Russell steals pole from Antonelli with last minute effort
George Russell has been toppled by him team mate at every moment in qualifying until the very last minute where he pulled a lap out of nowhere, taking pole for the Canadian Grand Prix by 6 hundredths. Antonelli will make it an all Mercedes front row while Norris was third fastest.
Having digested the sprint part of the weekend, Albon and Sainz were the first drivers to take the track for Grand Prix Qualifying. The blue cars were leading a big queue out of the pitlane, resulting in a very busy race track from the first moment.
That also meant the front runners were out soon as well with McLaren initially faster than both Mercedes. The Silver arrows however punched back on their third lap with Antonelli taking top spot away from Russel after the had demoted Verstappen. The Dutchman hadn't been very happy with his car so far but it sure didn't seem slow on his first flying lap that beat both McLarens.
Halfway into Q1 the Ferrari duo trailed Norris and Piastri with Hamilton sitting 8th and Leclerc 9th, marginally quicker than Colapinto and Sainz.
As the cooler temperatures allowed for multiple quick laps on the soft tyres, many drivers stayed on track for a large portion of the session. Those in the danger zone did get a fresh set fitted but it didn't really change a whole lot. The Aston Martins for instance struggled to make it out of the knock out zone and despite several laps for both at the end of the session they ended up eliminated, along with both Cadillacs, Ocon and Albon.
The second part of qualifying kicked off with Alpine's Colapinto opening proceedings, followed by his teammate Piere Gasly and then the McLaren duo. Just like in Q1, the tyre longevity meant everybody was out early.
After Norris took the top spot it was time for the Mercedes to record laps after they completed a build up lap. Russell again, just like at the end of Q1, ended up unable to beat the World Champion's lap, and so did most, except Antonelli who once again emerged fastest before returning to th pits for a new set of tyres.
4 minutes from the end Lawson started a flyer on a fresh set of tyres while sitting 16th. His lap turned out underwhelming as it only put him up to 13th.
Russell meanwhile was also still lapping, notably going straight on at Turn 1 with 3 minutes left. The Briton went again the next lap and improved to 4th, just behind his teammate. Indeed, Hamilton and Norris had managed to beat Antonelli's early marker. Still, it wasn't the end as Hadjar shaved off another few tenths off his early laptime to go fastest of all in Q2.
The final part of qualifying saw every driver go for a warm-up lap and a single flying lap before returning to the pits. At least that was the plan as Russell's lap was so disappointing due to a rear lock at Turn 7 that he immediately returned to the pits to switch tyres and get back out again, giving him room for an extra lap at the end.
The other meanwhile did their planned laps with Norris emerging on top, narrowly ahead of Hamilton. Piastri was third, then Antonelli, Leclerc, Verstappen, Lindblad, Colapinto and Hadjar.
With Russell out ahead of everyone else he could rectify that troubled first lap before anyone else could start their second laps. Russell had a far better first sector and was very close to Norris, ending up in third.
Verstappen was up next but disappointingly slow. Antonelli on the other hand did much better and despite kicking up dust went 0.033s faster than Norris. The McLaren driver wasn't able to beat the time again while Piastri improved on his earlier lap to take the grid slot next to his teammate.
Then came one last driver as George Russell was flying on his final attempt. A lap that came out of nowhere with Antonelli seemingly faster throughout the entire session, but it was 6 hundredths that was the advantage that got him on pole, a feat he was clearly overjoyed with.
