Canadian GP Qualifying: George Russell beats Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri to pole as Lando Norris finishes seventh | F1 News
George Russell produced an amazing turn to beat Max Verstappen to pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix while McLaren was surprisingly out of date in Montreal.
Russell delivered the rhythm that Mercedes had promised throughout the training to deliver a time 1: 10.899, beating the reference set a few moments earlier by Verstappen de Red Bull by 0.160 and the sealing post at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit for a second successive year.
The leader of the world championship Oscar Piastri was only the third, but behaved well compared to his teammate McLaren and the challenge closest to the title Lando Norris, who seemed to be the favorite for Pole before a Q3 left the errors left the British seventh.
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George Russell joins Karun Chandhok at the Skypad to look back his post of Canadian GP.
Kimi Antonelli underlined the impressive speed of Mercedes to the circuit by beating Lewis Hamilton to fourth, because Ferrari did not hold the promise they had shown in practice, with Charles Leclerc only eighth.
Fernando Alonso won an impressive sixth for Aston Martin while his resumption of form continued despite his teammate launched Stroll making a first trimester like his home race.
Isack Hadjar took ninth for racing bulls, but almost certain seems to receive a grid penalty for a hampered incident that led to the partner Carlos Sainz de Williams in the first quarter.
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Isack Hadjar seemed to hinder Carlos Sainz during the first trimester.
Williams’ teammate from the Spaniard, Alex Albon, completed the top 10 after recovering from a bizarre Q1 incident that saw a red flag shown after a large part of the engine blanket stole his car.
Red Bull’s Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda qualified 11th but will start from the back of the grid after receiving a 10 -seat grid penalty for a red flag violation in the final training.
Russell, Verstappen met in the front row after the collision of Spain
The first row, which is the same as 12 months ago in this circuit, is delivered with huge luggage following an incident involving Russell and Verstappen at the Spanish Grand Prix only two weeks ago.
Verstappen was penalized after having intentionally leading to Russell in the last stages of the race, the Dutchman who lost his composure after the couple got together during a late restarting scary a few moments earlier.
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The Max Verstappen of Red Bull entered controversial collision with George Russell towards the end of the Spanish Grand Prix – winning a 10 second penalty.
The three points of penalty that Verstappen received from the commissioners took him to a point of a racing ban, with this threat exceeding him during this event and the next round of the season in Austria, after which certain points abandon his license.
The duo, who clashed on and off the track several times in the past, were gathered on this occasion after playing both on the compound of the average tire in the last stages of qualification.
Verstappen had not shown an extremely catchy rhythm in the first quarter and the second quarter, but then pulled at the top of the time sheet during the first round in the first quarter, ahead of Piastri while Russell was almost three tenths in the third.
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Toto Wolff estimated that the post of George Russell in Canada was one of the best for Mercedes after hoping Max Verstappen at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit.
Piastri temporarily torn off the provisional post as he crossed the line first in his last round, but Verstappen seemed to have claimed his fourth pole of the season when he went faster.
However, Russell’s transition to average compounds paid dividends while he produced a superb final sector to comfortably deviate from his rivals.
Russell said: “Today was great! This last round was probably one of the most exhilarating tricks in my life because on my steering wheel, you have the Delta and I saw each corner, I was a tenth faster.
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George Russell takes a search at Max Verstappen after having beaten him to take the post in Montreal.
“I entered the last turn and I was six tenths high, so I told myself that” this tour is powerful “. Crossing the line and seeing that we were P1 was a real surprise but I was so whispered with that.”
While a first Grand Prix post of the season led to Russell and his team, their weakness this season has generally equaled its pace to a touch on the race distance, which makes the conversion of the result in victory on Sunday remains a huge challenge.
Russell did not waste time teasing Verstappen when he was interviewed on the track a few moments after taking the post, jokingly stressing: “I have a few more points on my license to play with. See.”
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Max Verstappen was quick to stop a question that asked him on his penalty points this season.
Verstappen insisted on Thursday that his approach will not change following his situation as a sanction point, and became frustrated at the post-bearing press conference when it is questioned on this subject.
He said: “I don’t need to hear it again. It’s really a P ******. You were talking about it on Thursday.
“It is such a waste of time. It’s very childish, that’s why I don’t want to say too much because it is really boring this world in which we live.”
Norris Rues erre while Piastri produces a “beautiful turnaround”
While the renewal of the rivalry of Russell-Versappen will steal the headlines, the potentially greater consequence of the session will be the opportunity that Piastri has created to extend his championship advance in 10 points to Norris.
It was the Australian who seemed unusually agitated during final workouts earlier on Saturday, because he was lucky to seriously avoid damaging his McLaren by hitting the champions wall.
Norris seemed to benefit from an upgrade of the front suspension that McLaren brought to Montreal that the team hoped to see him overcome the difficulties he had with the handling of the car so far this season, in particular in qualification.
The Briton has always appeared the strongest of the McLarens when he finished in front of Piastri in T2, but then returned again when it counted the most.
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George Russell tears Max Verstappen’s pole position in Canada.
With McLaren choosing to stay on the soft compound rather than using the average set that they have rather kept fresh for the race, an error in the field of the final chicane saw Norris blow the first flying round in Q3, leaving him to save fifth after the first races while he was trying on the now worn tire.
While Piastri gathered him to produce his best weekend tour, Norris inexplicably fogled again during his second round, during which he was lucky to avoid major damage when he reached a barrier.
Norris said Sky Sports F1: “Not ideal. Just too many mistakes. I hit the wall in the last lap.
“I trusted, the car felt good today, I just made too many mistakes.”
Piastri admitted that he was satisfied to turn a situation that could have left his championship lead under the threat.
He said: “After the way the practice took place, I am quite happy with myself. A beautiful turnaround.
“I’m pretty happy with the third, which is a little different this year, but I’m going to take it.”
Canadian Sky Sports F1 schedule
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A look at some of the most dramatic moments in the Canadian Grand Prix.
Sunday June 15
3:50 p.m.: F1 Academy Race three
5.30 p.m.: Grand Prix Sunday: Canadian GP Build-Up *
7 p.m.: The Canadian Grand Prix *
9 p.m.: Damy flag: GP Canadian reaction
10 p.m.: Ted’s notebook
* Also on the main event of Sky Sports
The Formula 1 2025 season resumes live Sky Sports F1 With the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend. Stream Sky Sports with now – no contract, cancel at any time.
