Mercedes driver George Russell bounced back to take the pole position at the Canadian GP Sprint qualifying after pipping teammate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Russell had seen his teammate win the last three races in a row and had endured an even tougher Miami GP after finishing fourth.
But the Brit bounced back strongly to take the pole for the Saturday Sprint after clocking 1:12.965, 0.063 clear of Antonelli. McLaren driver and reigning world champion Lando Norris took third ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri, while Lewis Hamilton, who was on first after SQ1, took fifth ahead of Charles Leclerc.
Hamilton was chuffed after taking fifth place, calling it the best qualifying session of the season after he had decided not to work on the simulator ahead of the Canadian GP. โItโs probably the best Qualifying session weโve had for some time,โ he said. โGreat work with the engineers on the set-up changes โ the car felt really fantastic from FP1. We made subtle changes going into Quali.
Red Bull falls behind after bouncing issues
Meanwhile, the Red Bull drivers – Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar – finished seventh and eighth after complaining of bouncing issues in the car. Four-time champion Verstappen claimed that his feet were flying off the pedals as he took eighth, more than five-tenths slower than Russell. “I mean, I’m not surprised. My feeling in the car was not very good, I was struggling a lot with the ride of the car all over the bumps,” he said.
“Couldn’t put my foot down. My feet were even flying off the pedals. Just made it very difficult to be consistent, and that’s something that we need to investigate.
Russell says he ‘never doubted myself’
Meanwhile, Russell has stormed back into the reckoning for this race after taking the pole for the Sprint. He had won the Canadian GP last year and would be confident of another strong performance, especially after a heartbreaking Miami GP. “It obviously feels great after a tough Miami, but I never doubted myself โ I knew what I could do,” said Russell. “Miami was obviously a bit unique. This is an amazing circuit here โ high-grip, feels like youโre driving a proper Formula 1 car around here, which is how it should be. Iโm glad today came together.”
New upgrades for Mercedes
Meanwhile, Mercedes have unleashed their first major upgrades of the year. They have already won all four races this year, with Russell winning the opening before the 19-year-old Antonelli bagging the next three. As the F1 headed to an unexpected break, several teams brought out their upgrades for the Miami GP, with the 2026 regulations tweaked a bit.ย
However, Mercedes chose to put only minor upgrades on their car before putting major ones in Montreal. They have updated the front wing and have dropped the height elements, running them into the footplate.ย
Additional strakes have also been introduced to further enhance airflow towards the rear of the car and boost downforce, while the floor slots have been repositioned to improve flow conditioning.
ALSO READ |ย Red Bull responds to Max Verstappen’s shock F1 retirement consideration