George Russell grabbed pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix and will start on the front row alongside his Barcelona rival Max Verstappen.
The Red Bull driver was hit with a ten-place penalty and three penalty points after colliding with Russell’s Mercedes during the Spanish Grand Prix. Now, the duo’s battle will head to extra time as the pair will start on the front row in Montreal.
Russell looked strong all weekend and took his first pole since the Las Vegas Grand Prix, a race he went on to win, with a lap time of one minute, 10.899 seconds.
Verstappen had early topped the leaderboard until Russell’s final run upstaged the defending champion, while championship leader Oscar Piastri will start third for McLaren.
Piastri’s title challenger and teammate Lando Norris suffered a tough afternoon and is down in seventh, starting on the fourth row alongside the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli will start fourth, with Lewis Hamilton fifth and Fernando Alonso taking an excellent sixth for Aston Martin. Isack Hadjar and Alex Albon round out the top ten.
Yuki Tsunoda was take a ten-place grid drop and three penalty points during the session after the race stewards ruled on a red flag infringement during FP3. This means he will start from the back of the field having been P11 in Q2.
Franco Colapinto improved on his weekend so far and will start in the P11 vacated by Tsunoda, with Nico Hulkenberg and the Haas pair of Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon following close behind.
There were some surprising drivers out in Q1, with Pierre Gasly the slowest and Liam Lawson also knocked out in P19. Home favourite Lance Stroll struggled on his return from injury and is down in P18.
There was a delay during the session with a red flag needed after Albon’s Williams shed a large part of bodywork – engine cover – down the back straight.
His teammate Carlos Sainz was then left frustrated with Hadjar, who had clearly impeded the Williams driver as he narrowly missed the cut, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto also eliminated.
So a great qualifying session for Mercedes and George. It will be interesting if Russell has the pace to stay ahead of his Spanish Grand Prix rival Verstappen and the championship leader Piastri. Bring on the race!
Canadian Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:10.899
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:11.059
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:11.120
4 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:11.391
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:11.526
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:11.586
7 Lando Norris McLaren 1:11.625
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:11.682
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:11.867
10 Alexander Albon Williams 1:11.907
11 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:12.142
12 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:12.183
13 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:12.340
14 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:12.634
15 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:12.385
16 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:12.398
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:12.517
18 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:12.525
19 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:12.102*
20 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:12.667
*Ten-place grid penalty due to overtaking under the red flag in FP3
George Russell has stormed to pole position in Qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix, the Mercedes man beating Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri in the final moments to take P1 on the medium tyre.
Verstappen had initially set the pace during the opening runs of Q1, but a thrilling sequence in the closing laps saw Russell topple the Red Bull driver – also on the C5 compound – by 0.160s with his effort of 1m 10.899s. Championship leader Piastri was left to settle for third in the McLaren on the soft tyres, while the other Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli slotted into fourth place.
Lewis Hamilton was the lead Ferrari in fifth, just ahead of Fernando Alonso in sixth for Aston Martin. McLaren’s Lando Norris, meanwhile, ended a slightly scruffy Q3 in seventh, with Charles Leclerc following for Ferrari in eighth.
Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar took P9, though the Frenchman will be investigated after the session for an alleged impeding incident with Williams’ Carlos Sainz in Q1. Rounding out the top 10 was Alex Albon, who bounced back from an unusual incident early in Qualifying that saw the engine cover fly off his Williams on the straight.
Yuki Tsunoda was eliminated in P11, meaning that the Red Bull driver will start from the back of the pack on Sunday after receiving a 10-place grid penalty for a red flag infringement during the third and final practice session.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/russell-beats-verstappen-and-piastri-to-pole-in-thrilling-qualifying-for.4mhZxtILshXKnb4uYYxwZx
Red Bull racer Yuki Tsunoda has been struck with a 10-place grid penalty for Formula 1’s Canadian Grand Prix.
The Japanese driver was penalised for passing Oscar Piastri under red flag conditions in third practice ahead of the race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Piastri brought out the red flags after suffering a puncture and suspension damage when he tapped the ‘wall of champions.’
As Piastri trundled back to the pits in his McLaren, Tsunoda overtook him. The Japanese driver claimed that he was worried about being struck by debris coming from Piastri’s car following the incident in FP3.
However, the stewards took a dim view of Tsunoda move, which saw him skirt past the Australian at 171km/h while Piastri was only going 86km/h.
The stewards’ decision said: “Having considered the matter extensively, the stewards determined that while Car 81 had an obvious problem, it was not travelling at such a speed that it prevented Car 22 from following it at a safe distance.
