George Russell and Max Verstappen.
George Russell claimed his second F1 pole after a thrilling Canadian Grand Prix qualifying, where he and Max Verstappen set identical times.
Russell took the glory of Canadian Grand Prix pole by setting the benchmark first. Verstappen matched his time of 1:12.000, while McLaren’s Lando Norris followed closely behind, just 0.021s behind.
No separating George Russell and Max Verstappen
Qualifying began under dry conditions, but the presence of showers in the area, as indicated by the radar, meant there was no assurance of the weather remaining unchanged. The FIA confirmed an 80 percent likelihood of rain occurring during the session.
As Q1 began, the pecking order was highly uncertain due to three different drivers leading the practice sessions. With time potentially running out, drivers hurriedly left the pit lane, adding to the suspense. It was announced that the slowest five drivers would be eliminated during this session.
After a pre-qualifying shower washed away the rubber, the track regained its green surface. As Q1 progressed, the circuit started to provide better grip. However, during his home race, Lance Stroll became the first driver to hit the notorious Wall of Champions. Fortunately, he faced no consequences and continued his race.
F1 2024 drivers face the Wall of Champions
Wall of Champions explained: How one Canadian Grand Prix corner gained its fearsome name
The foolproof Canadian GP formula that new US F1 venues should copy
In pursuit of his seventh Canadian Grand Prix pole position, Lewis Hamilton entered the qualifying session with a strong momentum. He had confidently dominated the FP3 sessions. However, it was his teammate George Russell who set the fastest lap time of 1:13.242, leading by a tenth of a second over Verstappen, just before the intense final laps.
Oscar Piastri, on the other hand, found himself increasingly frustrated by a possible case of obstruction involving Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda, who had already secured his spot at RB for F1 2025 prior to the session. The stewards acknowledged the incident at Turn 4 but chose not to pursue an investigation. Meanwhile, Verstappen expressed his annoyance with the downshifts in his Red Bull car.
Verstappen would easily secure the top spot in Q1, followed closely by Tsunoda. However, Perez, Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull, faced disappointment as he was eliminated in Q1 once again, despite recently signing a multi-year contract with the team. Bottas, Ocon, Hulkenberg, and Zhou Guanyu also failed to advance and were eliminated alongside Perez.
Ocon has been handed a five-place grid penalty due to his involvement in a first-lap collision with his teammate Pierre Gasly from the Alpine team in Monaco. Consequently, he will now start the race from the rear of the grid.
As soon as the traffic light turned green for Q2 to start releasing the cars from the pit lane, raindrops started falling. McLaren informed Lando Norris to anticipate a duration of “two to three” minutes of this rainfall.
Verstappen decided to take a gamble by using a set of previously used soft tyres. This caused him to fall out of the top 10 during the initial runs. He expressed frustration towards a Mercedes car that he believed intentionally hindered him. In the meantime, there were some issues with the right rear of Alex Albon’s FW45 from Williams. They had to bring the car back to the garage for inspection with only eight minutes remaining. Luckily, the problem was quickly resolved.
Verstappen’s subsequent attempt propelled him to the ninth position, as the radar indicated the possibility of more rain arriving in time for Q3. The track was already challenging due to the previous rainfall, exemplified by Russell’s remarkable save through Turn 4, avoiding any contact with the wall while piloting the Mercedes.
After the session, the stewards confirmed that Verstappen would face an investigation for not adhering to the race director’s instructions in the pit lane. Meanwhile, there was chaos at Ferrari when both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz failed to advance to Q3. Their decision to use used tires for their final run proved to be unsuccessful.
As Russell led a dominant Mercedes one-two, Logan Sargeant, Kevin Magnussen, and Gasly found themselves eliminated alongside him. Hamilton was also part of the Mercedes duo at the top.
Rain had arrived in the vicinity during the crucial Q3 session, although it had not yet reached the track when the pit lane opened. As the session commenced, many drivers opted for soft tyres for their initial runs, which was a popular choice across the board.
Mercedes continued to showcase their dominance as Russell secured provisional pole with an impressive time of 1:12.000. Hamilton followed closely in P2, trailing by 0.28s, benefitting from Russell’s advantageous tow from Albon’s Williams.
As the dark clouds loomed closer, McLaren once again showed their prowess by outperforming the Mercedes cars. Norris secured an impressive second place, falling short of Russell’s time by a mere two hundredths, while Piastri claimed third position.
Despite the rain looming, the Canadian Grand Prix qualifying session concluded in an exhilarating manner. Verstappen and Russell both clocked the exact same time, but since Verstappen achieved it earlier, Russell secured pole position for the race.
Q3 times
1 George RUSSELL Mercedes 1:12.000
2 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing +0.000
3 Lando NORRIS McLaren +0.021
4 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +0.103
5 Daniel RICCIARDO RB +0.178
6 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin +0.228
7 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes +0.280
8 Yuki TSUNODA RB +0.414
9 Lance STROLL Aston Martin +0.701
10 Alexander ALBON Williams +0.796
Q2 times
1 George RUSSELL Mercedes 1:11.742
2 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes +0.237
3 Lando NORRIS McLaren +0.459
4 Yuki TSUNODA RB +0.561
5 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +0.720
6 Alexander ALBON Williams +0.743
7 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing +0.807
8 Daniel RICCIARDO RB +0.830
9 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin +0.893
10 Lance STROLL Aston Martin +0.917
—-
11 Charles LECLERC Ferrari +0.949
12 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari +0.986
13 Logan SARGEANT Williams +0.994
14 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team +1.174
15 Pierre GASLY Alpine +1.198
Q1 times
1 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing 1:12.360
2 Yuki TSUNODA RB +0.388
3 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes +0.491
4 Alexander ALBON Williams +0.536
5 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +0.547
6 Lando NORRIS McLaren +0.599
7 George RUSSELL Mercedes +0.653
8 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari +0.678
9 Logan SARGEANT Williams +0.703
10 Lance STROLL Aston Martin +0.728
11 Charles LECLERC Ferrari +0.747
12 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin +0.757
13 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team +0.857
14 Daniel RICCIARDO RB +0.880
15 Pierre GASLY Alpine +0.929
—-
16 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull Racing +0.966
17 Valtteri BOTTAS Kick Sauber +1.006
18 Esteban OCON Alpine +1.075
19 Nico HULKENBERG Haas F1 Team +1.618
20 Guanyu ZHOU Kick Sauber +1.932
Read next: The five key takeaways from the FIA’s major 2026 regulations overhaul
