Russell snatches F1 pole in Montreal to frustrate Antonelli

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MONTREAL — George Russell said he and championship-leading Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli had “respect for one another” after clashing on Saturday and then locking out the front row of the grid for Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix.

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The 28-year-old Briton, who was pre-season favourite to win the drivers’ title, took pole position with a spectacular late flying lap to foil his precocious 19-year-old Italian teammate in the final seconds of a tense and closely-fought qualifying session.

That followed Russell’s lights-to-flag win in the sprint which included a robust defensive move that resulted in Antonelli going off and dropping from second to third, leaving the teenager angry and claiming he had been “pushed off.”

“We’ve had a good chat since this morning,” said Russell.

“We’re both racing drivers and we both respect one another.”

With rain forecast for Sunday’s race, the start could see a spectacular scrap between the two Silver Arrows drivers as Russell bids to regain his place as the senior driver after seeing Antonelli reel off three wins in succession from pole position.

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Antonelli qualified second behind Russell whose pole lap in one minute and 12.578 seconds lifted him top by just 0.068 seconds.

“It’s always challenging coming back after a sprint race,” said Russell. “The car feels very different in the qualifying format.

“We made some changes as a team. It’s such a great feeling when it’s a challenging session and you pull it all together for the last lap. It was epic.”

Russell added that Mercedes had changed their set-ups in anticipation of a wet race -– the first since the start of the hybrid new era –- on Sunday.

“Kimi was definitely more competitive than I was in that session, but we weren’t as clear ahead as everybody else like yesterday,” he said.

“So it’s definitely a challenge, but as I said, I just managed to redial in for that last lap and put it together.”

Antonelli, who had been ranting on team radio during the sprint race, claiming that Russell should have been penalized, was more subdued after qualifying.

“It’s been very difficult this weekend with the tyres and putting them in the right window,” said the Italian.

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“I was quite happy and I think there was a bit (of lap time) left on the table, but George did a great lap at the end.

“Now we’ll see what the weather is going to be, but we’ll try to be ready for everything.”

Recaptures momentum

For Russell it was a very satisfying Saturday that saw him re-set the narrative around his status in the team following Antonelli’s spectacular surge of success that had carried him into a 20-point lead in the title race.

His sprint win trimmed that advantage to 18 points, but he knows he needs to convert his third consecutive Canadian pole into a repeat of his 2025 win to re-establish his authority in the team.

World champion Lando Norris was third for McLaren ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri with Ferrari’s seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton taking fifth ahead of the Red Bulls of four-time champion Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar.

Charles Leclerc was eighth in the second Ferrari ahead of Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad and Franco Colapinto of Alpine.

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Four-time world champion Verstappen was baffled by his Red Bull’s lack of pace.

“I just don’t know what the problem is,” he said, claiming it felt as if he was “driving on ice”.

Hamilton finished fifth having at one stage looked likely to start on the front row of the grid.

“It’s so tough to stay with the Mercedes when they hit the straights,” said Hamilton, having praised Ferrari for producing an agile and enjoyable chassis.

Team-mate Leclerc was frustrated after finding it difficult to warm up his tyres sufficiently to be competitive in the cool conditions.

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