George Russell pipped Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli to take pole for the Montreal sprint

George Russell provided a timely reminder of his pace by claiming pole for the Canadian Grand Prix sprint race on Friday, leading a dominant Mercedes performance with team-mate and Formula 1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli completing the front row.

After a tough outing in Miami, Russell bounced back in style at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, beating Antonelli by just 0.068 seconds in a thrilling sprint qualifier.

The British driver, who opened the season with victory at the Australian Grand Prix, has since found himself overshadowed by the sensational rise of 19-year-old Antonelli, who has won the last three races to become the youngest championship leader in Formula One history.

“It’s a great feeling after a tough Miami, but I never doubted myself. I know what I can do,” Russell said after securing pole position.

“It feels like you’re driving a proper F1 car here, and that’s how it should be. It all came together today.

The The Canadian Grand Prix hosts a sprint format for the first time, marking the third sprint weekend of the 2026 season after the China and Miami events. Russell won the sprint in China, while McLaren’s Lando Norris turned pole into victory in Miami.

Antonelli admitted his lap was far from perfect despite securing second place.

“That lap was pretty bad to be fair,” said the Italian. “The session was not clean at all. I made a mistake in SQ2 and that threw me off a bit.

Mercedes’ recent upgrade package appears to have had an immediate impact, with Antonelli suggesting the team has regained a competitive edge.

“We’ve brought an upgrade. Of course we still need to understand the pack a bit more because the balance has changed, but overall it seems to have given us an advantage again,” he said.

McLaren staying in touch, Verstappen struggling

McLaren’s Norris qualified third, 0.315 seconds behind Russell, with team-mate Oscar Piastri fourth. Norris admitted the result exceeded expectations after the team struggled earlier in the day.

“After this morning we were a bit worried about how far we were because of the lack of confidence in the car,” Norris said. “We made some adjustments and it seemed to help.

Ferrari Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc he took fifth and sixth, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen could only manage seventh ahead of teammate Isack Hadjar.

The meeting also featured several incidents. Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson missed qualifying with a hydraulics problem, while Williams’ Alex Albon dropped out after crashing in practice after making contact with the sysm.

Fernando Alonso also staged a pit stop after crashing in the opening stage.

“I locked the ancestors and then you’re just a passenger,” Alonso said.

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Issued by:

Amar Panicker

Published on:

24 May 2026 12:43 IST

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