from team mate Bortoleto by Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls. Carlos Sainz and Oliver Bearman ended Q2 at the bottom of the times and will therefore share the row in front of their team mates.

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Q2 result

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Q3

The Mercedes challenge did not materialise immediately when the drivers took to the track for their first runs. Antonelli’s first lap was only good enough for fourth place and Russell did not complete his.

Russell gathered up a snap of oversteer at turn six. “Nothing on the rear,” he told his team as he headed for the pits, but after a quick inspection he was on his way again.

That left Norris on top of the times with a 1’12.729, separated from team mate Piastri by the Ferrari of Hamilton. Verstappen, sixth behind Leclerc, was unhappy with his car’s straight-line speed, while Hadjar’s first run left him well over a second off the pace.

Russell, aided by a slipstream from Colapinto, moved up to third place when he finally set a time. Antonelli began his final lap moments later, and though he lost a whisker through the middle of the lap, produced a 1’12.646 to claim the top spot.

The McLaren drivers took their shots but each fell short of Antonelli time. That left only Russell with a strong shot at his team mate’s time, and despite running a second lap on the same set of tyres, he found six hundredths of a second to deny his team mate pole position.

Hamilton ran wide at the exit of turn seven and fell from second to fifth on his final run. Verstappen joined him on the third row of the grid, still deeply unhappy with his car’s balance, but at least back in front of Hadjar.

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Q3 result

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