George Russell followed up his sprint victory by securing pole position for Sunday’s race.
In a dramatic qualifying session, George Russell edged out Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli to claim pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix with a blistering final lap.
Russell, buoyed by his earlier sprint race win on Saturday, faced a setback after aborting his initial qualifying lap.
However, a determined final run, featuring two flying laps, saw him surpass Antonelli by a mere 0.068 seconds, eliciting a jubilant reaction from Russell on the team radio.
“It is the most exhilarating feeling in the world when it comes at the last minute out of nowhere,” he exclaimed.
Antonelli had appeared poised to outperform his teammate, surpassing McLaren’s Lando Norris’ initial benchmark. Russell’s first attempt on his final run only placed him third.
But Russell’s strategy of executing two laps paid dividends, securing him the coveted pole position.
“There are times when you expect to be on pole and every lap is the quickest, but the times when it comes together at the end are the sweetest,” Russell noted.
He added: “The car was out of sync, out of balance [for much of the session]. I knew I needed a big lap and on my preparation lap I saw Kimi on the TV screen going purple [fastest] and I was like, right, I need to bring something big here.”
Antonelli conceded: “It was very difficult to get the tyres in the right window. It was a pity to miss out by such a small amount but George did a great lap.”
Norris also contended for pole position, setting the fastest middle sector before Russell’s final push, aiming to reclaim the top spot from Antonelli.
However, the McLaren driver fell short by 0.083 seconds before Russell ultimately raised the bar.
“It was such a challenging session but to do it on the very last lap was epic,” said Russell, explaining that the team had made some changes to the car for qualifying with a view to predicted wet weather on Sunday.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri secured fourth place, followed by Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, separated from his teammate Charles Leclerc by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar.
Hamilton, who initially held second place, lamented that he “didn’t get the last lap,” suggesting he could have achieved a higher position. The reason for this was not specified.
Hamilton is currently under investigation for allegedly impeding Alpine’s Pierre Gasly during the first qualifying session.
Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto completed the top 10.
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Russell’s performance ended a streak of three consecutive pole positions for his teammate Antonelli, marking his own first pole since the Australian Grand Prix earlier this year.
The 28-year-old likened his last-gasp achievement to “scoring a goal in football.”
“That adrenaline is like nothing else I can imagine,” he said. “It’s like scoring a goal in football, where you know you’re building up to it and then you achieve it and all that adrenaline comes out.”
“It didn’t feel like the pole was on the cards and while it’s not important for a championship or anything, it was just such a great feeling because I did a really great lap.”
“It all was hooked up together – I crossed the line, I see my name’s going to the top of the leaderboard and I knew that was pole, and that rush of adrenaline within the space of 10 seconds is what we will live for.”
Russell had a contentious moment with Antonelli during the sprint race, with Antonelli remarking that they “were both lucky not to crash.”
Antonelli also voiced his displeasure with Russell’s driving over the team radio, prompting Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff to urge him to refrain from “moaning.”
However, following qualifying, both drivers characterized the situation as resolved after discussions.
“We’ve had a good chat since this morning,” said Russell. “We’re both racing drivers, we both know what to do, we both respect one another, so we’ll go racing.”
The Canadian Grand Prix is scheduled to commence at 21:00 BST on Sunday, with potential rain in the forecast.