George Russell secured a dramatic pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix, building on his sprint race victory earlier in the day. The Mercedes driver overcame a challenging qualifying session to edge out his teammate Kimi Antonelli by just 0.068 seconds, the same margin by which he beat the Italian in Friday's sprint qualifying.
Russell, who had struggled with the car's balance throughout the session, delivered a flawless final lap to snatch pole from Antonelli. 'The last lap came from nowhere,' Russell said over the radio. 'It is the most exhilarating feeling to come from nowhere to take pole.'
The Briton admitted that changes made to the car in anticipation of rain on Sunday had thrown them out of sync. 'We made some changes to the car in light of the expected rain coming tomorrow. It put us out of sync. It was a challenge, but I managed to redial my driving on the final lap.'
This is Russell's third consecutive pole at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a track he considers a favourite. He won here last year and is confident of repeating that success, aiming to reduce the 18-point deficit to championship leader Antonelli.
Lando Norris qualified third for McLaren, with teammate Oscar Piastri fourth and Lewis Hamilton fifth for Ferrari. The session saw Russell lying fifth before his final lap, complaining about a lack of rear-end grip, but he managed to turn it around when it mattered most.
Russell's pole marks a revival after three winless races that have gone Antonelli's way. Sunday's race is threatened by rain, which could add further unpredictability to the grid.
