14/06/2025 23:15
George Russell stunned Max Verstappen, McLaren and Ferrari to land
a sensational pole position in his Mercedes for the Canadian Grand
Prix. Last season, Russell and Verstappen set the same time at the
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with the British driver securing pole by
virtue of posting his lap first. On this occasion, Russell was a
clear winner, claiming a sixth career pole with a phenomenal lap of
1:10.899s, finishing 0.060s ahead of four-time F1 champion
Verstappen, who had to content himself with securing Red Bull's
200th front-row start. For McLaren, championship leader Oscar
Piastri could only manage third, whilst Norris starts seventh, that
from a platform of another error on his first run that set the tone
for another disappointing Q3. Underlining Mercedes' pace, Kimi
Antontelli starts fourth ahead of Lewis Hamilton in his Ferrari,
whilst Fernando Alonso starts sixth in his Aston Martin. Behind
Norris, it will be Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who made an error of
his own on the second run that cost him several places. Racing
Bulls' Isack Hadjar qualified ninth, although he faces an almost
certain three-place grid penalty for impeding Carlos Sainz in his
Williams in Q1. Alex Albon, who sparked a red flag in Q1 when he
lost a piece of bodywork, lines up 10th in his Williams. Carlos
Sainz furious with Isack Hadjar impeding It was a captivating
opening 18-minute session that included the red flag for the Albon
incident, sparking a stampede for all drivers to escape Q1 with
five and a half minutes remaining, with Norris, in particular, in
danger as he was lying 12th. There was no doubt, however, as Norris
posted a leading 1:11.826s, with the Briton followed over the line
by Piastri with a 1:11.939s, whilst Hamilton was marginally behind
by just 0.013s. Albon delivered a pressure lap to finish eighth
quickest, but for team-mate Sainz, his bid to escape Q1 was wrecked
by Hadjar, leading to the Spanish driver finishing a lowly 17th,
missing out on a place in Q2 by an agonising 0.020s. Stake's
Gabriel Bortoleto lost out by only 0.008s to qualify 16th. Behind
Sainz, home hero Lance Stroll was 18th in his Aston Martin, half a
second behind team-mate Alonso, followed by Liam Lawson for Racing
Bulls and Alpine's Pierre Gasly. In Q2, spearheaded by Russell with
a 1:11.570s, Yuki Tsunoda could only manage 11th quickest, a tenth
of a second behind Hadjar, meaning he will start last due to being
hammered with a 10-place penalty for overtaking under red-flag
conditions during final practice . It means all those who qualified
behind the Japanese driver will move up a place on the grid,
starting with Franco Colapinto in his Alpine, who out-qualified
team-mate Gasly for the first time in four races. Stake driver Nico
Hulkenberg, along with Haas duo Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon,
also exited Q2.
