Russell snatches Canadian GP pole from Antonelli in final seconds of qualifying

George Russell secured pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Saturday, posting a 1m12.579s lap in the final seconds of Q3 to edge team-mate Kimi Antonelli and reigning world champion Lando Norris.

Norris had led the way through much of the final qualifying segment, with both Mercedes drivers struggling to generate front-tyre temperature on a chilly Montreal circuit. Russell was forced to abort his first flying attempt, and Antonelli had only just leapfrogged Norris when Russell found another tenth to seal his second pole of the season.

The result places Russell and Antonelli on the front row for the second time in a single day — the same pairing that started Saturday morning’s sprint race before colliding at Turn 1. Norris and McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri will occupy the second row, as they did in the sprint, with Lewis Hamilton fifth on his return to Canada in Ferrari colours.

Max Verstappen described his Red Bull as driving “on ice” amid the widespread tyre warm-up difficulties, but the Dutchman salvaged sixth ahead of Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar. Charles Leclerc was eighth after a frustrated session that included vocal complaints about his Ferrari’s handling on team radio.

Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad, who had taken a point in the sprint, continued his strong Montreal weekend by qualifying ninth. Alpine’s Franco Colapinto rounded out the top ten, with both drivers outpacing their more experienced team-mates in Q2.

Nico Hülkenberg was the highest-profile Q2 casualty, missing the cut by just 0.029 seconds in 11th. Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto were also eliminated at that stage. Pierre Gasly, who had broken out of parc ferme during the sprint to use it as a test session, qualified 14th, with Carlos Sainz a disappointing 15th for Williams and Oliver Bearman 16th for Haas.

Alex Albon failed to advance beyond Q1, compounding a troubled weekend for the Thai-British driver after he missed the start of sprint qualifying on Friday. Esteban Ocon was the first elimination of the session, going out in 17th.