“The circumstances were such that there was no justifiable reason for the driver of Car 22 to have overtaken Car 81.”
The penalty means that Tsunoda is now due to start the Canadian GP at the back in 20th after qualifying 11th.
Tsunoda, who has only scored four points since he was promoted to Red Bull from Racing Bulls at the Japanese Grand Prix in April, has also been issued with two penalty points on his super licence.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/yuki-tsunoda-slapped-with-mega-10-place-grid-penalty/10732819/
George Russell waxed lyrical over his pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix as the Mercedes Formula 1 driver branded it “one of the most exhilarating laps” in his racing career.
The Briton clinched a 1m10.899s to topple provisional polesitter Max Verstappen at the very end of qualifying, reinstating the front row of the grid from last year’s race – this time, with a 0.16-second gap between them.
Russell had posted the best time in Friday’s FP2 session, but appeared to drop back slightly in FP3 to Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc.
After opening Q3 on the soft tyre, Russell switched to mediums and was much more comfortable; this was reflected in his final time being six-tenths quicker than his initial final-session effort.
“Today was awesome, in front of this amazing crowd as well,” said Russell. “To get the pole – to be honest, that last lap was probably one of the most exhilarating laps of my life.
“On my steering wheel you’ve got the delta, and I just saw every corner I was going one-tenth quicker, one-tenth quicker, and I got into the last corner and I was six tenths up [on his previous lap].
“I was like ‘right, this lap is mighty’ and crossing the line, seeing we were P1, was a real surprise. But I was so, so chuffed with it.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/russell-hails-f1-canadian-gp-pole-as-one-of-the-most-exhilarating-laps-of-his-career/10732860/
Max Verstappen was in no mood to discuss his growing tally of penalty points after setting up a scintillating start to the Canadian Grand Prix by qualifying on the front row alongside Formula 1 rival George Russell.
All eyes will be on Turn 1 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve when the lights go out on Sunday afternoon, with Russell and Verstappen going head-to-head following a controversial incident at the Spanish Grand Prix last time out.
Verstappen was hit with a 10-second penalty and handed three penalty points on his superlicence for driving into Russell, when told by his Red Bull team to let the Briton through following an overtake.
The incident was widely condemned and the world champion later posted on social media that the move “was not right” and “shouldn’t have happened”, as he now teeters on a one-race ban, just a single point away from serving a suspension.
He was asked ad nauseum about the prospect of being forced to sit out a race during his media session on Thursday and when asked if he had to change his driving approach as a result, he said: “Why should I?”
But he went a step further when the subject was again broached during the post-qualifying press conference.
“I don’t need to hear it again, it’s really pissing me off,” he said. “You’re speaking about it on Thursday, it’s such a waste of time, it’s very childish. That’s why I also don’t want to say too much because it’s really annoying, this world that we live in.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/penalty-point-talk-pissing-off-verstappen-after-taking-second-in-f1-canadian-gp-qualifying/10732900/
Lando Norris admitted he made “a couple of big mistakes” during a disappointing qualifying session for the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver was only good enough for seventh as he struggled at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.
Norris, who is 10 points behind championship leader and team-mate Oscar Piastri, bemoaned his luck as McLaren’s pace advantage – evident for much of this season – was wiped out.
Norris was asked about the session, in which Piastri qualified third behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and polesitter George Russell of Mercedes.
He said: “A couple of big mistakes. One, hitting the wall on the last lap in the exit of [turn] seven. And the first lap, last corner. Just two mistakes that cost me, I guess.”
Norris believes that McLaren’s inability to pull clear from the chasing pack is track-specific and not helped by the low grip and heavy kerb use in Canada.
We’ve clearly not been as quick as normal,” said Norris, of his team who lead the constructors’ standings by 197 points.
“I think that’s just because of the layout of the track. The cars are performing relatively well, and I was happy through all the qualifying.
“Maybe not the car to take pole today, but good enough to be up there and fighting for top three.
“I think we can go forwards, but not a lot. It’s not like we’re easy one-two, like we have been on other tracks. It’s going to be a bit more difficult, but anything that can help us will be very welcome.
“It’s just very low grip. That is one of the bigger things. And therefore the car balance just never comes together as much as what it does on other tracks, and some of the kerb-riding and bumps, which just hurts us, it seems, more than some others.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/norris-says-big-mistakes-left-him-seventh-in-f1-canadian-gp-qualifying/10732908/