How George Russell Claimed Season's First Pole For Mercedes In Canadian GP Qualifying Session

George Russell claims the pole in Montreal, and his first of the season, ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix

It was a McLaren-dominated practice session, but George Russell seized the qualifying session to spring a surprise and claimed his first pole of the season. He set the quickest time in 1:10.889s ahead of the McLaren duo for a front row position as Red Bull's Max Verstappen finished in P2. 

Lando Norris led Q1 of the session before Russell dominated and sprang to the top of Q2, putting pressure on McLaren and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who had been a strong contender through the practice session. However, what struck the difference in competitiveness was the tyres deployed. 

While the McLaten duo were racing on soft tyres, Verstappen and Russell changed to medium tyres. Initially, the Red Bull driver was set a provisional pole by 0.061 seconds quicker than Piastri, before Russell outpaced both drivers, setting the quickest time 0.160 seconds ahead of Verstappen. 

Racing on medium tyres was productive for the Mercedes duo, even for Kimi Antonelli, who is making his debut in Montreal. He finished in P4, despite struggles with his tyres in the final sector. 

"The tyres gave up second half of the lap and did a big mistake in Turn 10, and then in the last chicane," Antonelli recalled. "We need to see what is going to be the temperature tomorrow, if it's going to rise or if it's going to be cooler than today."

While Piastri will make a front row start in P3, Norris finished outside of the top-five and will start the grid in P7 behind Fernando Alonso. Lewis Hamilton, who is a seven-time champion in Montreal, finished in P5 while his teammate, Charles Leclerc, will start the race in P8.