Russell pips Antonelli to take pole for Canada Sprint

George Russell has sealed pole position in Sprint Qualifying at the Canadian Grand Prix, the Mercedes driver leading a 1-2 from team mate Kimi Antonelli while McLaren’s Lando Norris was their closest challenger in third.

After setting the pace in SQ2, Russell carried that form into the final segment by going fastest on his opening lap before improving further during the final runs, pumping in a time of 1:12.965s. This ultimately proved unbeatable for the competition, with Antonelli 0.068s behind in second.

Norris was three tenths adrift in P3, ahead of the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri in fourth. Next up were the Ferrari pair of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, the former having looked quick at various points in Sprint Qualifying.

Max Verstappen could manage no higher than seventh in the Red Bull, followed by team mate Isack Hadjar in eighth, while Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad and the Williams of Carlos Sainz completed the order in SQ3.

Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto just missed out on the top 10 in 11th and 12th respectively, putting them ahead of Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and the Haas pair of Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman.

Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, made it to SQ2 but could not participate after hitting the barriers in SQ1, the Aston Martin driver bringing out the red flags during the opening segment. He will line up in P16 for Saturday’s Sprint.

With that stoppage in SQ1 seeing a frantic race to reach the line when the session resumed with under two minutes on the clock, the majority did not make it in time – and this left Cadillac’s Sergio Perez in 17th ahead of the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly in the Alpine and the other Cadillac of Valtteri Bottas.

Alex Albon did not take part in Sprint Qualifying due to the damage sustained to his Williams after hitting a groundhog during Free Practice 1, while Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson also missed the session following a hydraulic leak on his VCARB 03 in Friday’s practice session.

SQ1

After Antonelli headed a Mercedes 1-2 in a disrupted sole practice session a few hours earlier, the attentions of the paddock switched to Sprint Qualifying ahead of the third Sprint of the 2026 season.

One name that would not be participating, however, was Albon, with Williams confirming prior to SQ1 that the damage sustained to the Thai driver’s car from hitting a groundhog in FP1 was too extensive to be repaired in time for the session.

Racing Bulls subsequently announced that Lawson would also miss Sprint Qualifying following a hydraulic leak on his machine during first practice, as the team worked to prepare the car for Saturday’s Sprint.

Hamilton was the first to hit the track as the 12-minute SQ1 began at 16:30 local time, with all cars sporting the mandatory medium tyres for the opening segment. The action quickly picked up and it was Antonelli who topped the timesheets once everyone had put a lap on the board, the Mercedes man going quickest on a 1:14.010s.

Just moments later, Hamilton became the first to break into the 1:13s as he dislodged the championship leader at the top on a 1:13.889s, pushing Antonelli down to second ahead of Norris, Verstappen and Lindblad.

At the other end of the scale, the names at risk were Sainz, Perez, Bottas and Colapinto, with Albon and Lawson already out. Russell, meanwhile, aborted his next effort after running over the chicane, while Gasly was noted by the stewards for impeding at Turn 14.

The red flags were thrown with just under two minutes left on the clock due to Alonso hitting the barriers at Turn 3. Replays showed the Spaniard locking up and running straight on in his Aston Martin, leading to an apology from the driver over the radio.

Prior to the incident, Alonso had been in 14th on the timesheets, but would those in trouble – that being Perez, Stroll, Gasly and Bottas – have time to try to escape the drop zone? As the pack awaited a resumption time, the good news for Gasly was that the stewards had decided no further investigation was needed for the noted impeding incident.

While most of the top 10 – other than Hamilton – opted to remain in the garage ahead of the session getting back underway at 16:59 local time, a queue of cars formed in the pit lane as the pressure built for the names at risk to reach the line in time for a lap.

The majority did not make it before the chequered flag, with the exception of Hamilton, Sainz and Stroll – and with the order remaining unchanged, Perez, Stroll, Gasly and Bottas were eliminated from SQ1, along with Albon and Lawson.

Knocked out: Perez, Stroll, Gasly, Bottas, Albon, Lawson

SQ2

Russell was the first out as 10 minutes went on the clock for SQ2, with the medium tyres again mandatory for the second segment of Sprint Qualifying. Norris initially went quickest before Hamilton again took over at the top, beating the McLaren driver by three tenths.

This was then bettered by the Mercedes duo as Russell became the new pacesetter on a 1:13.466s, just 0.085s ahead of Antonelli. Verstappen, meanwhile, joined the session later than most and remained the only driver without a timed lap on the board entering into the final minutes.

The Dutchman had a time deleted due to exceeding track limits at Turn 4, putting him at risk along with Colapinto, Ocon, Bearman and Hulkenberg. Verstappen then moved himself up the order into ninth – but would this be enough to keep the Dutchman safe?

As the end of SQ2 neared, Russell was still on top with a 1:13.026s – while Verstappen had decided to pit, leaving himself potentially at risk in P9. With Colapinto, Ocon and Bearman all failing to improve, this left Hulkenberg and Sainz as the ones who could displace the Red Bull driver.

Sainz ultimately made it to P10, dropping Hulkenberg down to P11 and out of the session along with Bortoleto, Colapinto, Ocon, Bearman and Alonso, the latter having not participated following his crash in SQ1.

Knocked out: Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Colapinto, Ocon, Bearman, Alonso

SQ3

It all boiled down to the eight-minute top-10 shootout of SQ3, where the soft tyre would be the compound of choice. Hamilton headed out first, with the rest of the field following soon afterwards.

The Ferrari pair were joined by the Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull duos, along with Sainz in the Williams and the Racing Bulls of Lindblad. As the first laps came in, Russell ultimately came out on top on a 1:13.194s, some two tenths ahead of Hamilton.

Antonelli, meanwhile, slotted into third – but would anybody improve on a second run? One name to better their effort was Norris, the Briton jumping up to second behind Russell. The latter also went even faster to strengthen his grip on pole, setting a lap of 1:12.965s.

As Antonelli’s final run went on the board, the Italian pushed Norris down, slotting into second on a time 0.068s behind Russell. This left Norris in third ahead of Piastri, the McLarens followed by the Ferrari duo of Hamilton and Leclerc in fifth and sixth respectively.

Red Bull’s Verstappen and Hadjar will share the fourth row in P7 and P8, while Lindblad placed in ninth and Sainz rounded out the top 10.

With the grid decided, the drivers will line up for the Sprint at 12:00 local time on Saturday (17:00 GMT)